LL needs bigger and better warnings!

I must meet around 5-6 underagers who openly say they are underage everyday.

after they tell me thier age i then explain, "you know secondlife is for people 18 and older?"

they almost always reply "what? where does it say that!?"

i think LL need better warning when ppl sign up that this is explictly for over 18 year olds. i know that wont stop everyone who is underage, but it does let them know the kind of behavior expected and found in secondlife.

personally i hate the new registration system, it makes accounts worthless and scams easy. bu thats not the topic of his thread. so..discuss. should LL put a little more pressure on the 18+ warning?

I think it starts with them having to be honest with their age on signup.

Axel, where in heavens are you hanging out? I have met my share of underage players and even had one or two deported. But you appear to have found a virtual fountain of youth!

It says on the main page: "Under 18? Check out Teen Second Life".

Also, if they entered their true age, wouldn't that dump them on the teen grid? I'm not sure haven't/won't try it.

I would guess that they're more likely messing with you rather than actually being unaware.

Yeah, that's never going to happen.
I registered myself, and helped my partner and RL sister with theirs, and remember that it is stated that the main grid is for adults over the age of 18. If people don't read all that stuff during sign-up, then there's really nothing LL can do, aside from putting an huge 18+ on every page, and I bet people will still say "what? where?"

They can't claim ignorance because to get in they have to put in a birthday that will put them at or over the age of 18.

Maybe upon account creation there should be larger letters to the effect saying "by clicking 'create account' you free Linden Lab from all legal liabilities regarding matters involving your age should it be found that the data you entered was falsified."

In most cases if you were to put up a red flag, fire off two flares and put a top volume wav files saying "you must be at least 18 to enter" in a loop, you would just encourage them to enter.

Come on, we were all teens once (some of you are now) you know that natural curiosity wins out over caution most of the time.

More warnings wont do this. The only way this will slow down is giving them hoops to jump (i.e. credit card checks or what have you.) We are all pretty sure by reading the boards that LL is not going to do that.

My wife has encountered the same obvious kid twice in two days. He is a smoooooth talker that one.. he opens with "hey" and that is usually followed by "wanna mess around?".

They are here and they are not going away from the way it looks. I have been very vocal about it myself in other threads but I am at the point where I realize it will do no good.

The solution is not to ban all non verifieds, it is not to report every "possible" underage player nor is it to be vocal on the message boards. You just gotta go about your day and not interact with the ones that are stuck on stupid. If anything maybe LL should make a iggy hud to make it more convenient since they opened the flood gates.

Another thing is they really need to make the teen grid something that teens want to be in. Maybe someday bands of thier generation will play there. Maybe there will be new things there (never been there obviosly so I dont know if this is all in effect or not) that draw them there. That would be the way to solve a big part of this stuff.

The way things are going, age verification at signup will be a non-issue.

The verification tools are being put in the hands of the residents so it's up to us to screen users entering their websites (a.k.a. parcels/shops/clubs).

Since all ages will be residents of the main grid it will become our responsibility to block content.

That's how it is on the web, and that's the LL's planned direction.

Entry to the web is like unverified access to SL. Verified accounts are like those with some adult age-check or something which grant them access to mature sites. Our tier payments are webhosting fees.

I know some people on the Teen Grid, and they say it leaves much to be desired.
The "bands of their generation playing on the TG" thing won't ever happen because:
1) 18+ aren't allowed to enter w/o LL's concent, and that includes a background check.
2) Most celebs wouldn't pass the background check.

Yep.. you showed me this the other day actualy. That was part of what made me resign my feelings.

I know the tools are upcoming.. Robin Linden I believe was who said it would be soon. I just hope it is done quickly so that nobody ends up having to get a lawyer. *sidebar* With all the threats on the board lately let me point out that was NOT one */sidebar*

Read this post and the three threads mentioned and ponder over the "what if LL did implement all of this?"

/139/a7/127722/1.html

Looks to me like "problem solved" should this happen.

