10-08-2006 17:34
of unverified accounts are stupid and rediculous. Most people in SL have not one problem with the free accounts. The free accounts are good for the game.......enrich the game. But, with the option of getting a free account to not verify that you are really someone over the age of 18 (yeah, I know that has holes in it.........it can be gotten around easily if someone is so inclined) it invites a sense of "I'm not tracable" by anyone. That is not completely true........but it sure puts a huge burden on whoever wants to find out. Without some sort of verifying just who you are there is not any easy (or, sometimes feasible) way of finding you. An unverified account can grief and know that the only way Linden Labs can find you is to get a subpena from a court of law to get the ISP to cough up the ID of that IP number they have on their servers....a huge obstacle and one that requires a level of "probable cause". Or, at least, some level of proof for some sort of crime. That requirement of the law is a good thing........but it is what some, with less than honest intentions, use to their advantage. A fraudulant use of an ID to gain access is nothing but another "crime" to add to the "offense"..........someone who uses a credit card or PayPal account to "verify" their account is only compounding their potential problems with the law. Same with the purchasing of a CC at the local 7-11.......it can be traced back to the retailer (yes, that will probably require some subpena). But to open the membership to just anyone without some sort of an attempt to find out who they are first is just making it so much it so much easier for the less than nice and honest.

I don't feel superior to any "no payment info on file" accounts..........I'm just suspicious of them until I get to know them...........and it takes longer for me to open up enough to get to know them. It's not your fault that you can get an account without any verification of who you are...........that rests squarely with Linden Labs. But it is your fault that you get your panties all wadded up and carrying that chip on your shoulders when people who have verified who they are speak out about it.

You can keep your free account.........and have all the fun and preveleges of that account. Just get verified. I don't think anyone is demanding you to pay for the game. Just make it so we can trust you. Get the chip off your shoulders.............lighten up and, at least, understand where we are coming from. No one is accussing you of griefing........but that anyone wiith an unverified account can grief with almost total immunity from LL.

Take care. :)