Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Definitions

If Little Johnny's parents don't want him/her exposed to adult areas and activities then go away. There are literally hundreds/thousands of virtual worlds now. Most of them with no sexual content. Go find one and get out of SL. We don't want your kind here.

Which is all very well, but my concern is, as i said in a previous post, I am sure that the the " 3rd party age verification provider" behaves perfectly properly, but what steps do they take to ensure that their employees don't misuse copies of documents for which there is certainly a flourishing black market amongst internet fraudsters?

It's a genuine concern -- as our Home Office put it, http://www.identity-theft.org.uk/what-is-identity-theft.asp
This is why, for example, we are advised elsewhere on that site to rather than to send copies of the important bits to someone outside the UK jurisdiction who proposes then to pass them on to a third party, also outside the jurisdiction, no matter how properly they tell us that third party promises its staff will behave.

What is sex? The act of procreation?

What is not sex?

What about furries, dragons, robots, etc?

I wouldn't bet on that. To the best of my knowledge, attempts to make "virtual child porn" illegal have been struck down as unconstitutional in the US, but that didn't keep LL from forbidding sexual activity involving child avatars, whatever the age of the people operating them. If I remember rightly, the rational{e, ization} involved German law.

So... can one get on the grid in Saudi Arabia? Will I have to wear a burqa? (For that matter, I "wear" prim breasts, and aside from time spent in the Minoan Empire, where I dress as Minoan women dressed, my clothing is quite modest. Will my avatar be considered "adult"?)

Will we have to watch what groups we have active when in a PG sim?

There are over 1200 "Art Galleries" within SL. Since depicting nudity and possible sexual content can happen in any opening, will all these galleries be required to move as well?

I am also in the mind set that we are all "Adults". If I am wondering the grid and come across something offensive, I do the most logical thing, I TP OUT of the area. If I'm on my own land and get harrassed by someone, I do the most logical thing. I eject the griefer off of my land.

Very simple to do as long as TP's and ejects are working in SL.

Totally wrong. SL is subject to a lot more laws then US alone. They have an UK office for example so they have to do the VAT thing for europeans for example. In addition many jurisdictions just say 'if you address our residents, your in our jurisdiction', usually not really enforceable, but they try hard. E.g. germany tries to block access to content via DNS blocking or enforce silly 'broadcasting time limits for adult content' to protect minors. Totally silly, but thats life and politics, 90% clueless.

I read through to page six, rambled on my blog trying to collect my thoughts, and then ended up trying to rephrase and pare it down rather than wall of text in forums.


"PG" is not a useful or appropriate rating. "Parental Guidance" is not meaningful in this context, and leads to confusion in new users, as well as the media, general public.

I realize that coming up with phrasing things in ways that are meaningful, easy to understand, and translate well, is not an easy task. (And no, this is not sarcastic)


"PG" should be re-phrased as something that conveys "generally appropriate for a public town square". Think politeness, and general political correctness. A possible appropriate term might be "Mild".


"Adult" - should not be, especially when encompassing excessive violence. Consider the blog stand-by of "NSFW" - "Not Safe for Work". In the past, NSFW tends to be better adopted within global communities, as the concept is not tied to a cultural concept of what is sexually appropriate, what is sexual, what is not sexual. There tends to be less debate over specifics, with what is generally considered appropriate in a workplace being somewhat consistent globally, especially what is appropriate for a worker to be seen viewing while at work in a workplace while potentially having customers, other employees, or superiors seeing them viewing said content.


Rather than simply forcing the 'Adult' content to migrate out of the Mainland to a new continent, leaving a mixed mainland of Mature and PG, I feel that a much better solution would be to have two new continents, ultimately a continent for each rating. If you want geographically separate zoning, then be consistent and thorough. The new continents would represent the extremes - the Adult/NSFW content on one, the PG/"Town Square" content on another, the Mature mainland mostly as it was.


Users whose primary interest is to utilize Second Life for business purposes could indicate such on account creation, and initially be brought in world to the PG/"Town Square" continent, which would be non-offensive, media-friendly, government-friendly.

There are lots of people in SL who come from the gay/lesbian/bi/trans communities, and there are groups supporting each of these, and also venues where one can meet others. Where do these fit into the list of definitions? Will a GLBT groups or venues automatically be a 'Mature' or 'Adult', just because they are GLBT?

I can see that this step is necessary for LL and will therefore flag my sims as soon as it becomes compulsory to do so.

