Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Motivations and Goals

What about those who are NOT interested in "adult" goods, but who *are* interested in content that happens to be sold by people who are currently in "M" areas but who will be forced to move?

Do people have to decide whether to double their land payments to have two stores?

The open display of "adult" content in Second Life is a serious problem because it deters entire classes of new users from contributing to SL.
After several years, the existing user base is saturated with “adult” content and may not continue to grow appreciably. All the strip clubs, slave dungeons and sex bed stores that are going to be built have been. New kinds of uses and content should be encouraged for everyone’s benefit.
Filtering excessively explicit content out of casual public view will be a very refreshing change. It should be a relatively simple matter to apply the same general rules to SL content as are applied to movie ratings. Second Life already has a PG rating in effect. All that is needed is to put it to use.

As far as who is asking for this change, I am.

As far as how it can be implemented, put the rules in the TOS and enforce them when residents complain about the violations.

My partner and I have spent a lot of time geocaching - that's a worldwide hobby that is a mixture of treasure hunting and orienteering, based around an American-hosted website. So some parallels with Second Life.

And we've seen it move from something that's quirky, creative, original and whimsical, challenging, frequently edgy and sometimes risky to something that has been completely sanitized by a paralysing terror that someone, somewhere might be just possibly be offended.

Every cache set must not offend the parents and their darling kiddies, even though there are large quantities of players who are adults, quite capable of assessing risk for themselves and looking for something that challenges them a bit further than the average five year old.

Involves crossing a road? Forget it! Someone might get hurt!

The hobby has been wrecked by the desperate urge not to offend and by weighing it down in so much bureaucracy that increasing numbers of people simply can't be bothered to participate.

Welcome to Second Life's brave new world - and it's not one we want to play in, thanks. We won't be prepared to invest the time, effort and hard cash in something that is so plainly going in a direction we hate.

You can claim to be trying to set reasonable definitions by consensus - but the fact is they're *your* definitions. The goalposts will be moved again and again until people are too scared to cough loudly for fear of a ban.

Good luck with your business model, in that case. But maybe you're really doing us the biggest favour you could - spurring us to get off our backsides and create something better.

Linden Labs and its proprietary model are the single biggest barrier to the development of virtual worlds in existence. This technology needs to be open-source before it can really flourish.

So maybe your journey down this particular blind alley will be just the stimulus that virtual worlds need.

Here's hoping.

Once you cater to a specific crowd by doing something like this it hurts the game, the community and your bottom line. The number of people who leave SL because of the adult content is far less the the amount of people who contribute to SL as a whole with adult content.

Google, yahoo, IE, Firefox, and all the other browsers/search engines don't require you to be 18, but have you seen some of the stuff on there? Perhaps the people complaining should just stay off the internet because that type of content is unavoidable on the internet unless you are catering to a community for it. (maybe they can go play a Disney game) SL will never be policed that way unless you want to kill it.

Seriously consider this:

Leave the old mainland as it is, and channel businesses and the new users you want to target by this move onto new continents. It will be far less disruptive for everyone.

I can see what you are aiming at, and I agree there is a need for some kind of zoning, but create a new non-adult environment.

To be honest as a owner of a adult themed fetish club, I am for this in many ways. It has always been an issue that people under 18 could just as easily walk in as someone who was. So how to prevent this. This is certainly a way, but I think it needs to be done in such a way that people still have that freedom to explore this alternate side. I know know many people who maintain alts just for their adult and fetish activities as for many it's just a part of their lifestyle that they would prefer not everyone know about. So I am wondering are we going to have to age verify every alt, or are we finally going to have a way to link alts to one main account, and in return finally be able to share resources with each other (money, lindens, maybe even items, land permissions, estate ownership)?

What say you?

Actualy...that sounds like a final blow to many of us, and large parts of SL economy.

I deeply agree into the fact some things shouldn't be seen by our youngests....
But hey....Does people younger than 18 (and for some cultures, or countries, even older), are supposed to be in Second Life ?

I mean, let's face that fact: As previously said, skins, clothes, poseballs.....Most are showing explicit sexual or erotic content. Is the view of a woman avatar body, even if it meant to advertise the quality of the texture made for it, is to be labelled as "Adult" ?

In many countries, Asia, or Middle East, those pictures are already meant to be offensive.

Now, I visited much places in SL for over 2 years now...even if you are searching for harmless keywords, you always end to TP in some place that has something that can be flagged as adult. Search for "puppy". Even if you tag off mature content.

There is no surprise if we say that "adult" activities funds many many sims, businesses, and activities in SL.
Let's face that fact: most resident are adult, over 18, and knows what they will find on Second life: an occasion to have many kinds of intercourses.

