Do you think the people behind sl-escorts.com should be banned from SL?

We know you walk the walk, question is, can you talk the talk?

I've heard the guy gives good reviews to escorts he already knows in advance, mainly in the hopes of getting free sex from them. It's either clever or pathetic, depending on your point of view.


Kyushu

My favorite quote from the site.
See? In SL anything is possible.

This guy violated the User Agreement plain and simple

He did stealth reviews of the escorts having sex without their knowledge, including chat transcripts of conversations that users expect to be private.

It would be one thing if the escorts all came to him for the reviews. But this is NOT the case.

First Amendment rights does NOT include recording people engaging in private sex and then without their permission laundering that over the public Internet.

His site should die a quick death.

He has NO journalistic integrity and cannot be objective if he also takes paid advertisements from both the girls and the clubs.

Please don't get bamboozled by his call for internet freedom. Having the sex is internet freedom. Recording it for the world and getting everyone riled up is NOT.

Please don't just assert: Point out where in any of the agreements involved there's language that makes what he's doing ban-worthy.

I got a kick out of his site. In RL the few times I've come across women who do "escorting" I ask if they really believe that all they are are their sexual selves, if that's all they think they have to offer: "Aren't you worth more than your meat?"... after reading his site, I have to wonder what I'd say to an SL escort. "Aren't you worth more than your creative writing skills?"

Somehow it's just not as demeaning.

Site is oem the best and funniest reads about Sl. I say weban anyone who wants to ban it

This post is hilarious to me, although I suspect my amusement is entirely inadvertant.

rofl <3 it! Dunno but for 2k a session I believe I just might give it a try.

Escorts aren't selling a product. They're selling a SERVICE. You admitted that yourself in your first line. You pay for the duration of the service; the text isn't yours to do with as you will after, and it IS a direct violation of TOS and EULA to post other people's text without their knowledge or consent. When you pay to see a movie, do you get to tape it so you can show it to your friends later? A sporting event? A concert? If the text was a product, why bother hiring an escort at all? Just ask for the cliff notes and don't waste my time. Nope, plain and simple your site violates the rules and if you get banned for it, I won't be shedding any tears. Besides, you'll just try to sneak back in with another alt like you always do when you're asked to leave somewhere.

Hmm. Not sure official opinion is going to back you up on this.

/invalid_link.html



She didn't make any remarks about 3rd party sites.

In this thread, Robin remarks that 3rd party sites do not fall under Linden Lab's control. Nothing specific on logs, but interesting nonetheless.

/invalid_link.html

Ah, here we go. Community Standards.



Prohibited in Second Life and on the Second Life forums. So, basically, in the spaces that Linden Lab controls. (ie not 3rd party websites or blogs)

If Linden Lab takes any sort of action against this paying, press-generating customer, that action will be arbitrary, capricious and inconsistent with established policy, opinion and precedent.

I am *extremely* displeased with the website. Evidently, some one has been recording chat transcripts for MONTHS, and has now put hundreds of them on display at some blog.

This is the kind of thing that nobody without a sick mind could possibly enjoy, and exactly the kind of disturbing element that we don't need in SL. When I take over, I'll take down websitse like this and incarcerate these people for the remainder of their Second Lives

Anna BobbySocks
Capitalistic Empress

p.s Oh yeah it's at sl-escorts.com. Check it out, it's disgusting.

Hypothetically speaking, what if those escorts who you rated, were to rate you back? Are you really God's gift to women that you claim to be? "I don’t have a huge cock. I do in RL, but on SL I want to experience life with a normal-sized cock." How would you feel if you were rated buddy? I'm sure you wouldn't be playing martyr here, you'd be wanting those ladies banned. Now if you say you wouldn't want them banned, you are quite the hypocrit? Hmm..something to ponder for all of you defending this creep-What if it had been YOU that was rated? I doubt you would be very happy with this guy and be saying he shouldn't be banned.

Have a nice day!

I agree Danya, I've actually had the unpleasant experience of seeing his prim dong it's pretty low prim, doesn't even have custom texturing.

The guys site is drivel. non productive and hes full of himself. The part about wanting to experince what having an average size member was like in sl cracked me up. Fact is recording anyconversation without knowledge be it vocal or digital is effectively wire tapping. Flame away. he should be banned.

i think a third party 'consumer reports' is fantastic. There's been talk of wanting a BBB and this is a great first step. As long as there's no bias and it doesn't become a way of hawking wares, an unbiased reviwing website should be a welcome addition to SL.