Good ideas.

As long as the main grid doesnt require a Credit card to signup, but the teen grid does, its a major fact their gona come here instead. The reason? Kids don't have credit cards unless it isn't really theirs.

If this is the case then why don't they just merge the grids? o.o

well just incase you didnt notice the tiny pitifull image that says "under 18?" there is no requirement on the signup page, it simply asks your birthdate... and with linden labs complete lack of intrest in their own website i doubt it even checks (or ever has)

yep i just made up an ALT with totally bogus info, the only thing that stoped me was the bogus date on the bogus credit card, if i put more than 1 seconds worth of effort into it i would have probally gotten in the MG

sigh

porn sites have better verification

btw the date i entered would have put me @ 4 years old

edit :

OH my bad that would have put me on the teen grid, which aught to scare the ever living hell out of you parents, just lie about your birthdate and use "daddys" credit card and you have a creepy dude messing with your kids

COMON linden labs jeez

fact is it never checks for MG access, you say your 27 they assume you are

their verification is lame on both ends and i cant wait for that "little billy getting caught being a big breasted hooker" lawsuit

I'm sure they want to but at this time they can't. If you read the reply to Hypatia you'll see the verification tools are still in the pipeline.

While it's true that teens will have an easier time getting on the main grid than the Teen Grid, the Teen Grid remains an available option for parents to choose where their kids go.

The teen grid can't communicate with the regular Second Life users can they? Or is it a completely different server?

Legalities aren't a major deterant for the under 18 crowd, imo. They are often aware that even multiple transgressions committed at this time are typically wiped clean from their record when they become of age. Assuming further that if they are caught that they are prosecuted. That's regarding things like alcohol, shoplifting, illegal substances and the like. I honestly think that entering an adult site on the internet would not be considerered to be that big of a deal to most in comparison.

In your experience, what types of legal repercussions have been applied to teens for doing so?

The legal warning certainly does not stop the teens. It's legal protection for LL and it might serve LL to thumb that in the nose of new registrants a little more than it is now. Some people just never read, and never heed.

The repercussion is not being able to blame LL if something happens. By signing the TOS they've signed away any rights to sue LL if they lied about their age.

But we're presently in a rather iffy state as SL is in transition from one state to another. So legal matters are not so clear right now. When the new tools are in place, we'll check again.

Protection for LL but no repercussion for violators. I think iffy is a good term. They aren't old enough to sign away their legal right even if they do read it, are they?

That's a good point. They aren't.

All the more reason for LL to speed up the introduction of the age verification tools in-world.

I really wonder how their lawyers are advising them.

As LL strives to move away from responsibility for age verification, I wonder how well anonymity will hold up as a rubber for safe cybersex amongst "consenting adults".

Anyone who is underage is unable to enter into a contract - so LL is already freed from legal liabilities arising from the minor attempting to initiate a contract, because the contract is null and void. Even if they /were/ culpable to enter the contract, they've immediately become culpable for a bad faith misrepresentation of a material fact of the contract, which again makes the contract null and void. Providing false or misleading facts that are material to the entry or execution of a contract renders it void.

I will withhold my personal views of the children who do this and the parents who enable them.

A very interesting point and, in the interest of clarifying the facts in the registration-underage controversy, I'd like to know a bit more.

We're delving into nuances of law and contracts which I, as a non-lawyer, am not familiar with anymore. Given what you've said where are the liabilities/culpabilities if an adult engages in sexual-flavored communication with a minor in SL (who of course has a void contract with SL)?

Do the adults here have any basis for feeling they have a contract of sorts with LL for ensuring an adults only environment? When reading things like "consenting adults" and "First we all know that only adults are allowed to get in sl. That is enforced by Linden.", I tend to think that it's the adults and not the kids who need bigger and better warnings. Imo, in this scenario, the correct answer to the question "who's your daddy?" would not be "LL" because they will not be taking care of you. But, that's just me; I tend to think that many feel that the liability is LL's, not their own.