Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Account Verification for Accessing Adult Content

I absolutelly agree whit Karen. Pleace, think this over again and find a better solution than this age verifying.

Can I have confirmation of this? As an unabashed owner of a roleplay sim that would CERTAINLY come under the "adult" flag, is it the case that this island will not have to be flagged as adult, nor require visitors and players to register as adults?

whilst age verification, is a laudable approach to preventng minors from accessing adult ctentther are numerous security holes that exist which renders av an unsafe option.

first and foremost as alrady indicated, chiledren can get hold of the relevent documentation and "verify" theselves as adults
next we come to the method of verification where data is sent frm linden labs to a thrid party, and "erased", and replaced with a code indicating wuccessfull verification.,trace data remains across the transmission path from the user, through each intemediary server. through linden labs, thence to the verifying agency and back.,the data paths would have to be totally zeroed out to quash trace information., not particularly convenient. or practical..

third,the information does not verify age per se, but rather the identity of the person to whom the passport number, social security number. or driving licence number. belongs.

forth, it is an offence in some countries and continents to transmit certain informatin outside specifically demarkated boundaries..

I have indiocated elswhere that i will not agree to age verification on those grounds and stand by my word on that matter.it is enough that there are people who use secondlife principally to mine information from people about their lifestyles without taking verificationiinto account..


my messafge to the people of linden lab? tread VERY carefully.this scheme could well be make or break for your company.

Aristotle is a disreputable company.

I don't trust Linden Labs or any company they work with enough to give them anything that can lead to identity theft.

Estate owners with adult content will not be required to move their content to the Adults Only continent, as was confirmed in the initial blog post (copied here): "Estate owners with Adult content on their land will be required to flag their content; they will not be required to move."

To clarify further, this means that you will be required to flag your adult content, but you will NOT be required to move your estate.

@Jeska - I think you may have missed a "not" in that last sentence...

"To clarify further, this means that you will be required to flag your adult content, but you will NOT be required to move your estate."

I disagree with this in part because being verified with payment info and having a paid account have nothing to do together and are not necessarily guaranty of adult status.

My alt has free account with CC info on file. It is adult verified, owns land, interacts economically (nothing major) in SL. I do not see why it should have to get a paid account. I am contributing to making the economy of SL run with my other AV, at my level.

I hope this will not change!

I would love to see how Linden Lab will guarantee no minors have access to adult content ... I am german, my 17 year old cousin received his own Visa Card from his parents when he went to the US for 6 months as an exchange student ...

Now how will you make sure he cannot log in with his VISA card ? He already buys his cigarettes and beer with it (what is 18+ here too), so how keep him away from adult content in game ? Telling him it is forbidden ? ))

This is just causing lots of trouble to many many residents and it is good for nothing ... If a minor want to have access he will find 100 ways ...

Did you mean to say "To clarify further, this means that you will be required to flag your adult content, but you will _not_ be required to move your estate"?

And for those of us over 18 without a credit card?...Yes there are a few of us still about???

Just contact my 17 ys old cousin, he will create an alt for you with his VISA

Ok.. this makes no sense at all.. why not just ban building too? Ohhh and flying.. and walking.. hell i could just spin in circles all day! This is a game. It needs to be fun for everyone, even people without their age verified, or those under 18. i am willing to jump through the required hoops.. but taking away these rights aint right *grinz And building a pine box is not adult.. let the fun begin?

Doh.

Thanks Kalderi and Brandon. Fixed.

It should have read:
"To clarify further, this means that you will be required to flag your adult content, but you will NOT be required to move your estate."

We're hoping to implement various ways to verify that one is over 18 years old, which could include (but is not limited to) a verified payment method like a credit card, a validation by our age verification provider, or another credible method of validation yet to be determined.

Please keep in mind that no age verification system is 100% effective and our goal is to get as many Residents (from all corners of the world) access to the content they are both interested and qualified to view.

you do not need to be 18 to have a paypal account. just a valid email and a on line banking enabled bank account which in the netherlands is available to anyone 12 years or older.

"There is a balance to be struck between respect for your privacy and the need to provide credible controls. What are your thoughts?"

My thoughts are that I do not trust Linden Labs with my personal information, given the track record of the 3rd party they sought to utilize a year or two ago. If jumping through this additional hoop is necessary to continue to enjoy SL, I will simply leave, finally and forever. I do not trust you. I will not provide IDENTITY verification to you (note: this is not about "age" verification, though you may pretend to your dying breath that it is).