Wow you are cheap, I won't get out of bed for under 5k

Mr. Degroot failed to mention that he posts these 'reviews' without the permission of the avatars. He uses alt after alt to access clubs and brothels.

He then uses his "self-appointed" expertise to defame and violate the privacy of those that choose to roleplay as escorts.

If he is banned..it will be for violating TOS not free speech.

Also several members have asked to be removed from his blog and he refuses to do so.

He (DeGroot) has been banned from most clubs/brothels/sims do to his escapades, yet he just gets another alt and does it anyways. He has been Abuse Reported repeatedly.

Maybe the poll should accurately read...

Do you think SL Escorts have a right to privacy? or..

If someone is banned from an area and they use an alt to return and do the same thing should they be banned by SL?

You made my day!

I had a short career as a topless dancer and gave a few lap dances... I quit the night my "customer":

1) went afk on me
2) didn't say thanks
3) didn't pay

Would have been lovely to post a "review" of him!

Why? It's a fan website essentially... should we ban bloggers who's opinions we don't agree with... positive or negative? I know few up for the chop if that were the case..

Or perhaps ban Cris Midnight because someone took a pic that didn't show a build in the best possible lighting or resolution.

Or Bad the 'is my av hot or not' because someone rated an AV a 0.

The funny truth is I have 1 (one) alt, everything else is myth..

At the moment the only places I'm banned is Stroker Serpentine's Amsterdam, because he just wants you to buy his toys, he doesn't care if you hire a good escort or a lousy one, BB's Honey Lounge and Club Valkyrie.

All the other clubs have come to realize our site has a right to exist and is going to improve the whole SL escort scene. The problem is that Stroker has connections (and plans for his own websites).

Hell, Mr. DeGroot posted the first few reviews, including my own..if you can call that a review, without any knowledge of being reviewed, let alone consent. I'm sure that's a TOS violation. Not to mention what he posted in my case is slanderous and untrue..and I am publica stating here I want it removed.

You people vote yes, maybe because you see consumer affairs as a good thing, but this goes way beyond that. Whether you like it or not or think it's silly, cybersex is a personal and private activity between consenting partners. The fact he (over)paided for the service does not superceed the privacy and personal nature of the activity, and it doesn't give him leeway to stomp over our right to privacy on the matter.

This puts a whole new spin on it.

When's the guy gonna sell the stories to an *ahem* men's magazine?

ok clearly this is a collaborated publicity effort.

stroker and his working girls can't be so stupid as to not realize that this website is good for business. or could they?...

I am all for freedom of expression/speech/thought....

Hell...I sell COCKS in SL fgs!

But this is a violation on so many levels...

TOS:

USER CONDUCT
(iv) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content as determined by Linden at its sole discretion that is harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, causes tort, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.

USE AS PROVIDED
You acknowledge that you do not have the right to create, publish, distribute, create derivative works from or use any software programs, utilities, applications, emulators or tools derived from or created for the Service, except that you may use the Linden Software to the extent expressly permitted by this Agreement.

RIGHTS IN CONTENT
You acknowledge that Linden and other Content Providers have rights in their respective Content under copyright and other applicable laws and treaty provisions, that they retain all such rights and that you accept full responsibility and liability for your use of any Content in violation of any such rights.

COMMUNITY STANDARDS:

INTOLERANCE
The use of derogatory or demeaning language or images in reference to another Resident's race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is never allowed in Second Life.

HARRASMENT
Communicating or behaving in a manner which is offensively coarse, intimidating or threatening, constitutes unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors, or is otherwise likely to cause annoyance or alarm is Harassment.

DISCLOSURE
Residents are entitled to a reasonable level of privacy with regard to their Second Lives. Sharing personal information about a fellow Resident --including gender, religion, age, marital status, race, sexual preference, and real-world location beyond what is provided by the Resident in the First Life page of their Resident profile is a violation of that Resident's privacy. Remotely monitoring conversations, posting conversation logs, or sharing conversation logs without consent are all prohibited in Second Life and on the Second Life Forums.

ALTERNATE ACCOUNTS
Alternate accounts are generally treated as separate from a Resident's principal account, but misuse of alternate accounts can and will result in disciplinary action on the principal account.

Reporting Abuse
Residents should report violations of the Community Standards using the Abuse Reporter tool located under the Help menu in the in-world tool bar.

If you feel that DeGroot has violated your privacy..harrased you..posted your likeness or chatlogs without permission..defamed you..or has used alternate accounts to access your sim/establishments after being banned..

To the Escorts...please do not feel that roleplaying an escort diminishes your right to privacy nor freedom from abuse/harrasment.

I encourage you to send an abuse report.