Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Geographical Separation of Adult Content

My point exactly. Make them move! Leave us sexually deviant pervert cyber sex lovers alone!

Well, it's good you don't make a fetish of it.

I havent met a Linden yet that I like or agree with. Can we land owners ban them? Can we make them move to a ghetto? Keep them there locked up so, they can't do any more damage to SL.

I wonder about the lag in a sim with every square meter filled with stores, free sex areas, sex role play areas, strip clubs and etc ...

I'm going to get VERY specific. My group owns land in Celerio, a PG Sim. We have worked our asses off to keep it as a NICE place free of sex, smut, ad farms and other public blights. Our "adult activities" are conducted in skyboxes or other private places - we don't fancy ANYONE walking in on us.

That said, there is no way in HELL any of us will accept a move to some ghetto "adult" mainland just because we enjoy being with our partners away from prying eyes or might tell a dirty joke now and then. We don't want bling. We don't want ad farms. We don't want the palace of yiff across the street. In the same breath, none of us want bratty griefing "Hot Topic" teenagers rampaging across our property. We like an adult world for adults where no one has to worry about an occasional off color word or innuendo on their own land.

We do not want the teenagers here. At all. Every social network I've seen with teens has turned into a giant wank fest made worse by over-protective parents determined to force the world to do their jobs for them because they're too lazy or stupid to raise their kids themselves. None of us will enjoy being griefed and harassed by your a-typical teenage boy. None of us will respond positively when confronted by a parent because God forbid, junior peered into our private skybox and saw a penis. None of us want to jump through multiple hoops to verify every last Alt or sign up for some stupid pay-verify system just so we can go clubbing.

IN SHORT, NONE OF US GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT 'PROTECTING THE CHILDREN". Child avatars? Fine. We know they're adults. No parent is gonna come threaten us. No seperate PG mainland is needed. They avoid the smut and violence by choice the same as a lot of us do.

Make a Kiddie Mainland, shove them there. We were here first, LL, we have the money. We made your world what it is and you can kiss my ass if you think we're gonna happily agree to be part of "Disney-Land".

Cyn's just updated the blog post (https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2009/03/12/upcoming-changes-for-adult-content ) with the following FAQs as some additional clarification:

[UPDATE]

Thanks for all the great feedback and conversation so far! We're going to post some clarifying information here and in the forums right now. Tomorrow we'll be back in to catch up on the overnight feedback, and keep the dialogue going.


-- How much of SL is adult oriented content?
Based on our research, we estimate that around 2-4% of content on the mainland would be considered Adult according to our current thinking on defining that. For all of Second Life, our content research shows it is around 5%. In other words, 95% of Second Life either mature or PG.. Again, we estimate that only around 2-4% of the mainland parcels would need to either relocate or reconfigure to meet the requirements in our current thinking, but of course we are looking for your feedback to help define that.

-- What about adult activity in private on the mainland? e.g. Is Linden Lab making rules about what I can do in my own house on the Mainland?
Nope. We are talking about public behavior and events, businesses and listings that are meant to drive explicit sexual and violent activity.

-- What about objects/avatars/groups that some consider inherently related to specific sexual activities or preferences - e.g. furries, sexy clothing, etc. - will that be considered 'Adult content'?
We're still working on tight definitions (which we'd like your help with) on what is considered Adult, but in general sexy clothing, skins, and furries aren't inherently explicitly sexual, and stay in the Mature areas (i.e. won’t need to move to the Adult continent).

-- Is all content currently classified 'Mature' going to have to move to the Adult continent?
No. Our research found an estimated 2-4% of the mainland parcels would need to either relocate or reconfigure to meet the requirements, based on our current definitions of Adult content, which again, is an area where we’d appreciate your feedback.

-- Why not make all PG content move to a new continent?

Both PG and Adult are the exception, rather than the rule, in Second Life. We would prefer to keep the majority of the content and interaction where it is currently – the Mature regions.

Why not a G-rated continent?
This is not about teenagers in Second Life or the Teen Grid. This is about providing a choice about the kind of experience people want to have in Second Life, which is fundamentally an 18+ service.

How does this apply to combat sims, can you provide examples of what would be allowed?
Combat sims are mature, think R rated movie. If part of that is lots of blood and gore, that would be considered Adult. Again, the precise definitions are something we’re still working on and would welcome your input in the forum thread devoted to this topic.