All known methodologies for verifying are, incidentally, exploitable. The ONLY way I would consider verifying with you is if you sell, in a brick and mortar storefront, perhaps at my local Best Buy, a "verification" card. I show my ID to the clerk behind the counter, he gives me the card to use the next time I log in to SL. I put the number in from the card and bingo..... forever "verified" as an adult, WITHOUT any intrusive, big-brother thuggish, sell-your-info-to-political-marketeer nonsense. If you won't do something like that, then you confirm you are not out to prove age, but to SELL us to other entities as a new source of revenue.

Don't push this one, LL.... you honestly aren't that important to me, and I will leave.

The sim I own property on and help manage is quite Mature. However, we can't set it to age verification because people living in the UK, Germany and Australia also own property there. We do not want to decrease diversity or lose our friends by requiring age verification in it's present form. We currently have a notecard given on landing explaining the mature and potentially adult content of our sim, but people don't read those anyway.

SL is suppose to be adult anyway, SLTeen is for the young folks. But that doesn't stop teens and younger from creating an avatar and doing as they will including viewing and participating in adult content. I have reported youngsters that I know are way underage via finding them on myspace, reported them and then found that no action was taken under the present rules.

I am all for age verification, but it needs to be globally inclusive. How do you all verify age globally for SLTeen now?

Thanks to the Lindens for addressing this issue, it really is needed.

As one who has tested the Aristotle / Integrity system. I can tell you that in my humble opinion they have no integrity at all.

Just in case it hasn't been mentioned the main business of this company is to sell peoples information like voter information, addresses, fishing license, gun license to anyone who can pay. They would really like more data to sell and are even willing to sue counties and states to get it so that they can sell it.

They claim to have all the worlds personal information. Your name, address, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, License number, Passport number, Insurance Number, Identity Number for almost all countries. That includes Cuba, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, US, Canada, UK and Sweden. All they claim to be doing is checking what you are giving them against what they already have so they are not retaining anything at all.

Now I personally checked with the Canadian and Thai governments and they deny that any company has that information. So then I went and tried to get verified by their system. It took me all of 5 minutes. Use google images to search "US Drivers License" and there you go all one needs to get "verified". I informed Lindens of this and they said that they have no way of knowing what I used as they are just told by Aristotle system that the information was good.

This same company claimed that they protected Bud beers web site where one could register with Mickey Mouse and make up the rest.
See: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/02/19/bud-tv-king-of-controversy

Now all that said. Do you want to give your Credit Card number to a company that claims to know about all adults in the world and have their personal information on file to just check against? Do you want to let a company that profiles you so they have the "DNA of the Electorate" to sell that you are useing an adult system such as SecondLife?

"Aristotle International used a website to sell the lists, which contain details about registered voters from nearly every state. The data includes birth dates, home addresses, phone numbers, race, income levels, ethnic backgrounds and, in some cases, religious affiliations. Although voter-registration data is a matter of public record, 22 states have laws restricting the purchase or use of voter lists. Yet, Aristotle based in Washington, D.C., sold lists to anyone who wanted to buy them."?
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2003/12/61543

Go look at their web site. Read and see what they say. Don't believe me.

http://www.aristotle.com/

Integrity is a versatile, cost-effective and popular identity and age verification tool. It works by verifying standard issue driver license or other government-issued ID of citizens of 157 nations.

http://integrity.aristotle.com/ For "age Verification"

See their map of countries and the data they claim to have data on.
http://integrity.aristotle.com/content/view/113/145/




COMMENT OF ARISTOTLE INTERNATIONAL ON
GAMBLING COMMISSION’S PROPOSED EXEMPTION OF CREDIT
CARD PAYMENTS FROM AGE VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Many individuals under the age of 17 have
legitimate access to, and regular use of, credit cards
and debit cards….
VISA Testimony to U.S. Congress1

Merchants may not rely on possession of a Visa card
or submission of Visa account information to verify
cardholder age.
VISA Business Rules2

“We do not … propose to require operators licensed in Great
Britain to carry out further age verification checks of each
individual using a credit card as a form of payment, because it
would not seem to be a proportionate response to the level of risk.”
UK Gambling Commission, Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice Consultation Document,

This is a no win situation. Aristotle doesn't work, twenty three attorneys general said so. Using a Credit Card is not allowed.

So how would you access all the X-rated material on the rest of the internet?
How would you prove to a pornsites management that you are mature enough to view their content and interact with other verified customers to adequately reduce the risk of legal actions against them and their customers?