Which leads to my first question: Is it compulsory already? The Knowledge Base article says: "...must be designated "Adult" and therefore require Adult validation...", but I can't do that yet. I can ban either residents without payment information, or residents who are not age verificatied adults, but LL views both as a means of age verification. And there's no way to verify for either/or, instead for only one form of verification or for both.

My other problem lies with this:



And then this, regarding a publicly accessible place with sex furniture:



And this, regarding nudist areas:



And probably more to follow. Somehow I get the feeling that these won't stay the only concessions being made in the process of dividing adult content into good and bad, tolerable and unwanted. There are already fellow prim genital creators asking to be exempt from these rules as well, and I bet they too will get the carte blanche if they belong to a favored group of content creators.

To make clear where I'm coming from: Unless all residents who are interested in adult content feel forced to verify their age, nobody will do so. Second Life will go on as usual, with most adult venues hiding their XXX content between harmless content in order to fall under one of the many exemptions being made here.
So only people who can't possibly mask the adult nature of their place will faithfully flag their land and greatly lose out, due to the majority of residents seeing no point in verifying their accounts. I don't want to lose out by being honest, while other people who sell exactly the same adult content manage to bend the rules in their interest.

The definitions of adult content currently listed in the knowledge base are pretty clear. I'd really like to see these being applied as it happens on XStreet already, where skins for example are adult content. Clear product categories and guidelines without all this hair splitting and exceptions. Sex beds are used for representations of sexual conduct, especially when they are placed inside private homes. And there surely are representations of genitals to be seen at nudist beaches. So can we please do this without favoritism for once?

I object the notion that certain avatar species are being lumped into the adult content pool just because of what "some consider inherently related to specific sexual activities or preferences". That is prejudice, nothing more. A furry avatar can be as sexual and adult as it gets, but it can also be as PG as it gets. If you don't believe me, I am going to show you the difference. This is ridiculous. Even when naked I am PG, because my default skin doesn't even have nipples.....

You cannot? I look out of the window in RL, Kindergarten, Church, Strip Club, Supermarket next to each other. Residential area mostly..., no one really cares. Not all the worlds like your part of it...

Where do you live, a f**** ghetto?

my personal definition of Mature would be anything that a kid shouldnt see...anything that you would not want seen on the street in RL, like nudity etc. but SL is for 18+ so anyone that is on SL should be ok with Mature theme stuff...and if they are not then they should go to Teen SL. and if a kid is on adult SL thats the kid's parents problem....its a parents responsibility to know what their kid is doing and to censor that, not a stranger.

of course my REAL idea is that even nudity is not Mature, but I know that many would disagree with me...to me nudity is just how we are in nature. do you make a dog wear pants? no. do you make the apes in the zoo wear pants? no... but THEY are naked. of course world of warcraft originally had a creatures on WOW (furbolgs) who walk upright and have fur, kinda like apes, but due to complaints they went and put PANTS on them... ROFLMAO.

what is adult? I would say that it is related to ACTIONS more than visual. nudity is just skin (and pixelated skin at that) but when it involves sex it would be concidered adult. so brothels, strip clubs, xxx rated movie houses, BDSM dungeons...I would lable those adult.

I would not lable a store as adult unless it had sexual acts occuring in it. I would not lable skin stores or stores that sell adult products as adult ... I would not lable my store as adult... (I sell nipple rings, clit rings, and tattoos with profane language)

It looks like that in pretty much every somewhat larger city in every civilized country. In Germany, you'd also find a sex shop and probably a brothel in between there.

I can't find the exact post to quote, but someone else asked a near identical question and the answer was that it would be mature, not adult.

(Found it)

Presumably this move is the precursor to merging the teen grid to the main grid and the open invitation and acceptance of minors into Second Life. Even with the presence of minors there are some serious flaws with the definitions used now.

The definitions state "A Region may be designated PG so long as it does not advertise or make available any content that is suggestive of any (even mildly) sexual or violent themes, or reference to social drug or alcohol usage."

Banning any reference or representation of alcohol in a PG area is ridiculous. That means no champagne at a wedding? No wine at a Jewish Seder or Sabbath? No wine bottle on the table of a restaurant? Minors see alcohol as part of a normal daily existence in real life and there is no basis for considering the representation of alcohol in Second Life as Mature or Adult content.

It is inadequate guidance to say the mild suggestion of violent themes is prohibited in PG as well as an overly broad concept. In 2004 a well respected and admired member built a news museum that included an antiwar exhibit. The front of the museum displayed a picture of children who had been injured as a result of war and were bleeding. The museum was situated in the middle of an M rated sim adjacent to PG sims. A small group of spiteful members who disliked this member complained that the pictures of the injured children was violence that offended them when they panned their cameras to the M rated sim or flew over it to get to their own land. The pictures of the children were removed by a Linden employee.