All those that are under 18 shouldn't simply not allowed on Main grid.

Limiting right now for people to have access to adult content ONLY if they use payment info, and then use age verification.....it will be a fatal blow for:
- Second life
- Residents, who will always find a way to get addresses that will be tagged as Adult, using tricks and cheats.
- Merchants, that will probably get hassled because they can ou could shelter something or peoples that might be themselves tagged as "Adult".
Do I have to ban somebody that mention in her profile that she likes sex ?

SL'ers.....SL is meant to be Adult.
SL is meant to be explored by adults.
SL is funded by that adult economy, like worldwide movies production are partly funded by taxes on pornography.

Much people come online to "mate". And the merchants didn't missed that fact, and turned their businesses to meet that need, whatever the way.


Now if you force people to be age verified, having to provide personal informations through credit card providing, it will simply have those following consequences:
- A lot of cheating
- The impression that Second Life forces people to discloses themselves to enjoy parts of it, thus, kicking out a lot of visitors, that do know that SL permits "adult" mating.
- A huge loss for "Adult" merchants, that will probably cut their expenses, creativity, and concerns about their customers/visitors.
- Loads of debates on what, or what is not to be tagged as "Adult"
- A two sided Second life, two ghettos, one with some white good willed scientific public, and another with dirty filthy pervert slums. A situation that will actualy worsen the actual situation in Adult places.

All this added on the actualy price policy that is kept by Linden Labs on land prices, (something I would have lot to tell about), would simply make us dive down to the bottom.

My suggestions ?
Well sure, tag some places as "broadly offensive". I am ready to flag my land that way.
Put a huge blue window warning if you are to be visiting those places, making people check they know where they will enter, go on, do that.

But don't miss the fact people on Second Life are supposed to know where they go, why they do, and think about the fact they are the ones being responsible of the use they makes of Second Life, not those who builds it.

Rating movies is a labor intensive, highly subjective, and highly controversial activity.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493459/

actually it is a problem. you see I respect people's rights to screw around on sl. I defend it. but mature has a lot of different definitions. it could be mature because of blood and guts, sex, etc. or it could be mature so people can shoot melon launchers at each other and swear like we can't do in a pg setting.

so i find myself shopping in mature shops a lot. for pirate gear, mermaid gear etc. one time I was checking on a 10 linden prim baby I saw pop up in a search on a sim and I went there. (it was to help a newbie). I never found the baby but found some very large penises for sale.

my choice of avatar could probably get my account terminated if I am caught in such a shop so I had to tp out fast.

I really don't think a "warning please do not come here if you do not wish to sexual content/blood and gore etc" on their page in search is too much to ask.

As far as leave if you don’t like it,

If someone is going to be deprived of the use of this technology, I prefer it be the ones who are offensive rather than the ones who are offended. Let the offenders leave.

Argent, I will do it for free : )

Your view of the situation is dysfunctionally simplistic. To begin with, the number of adult clubs is probably at a saturation point, but the specific clubs come and go, frequently on a weekly if not daily basis, as new residents try to live their dream of owning one and discover it is not a very profitable business. The other residents benefit from this because it means there are new clubs based on new idea constructed with new assets, techniques and technologies every week. Merchants benefit from the rental of land, the sale of club equipment (dance floors, contest boards, etc.). SL's population continues to increase and as it does so, the "carrying capacity" for adult clubs (and the creation of associated content) will also. Your choice of listed adult content betrays your biased view of its value and scope. Under the law, adult content includes nudity and "adult lyrics" and since the definition of "adult" is vague and subjective, providing it where it can be access by children is legally unsafe and good route to financial ruin. There are already plenty of PG-rated sims and any new resident who cares to can find them from the already PG new resident areas. Your assertion that rating and filtering SL content using the "same general rules" as is used for movies reflects a serious lack of thought on the realities of SL. Movie ratings are very subjective and the studios frequently have to wait to see what rating their films receive so they know what to change to ensure themselves of a PG rating. Beyond this, films are shown in theaters or private homes, and the studios incur no risk of lawsuit due to children being exposed to R and NC-17 films because they were warned and it is obvious any child so exposed did so either by illegal entry to the theater or at their parents or other adults permission or lack of supervision. In contrast, once the grids are merged, any child who manages to evade whatever technical attempts SL makes to restrict their access to adult content on nearby parcels, the residents who own those parcels are legally on the hook for being sued when the child lies about the circumstances of their exposure and the resident is unable to prove otherwise. Unlike a movie theater, proving the means of access to SL content is difficult if impossible to prove. It would be very easy, for example, for a child resident in a PG area on a sim to move their camera so it can view an adult area on the same sim, regardless of there being no line of sight. If you think children caught peeking at a naked woman won't lie to save themselves from punishment or that they will not be far more adapt at evading technically enforced barriers between PG and adult content on a merged grid than Linden Labs is at creating them, you are sadly delusional.