What happens to my personal data? Will it get shared with a 3rd party when I verify my account?
Our 3rd party age verification provider uses several types of data to verify your account, but they do not store the data or use it in any other way.

What decisions are Residents going to be able to impact?
We are open to talking about many aspects of the change – timeline, more granular definitions of mature vs Adult, how those who need to move want to make that work. We know some of you are asking for a more definitive timeframe – that is part of the ongoing conversation, what is reasonable in your view?

Can you talk about the decision making process and what the timeline for decision making will look like?

Over the past year or so we have been hearing from a growing number of you that the experience in Second Life needed to change. We gathering a great deal of feedback and data, and then sat down and tried to imagine how we could serve most needs best. What we came to is that we didn't need to change very much about Second Life to meet the majority of those needs. As we've stated, nearly all inworld content, events and classifieds will stay as there are. For some events and businesses, you will now have a place where you can target your audience and reach the people who are looking for the goods and services you provide.

In the next few weeks we will hold several inworld meetings to discuss the timeline and other open questions around definitions and helping people who want to move or want more guidance around tagging, and events and classifieds.

Because we all know how many clusters of PG sims are out there ....

Thanks for the clarifications, Pete.

Is there any way for you to make your text red like the other Lindens' posts so that it stands out?

We have the continent

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ursula%20241/128/128/2


We have the server

https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/technology/release/blog/2009/03/12/help-us-beta-test-server-version-126

We have the knowledge base guidelines

Which I cant link because parature is down but its been mentioned before.


So why are we even bothering?

/me again wonders how you got that 2-4% number. You're just looking at raw land mass size, right? Not at where the residents are actually hanging out?

If you're actually basing decisions on that kind of thing, please let us know so I can downgrade from concierge to basic now instead of having to pay another month.

I think it's pretty clear by now that they don't explore or take an interest in how their world is being used.

-How much is this age verification going to cost? Those services cost money. Are residents who are already age verified "safe"? They should be. Not everyone has a credit card or a want to pay $19.99 a month just to stay verified by some third party service. Several areas will be marked adult as a "just in case" forcing roleplayers and clubbers to age verify even though they have no intention of looking for or engaging in porn or cybersex. How is this fair to us?

-Are you moving the PG sims? As a resident of Celerio, I don't want to be moved to Kiddie Land or see the history of SL destroyed by massive sim moves to 'protect the kiddies'.

-Will owning a nude skin force you to have to live in the adult ghetto even if you stay fully clothed in public at all times and NEVER show inappropriate bits except in your own private home?

-How are we suppose to keep teens from wandering into our homes? Will you provide free privacy scripts, easy to use (even for newbies) door locks or other protection? If we catch a teen in our private homes, ARing us for our private activities - what defence will we have?

-What are you guys on to think this is a good idea and can I have some?

From the new Maturity Ratings FAQ:

Please show me where the exception is in that FAQ that says it does NOT apply to private homes. You can't, because it makes no distinction between business use and personal use. None. If the REGION is Public Access, in must meet the above criteria. Or is that part of what you are hastily rewriting, and which we can't access because Parature is down?

I think that most concern is not necessarily about dividing up the content definitions, but how people will be affected considering the time and money they have already invested in Second Life.

The most fair timeframe would be any time as long as changes are made prospectively, rather than retrospectively. Current builds are grandfathered in; they don't need to move. If someone chooses to move from a current location, the new location has to be zoned appropriately. All new builds will need to be in an appropriate zone.

If that were the case, a lot of those who are concerned about the new policy would breathe a sigh of relief.

Since there has already been research on the issue, was there any research done to examine how much effort and other consquences of moving builds? I have yet to see a lot of consideration as to the costs- time and money- that moving will impose on those required to move.

they seriusly need to answer that...

I wonder if they laughed when they realized that they could include linden roads in their math..

Seems like soon all we will be able to do on SL is eat virtual cookies, drink virtual milk, and hug our linden teddy bears. no red meat because the lindens say it is unhealthy for us, no alcohol or weed because it would violate their prudishness. awwwwww how sugary sweet! and how mindlessly boring! all you prudes go form your new continent and take crazy Mitch Kapor, M. Linden, and the rest of the lindens with you. You all may be intelligent in a book smart way but you are totally common sense lacking.

you are so right.

A bed with two pose balls could be considered even pg

Auntie Bessie and Uncle Boris going at it naked is considered what?