Can someone please tell me how a credit card is going to stop underage people from hacking your age certification program? Are you so naive to believe that kids would not use their parent's card to create an age verified account? Ask all the questions you want also if you feel that way is going to provide a secure method of determining adult status. The kids will answer the question any way they have to to get in. By the way, how is LL so sure that kids are not doing this already?

Something came up to light a fire under LL to do this. Once again, North American rules are going to be pushed onto everyone just so LL can tell the lawyers and suits that they are compliant. Religious right came to visit guys? Rush Limbaugh stopped for a visit? For all the official chatter about being a global community, LL buckles very quickly if some group starts whining about possible illegal North American activity.

Until LL can PROVE that they currently have systems in place to exclude kids via a TRUSTED age verification system I say they should back off. I know it has been said a ton of times so far but I will say it one more time...If it offends you, tp somewhere else !!!

It was stated earlier in the thread that this move of adult content and the move towards requiring age verification to view adult content was not motivated by a transition of the teen grid to the main grid but to offer residents a sl were they would not have to encounter adult content if they did not wish to.

While I have no problem with this I guess I don’t understand the need for verification for adult content if that is not the reason for doing so. If sl is to remain an 18+ community and it is assumed you are an adult in order to be on the main grid as it is now then why is it that we now have to be adult verified to view the same content we have been able to view now without being age verified?

I understand flagging the content and moving it to a private area but wouldn’t a checkbox under preferences like "don’t show adult content" be the exact same thing? If adult content is being moved, or flagged as adult then that checked preference could not show adult content in searches and not let you into areas flagged as adult. If the purpose for this movement and flagging of adult content is to provide sl users the choice between seeing adult content and not then wouldn’t this be just as effective and less of a hassle? If I did not want to view adult content in my searches or sims I entered I would check that in my preferences and if I didn’t care I wouldn’t.

But if everyone on the maingrid is supposed to be an adult why is age verification required to view adult material? I understand there are kids that slip through and are on the maingrid. But they are not supposed to be there and if found out should be AR’d and removed. So unless this is a move to admit and try to protect the teens on the maingrid already or have things in place to merge the teen grid and the maingrid I don’t see the purpose for age verification at this time to view the adult content we as adults can already see.

If you have adult content on your parcel which you do not either move to the Adult continent or take down after the change, and have not verified, you will be asked to take it down or you will be violating the Community Standards/Terms of Service.


This feedback has been taken back to the team. While our current system is not set up to handle associating alts, I agree it would make things much easier to manage!


We do not currently have any Resident-associated costs with verifying accounts.


This issue you've described is helped by the new continent. Those who have not been age verified will not able to access the Adults-only continent. While no such system is perfect, these additional steps should help to prevent this type of occurrence.


We are working with those who will move to the continent to make this process as easy as possible. Please keep an eye on the blog/forums for further information on inworld brown bags and other conversations.


These changes are 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. We would prefer to keep the majority of the content and interaction where it is currently – the Mature regions.


Most violence will be still allowable. As mentioned in the blog update last night, we estimate that around 2-4% of content on the mainland would be considered Adult according to our current definitions. For example, 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.



We're not ignoring, just lots of questions, comments and feedback to work through. Please help us make this plan better by keeping these thoughtful messages coming!

In other words, you have no real hope of ever implementing an age verification system.

Why don't you take the tact of putting the onus of age verification and policing where it belongs? In the hands of the residents. Why not just be the neutral provider of services and stop trying to follow along the trail of epic fail from our government(s)' efforts of legislating morality?

You already have the rules and the tools. Enforce them. Use them.

I'm still waiting for that research data, btw.

I can and will keep asking.

Well one good thing with this is it might kill off some of the bots in SL. But I doubt it, because for a fee you can register your Bot or bots with LL So to me it looks like just another way for LL to take in more money. As for the verification I think its going to run off alot of people cause they can goto any of the open grids and Keep their privacy. I know pople who have alts for that very reason, They want to stay unknown because there main av has become so popular but dont want to kill there main av because they will loose all the items the spent alot of $$ on. I for one don't care about the age verification because it doesn't effect me (already verified) but I do know alot it will. Now take in to mind that in SL US population is less then 50% closer to 40% in all reality. The majority is the rest of the world. So what about those countries age of concent laws. I know the main servers are US based and they need to follow US rules. But still they are opening the door for id theft and alot of false information. It would be smarter and easier to have it where the owner of an xxx sim be verified (easy since most have to buy the sim) and have them police the sim, Like the slogan says " your world, your imagination" . Your sim your rules your headache in policing it.