The flyover issue has always been a problem for those who want to suppress content because the concept of offense is subjective, as are the words sexual and violent themes.

Nudity for things like skins is actually an easier call. Think of it this way. In the US a newstand or convenience store cannot openly display photos of nudes and covers are required and the magazines sealed to ensure that those who see it are truly intending to view the content. That concept serves the public well in real life and should work in SL as well. Skins showing nudity should be allowed in PG if they are in a separate covered area clearly marked "nudity inside" so that those who are offended can steer clear. In fact, this was the position stated by Char Linden in 2005 concerning the sale of skins in PG sims.

The issue of sex animation pose balls arose in 2004 when animations were introduced to SL and sex pose balls began to be sold in PG shopping malls. At the time Philip Linden stated that trying a sex animation pose ball in a store located in a PG sim was not a sexual act> He stated it was ok to sell sex animations in PG sims in covered areas and to have pose ball demos out in the open. I disagreed with that conclusion and thought then, and still think that the sex animations belonged in a M rated sim.

The largest problem I see with this is enforcement. In the almost 6 years I have spent in SL I have yet to see consistent enforcement of the ratings system and M rated and X rated content has openly encroached into the classifieds, profiles, picks and on PG sims. The welcome areas, particularly the one in Ahern, is a PG area where abuse is the way of life even in the presence of Lindens who prefer to ignore it.

Based on the current thinking (overtly sexual in nature), yes - you would be required to move.

Wow, sucks to raise children in a ghetto I guess, thank the gods I live in a simi-decent community where strippers and hookers don't hang out around children.

That is an interesting thought: Adult being actionable rather than visual. My question is - what about RL pornographic images uploaded into SL? I would be inclined to consider those adult as well.

What other objects do you sell? If you focus on sexual piercings and depend on those in your advertising, it may benefit you to move. If your store has a wider variety of objects, then you would simply be considered matured.

It's not that unusual a setup, lingerie shops in town centres sell sex toys, lapdancing clubs will be near other commercial ventures, same with bars and clubs and pubs are frequent in residential areas and are near schools and churches.

I can assure you that I don't live in a Ghetto Strippers and hookers do not hang around children (in their work clothes, that is. Of course they do so outside of their work hours. Many of them have children, after all).
Sex shops usually look pretty harmless on the outside, at "worst" there's some sexy lingerie in the shop window. And most brothels (at least the ones in inner cities) are indistinguishable from an apartment building, other than for a sign like "Club Emanuelle" or something at the entrance.

Alas, I can see that this poses a problem in Second Life, since minors can cam through walls here. I can therefore understand the need for estates and entire mainland continents flagged as adult zones.

I've lived in a lot of places across my country in my life and I've never seen a whorehouse next door to a kindergarten, not even in Nevada.

Quote from the front page: "-- 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'?"

Furries are considdered adult content now? i know of at least one furry sim that is PG. Does that mean as a furry i would only be allowed in spicific parts of SL, even if i'm totally dressed and not doing anything sexual.

We all know how LL likes to "discuss" things after they have made up their minds. How many of us remember when casinos went away along with any of the more fun "sploders" in clubs? Oh, right, that was because of the US law not allowing on-line gambling.

A friend of mine was given a ban for a period of time for supposed age play. In fact, all she did was disrobe in front of an adult avatar because the "adult" had asked to see what a child avatar looked like. There was no age play going on. Oh, right, age play was banned because of German law. No matter how offensive it may have been, most of it took place behind closed doors.

If i change clothes in my own home, and someone happens to see, do i now have to worry about offending some overly sensitive prude, or violating the laws of some country some place that prohibits such things?

When will we learn that there will always be SOMEone offended by SOMEthing. If you're offended by furries, just ignore them. In fact, we'd appreciate it.

LL never said that, in fact many Lindens are furries.

Could you please apply all rules fair and square, applicable to everybody in the same manner? Otherwise all honest adult content creators who flag their place will lose 70% of their customer base, i.e. the unverified crowd. Who don't see the need to verify when places with "with a wider variety of objects" can cater to all adult needs without having to flag their land or move to adult zones.

Edit: Or is this the goal behind this policy of exceptions? To drive all places that are openly sexual in nature out of business, while ignoring those who sell prim genitals or non-BDSM sex furniture in a small hidden room behind shelves full of designer clothes, where it doesn't scare off investors?