I'm also in favor of the idea that a new continent be made that is G-rated and let people move there BY CHOICE. Choice = good feelings and happy customers Forced relocation = bad feelings and unhappy customers.

This this thread was Godwin'ed at post #185, so I didn't read more beyond that... but that's my two cents.

Expensive therapy if your the unlucky nephew or niece! =PP

And what happens if i have a skybox, with my own items, in a location...i put up security/etc, and someone accidently tps in (or purposefully sneaks in), then AR's me, because they got onto MY property, or because for once, i crashed, or forgot to set the locks again.

Some key questions need to be answered (and I apologize if they already have been but that I missed the response, this thread has been hard to keep track of).

* Restricting access to payment info on file will severely hurt the economies of adult-themed sims, and will drive away people who value their anonymity (a vital part for many in being comfortable in exploring their LL-defined "adult" side). Have you considered a system of warning/agreement similar to webpages? That is, upon tping to an "adult" sim, you are given a prompt agreeing that you accept you're about to view adult content and access personal responsibility for what you experience on that sim? It's my understanding that this system of protection works well for websites who need adult traffic.

* Who is legally responsible when an underage person encounters "adult" material on the mainland? Or an estate? This is not a theoretical question, but merely a request for clarification. When the TG and MG merge--no matter how far down the line that is--you will have a minor who has access to a credit card on the MG, and thus be able to access any sims that has "payment info on file" only access. (For that matter, I'm sure it's already happened already even without the grids merging.)

When this minor--who is verified by your system--participates in adult content on an estate, who is Linden Lab legally responsible? The estate owner? The minor? The minor's parents? What about if it happens on the mainland? The legal question is a Very Important Question, particularly because it is not a what-if or a "hopefully that never happens." It will. There needs to be clarification on this for anyone who runs an adult-themed community so they don't unknowingly put themselves at risk.

* Do we have your written assurance that before any enforcement of any sort of AR has been filed or parcel moved, the definitions of what will be considered "adult" and what will not will be clearly defined, and that we--in viewing this policy--will be able to cite your firm statement, once the policy is enacted, that these are the rules? There is an uncomfortable air of "we'll figure this out as we go along" in these threads, which is deeply unsettling in a discussion about a mandatory redistricting of the mainland.

* 3D parceling would solve many people's concerns. For example, many communities keep a separate adult-themed portion of their sim located far up in the sky out of draw distance rage. By judging these stacked communities solely by what's on the ground, you are not adequately characterizing them. Being able to parcel 3D areas of space--or at least, different levels of height--would allow these communities to operate under dual use, as well as include privacy protection for those who use skyboxes as their homes. Was this looked into, or discounted?

Your adult community--while perhaps not "mainstream" in terms of acreage--is, I assure you, quite a productive and relevant participant in this SL experiment. I hope that nobody at the Lab will be viewing this in terms of "sin" or "stigma", particularly as there are many institutions in real life (that is, the place we created our second lives to escape from) that would be glad to not only enforce a restriction like this, but see that the "adult" communities are effectively killed (part of that "life" Cyn referred to. Again, something we come here to be free from).

Attempting to tag and order the grid--let alone just tag search results--will be a mammoth task and consume much of your energy, as well as become a minefield not just for your judgments, but those involving others who will use this new system to harm unpopular communities (your abuse team could probably tell you story after story...). I truly hope you know what you are doing and the implications, both for SL's development as a platform--the time you will waste attempting to tie up all the loose ends you have just opened up--and as a community, in trying to keep us together in the face of an obviously divisive policy.

Then you will be dealt with by the Lindens. Up to and probably including banning, seizure of property, lindens seizure, etc. I have seen it happen to people who simply stated their opinions or disagreed with them. It's their show, Kittyn. they can do whatever they want whenever they want to.

Another thing that occurs to me is this: assuming that what you say is correct, and that only 4% of the residents are forced to move, the people who remain will be in constant fear of putting a foot wrong and doing anything that could leave them liable to be reported. This will have the effect of ensuring that every parcel on the mainland will be surrounded by ban lines.

Second Life is already the refuge of the sociopathic (ironic in view of its original ideals) and this will ensure that we remain in our little boxes protected from any possible contact with another human being.

These are all very valid points to be brought up. I think LL is mixing a bit of nitro into the stew. There are things that can occur now that they never thought of. Other online communities have already run into this issue, look at Facebook and Myspace as two examples. Who's going to be policing, and that's what will have to happen, the main grid?