All four goals are laudable. All four are impossible to implement.

The ONLY way to isolate people from adult content is the method in use today: separate grids.

Go ahead, make a new grid, LL. Or expand the Teen Grid. Call THAT "Second Life", and let your kids and your corporations and your sensitive, moralistic prigs go there. Leave us adults here on the existing grid, with a new name, maybe. "Adult Life".

Not that you will. But if you did, I'll bet you L$100,000 that the Adult Life grid and economy grows faster than the squeaky clean Second Life one.

/me smiles

I can imagine the tags on content in SL: "Approved by Nany".

Actualy, the "Adult Life" idea is not that stupid.
If of course, "Adults" are able to visit "Prude Life" at times as well....

Just a heads up for everyone who thinks that a credit card on file is good enough to prove someone is an adult. Anybody who can have their name on a checking account in the United States (and that is absolutely anybody) can get a Visa-endorsed debit card, which works for all intents and purposes exactly like a credit card. My daughter got one at fifteen, as soon as she was babysitting enough to need a bank account. It is not proof of age, as I am sure LL's lawyers told them.

Thankfully, in France, I have been able to save up (did I say "save ?) money on a bank account, with a credit card inclueded, at my 15th birthday party.

The rules already exist. Explicit material should not be in open public view, that's a community standard, it already exists so the only issue is policing it.

A debit card is not a credit card.

How about you do the opposite and flag all PG content?

Seriously... I don't think it's our duty to protect children, it's the parents duty...Not the governments, Not mine, and not SL's. SL has been a 18+ place for ages, please do not try and turn it into another IMVU...


Also, my opinion on the matter: The more the world tries to " sensor " things from kids, the more the world tries to sensor drugs, alchohal, and sex, the more the " kids "will do these things. People in general always try to do what's taboo.... So all i can see this action doing is increasing the likely hood of a child getting into an adult area and doing things we don't want them to do.

Also, Proof of age? What about the folks like myself who can't get verified because no matter what I do the verification process denies me? I've moved too much in my life time it seems, so according to the US government I no longer live anywhere, and my social security isn't proof enough. It'll screw us over....and me over, especially as a business owner.


You then also have to consider the fact that even if you mark everything " mature "...Kids can still RP, and all they have to do to see a naked body is take their clothes off.

thing is there is no way for verification to work except as a deterent to honest people...

Unless LL requires biometric ids...

Or actually starts filling charges when warranted for fraudulent data being used.

I'm planning on taking a wait and see position on this.

Linden Labs has done some thing in the past that have not turned out well, and some that have ... policies designed to improve the mainland have been helpful. The Blake Sea is beautiful, etc ...

I think if they work things through, it will be possible to disaggregate things that should probably not be mixed, and aggregate those that should. I know I have about half a sim spread over two PG sims on the mainland, and am nearly surrounded by mature sims. One is themed towards something that I can't even contemplate as legal. I really have no clue how that happened, but would be happy to move, as long as it was to land that was comparable, meaning prime waterfront, on a Linden owned lake.

Thats the rub ... and I will throw my two cents in. I think it will be far easier and much better to have people like me move, who really would like to live in an actual PG area, and move to land that will be an upgrade. I think this will be a much smaller group, and I do mean much smaller.

Point two: Folding in the teen grid, will be a deal breaker. I think there have been a lot of threats thrown about, for instance over the open space issue ... threats that never materialized, but I feel that folding the teen grid in with the others would cause a mass exodus from Second Life.

Hey Ciaran,

I'm talking about a debit card with a Visa logo---virtually indistinguishable from a regular Visa card and usable online in exactly the same way. The card my daughter got at fifteen is, as a matter of fact, identical except for account number to the card I have on file for my Second Life account.

Good grief Charlie Brown, we all knew this was out here and Linden labs is only enforcing the rules that most of these adult content places were ignoring and breaking.


"You're right...In the US, they're offered to high school juniors and seniors! "
What about the five year old a few years back that was sent one with a ten thousand dollar limit that was in the news? I know that was a fluke, but things happen.

Ravenhurst advertises sex, BDSM and capture, why should they not be flagged like they are supposed to?

Over all, this will save Linden labs a lot of head aches in the future. I for one applaud this.

Guess it's been a couple months since LL has proposed something to really hurt Second Life, so we were pretty due for this.