New TOS, Restrictions, Proof of Unsafe Foundations.

I had been planning a publication in SL, along with a large push into the art community. I had set aside the resources to fund a L$100k contest in the name of our upcoming publication. We were arranging for a very nice parcel to be available to us as a presence. Both the publication, and any art-related activities I had in mind for SL are now on hold indefinitely.

I see no reason to produce art in SL, when in order to have anything "adult" in nature displayed I have to close the venue to the majority of people viewing it. Obviously it won't mean there won't be kids there, since the kids just have to press the "connect" button on their parent's account. Obviously, it doesn't protect kids from predators, since the day-old avis with huge penis attachments will still be wandering around the noob areas only to be suspended for three days for their trouble.

I see no reason to produce a publication, since distributing to the unverified anything considered "adult" by the LL fundies would no doubt now place me in some sort of jeopardy if it gets into the hands of kids WHO AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE GRID IN THE FIRST PLACE...

So, anyone who says this isn't going to effect SL need only look at me. I'm not going to put hundreds of my own dollars into a contest that may well be closed viewing to the average person when it is finalized. I'm not going to tell the people who submit articles to my magazine that they have to make it Disney-friendly.

I notice I can't even log into SL now without agreeing to the new terms of service. I find that disgusting, frankly, because it technically means people are agreeing to something they are already functioning in conflict with, but can't do anything about it because they can't log in to fix it. It is very much like the insta-ban on gambling that left so many users unable to close out their businesses in any sort of a fiscally-prudent manner.

All this adds up to an environment that can devalue or ban your efforts without warning, overnight, and then not even let you log in until you agree that your efforts will end. That's nothing I am interested in sinking any more money into. I may USE LL's world for my own benefit, but I don't think trying to positively effect the SL world, when anything I make is liable just to sink into the sand, is justified by reason at this point.

Not that I disagree with anything you've said, but...

Is there anything in the new TOS regarding identity verification or flagging restricted content?

According to the LL blog, the only change to the TOS was the implementation of arbitration for disputes under $10,000.

AFAIK, the other stuff is coming, but is not here yet.

I understand that, but my point is that at any time the TOS could be changed, and you not even be able to log in to deal with your issue until you have agreed to it. That leaves a lot of people in the position of either agreeing to something they don't choose to, or abandoning their SL property out of hand.

While I can understand how that can happen, I can't believe that inspires any kind of faith in an economic enterprise. You own a casino, you log in, and everything you owned is now worthless, other than the land, which isn't worth as much as when people could put casinos on it. Pretty soon you'll own a sex area, and you log in to find that you are required to restrict access to 90% of your users.

I really don't have to see that sort of thing happen a third time to decide that it isn't worth investing when the emperor could decide with a sweep of his hand to invalidate my efforts. If my magazine contains adult material, and it is assumed that anyone unverified isn't of legal age, how can I distribute it without risking distributing adult material to a minor?

It's these sweeping changes in our status that is the problem. Suddenly, the TOS isn't enough, and marking a plot mature isn't enough. If that's the case, then marking a group mature isn't enough either, or marking on the outside of a publication that it contains adult material isn't enough.

Too iffy, not worth the risk. More so, the world, quite frankly, is less and less deserving of the efforts. I believe that this is all creating a demand for someone to supply. Before I sink deep roots here, I think I will wait and see what appears.

Looking back I see that I was unclear in the title, my apologies. My point was that at any given time a new TOS can appear, redefining the world and nullifying whatever you've done.

So... shifting sands to build upon, and what motivations and influences are the causes will never, really, be known to us. In the end, all we have is the hope that the hand of change will pass over us.

I will risk $72 a year on that, heck, I'll even risk the teir on a decent sized plot of land to play. But what I was once willing to contribute to better the world as a whole, to "give back" and be something but a blind user? Nope, not any more.

Suddenly I have to worry that if I distribute my publication through a group, even marked mature, is it enough to protect me if one of the members is a minor and the publication has something "R" rated in it. Evidently marking something mature isn't enough in terms of land. As I've said elsewhere it seems odd that people are restricted from walking onto my property of their own free will, yet I can send them pornography by the ton any time I like, no matter where they are.

Yes, you do have to worry about that.

The casino owners had to worry about whether, or when, gambling would be banned in SL, and a lot of them waited too long to cash out. You face the same problem.

But I will say that your scenario of having to "abandon your stuff" if you're presented a new set of TOS that you won't agree to is something of a chimera.

If LL changes the TOS to something you can't live with, you can always agree long enough to log in, sell your land and posessions, and THEN cancel your account.

Once I have agreed, would I not be on record as agreeing? Aside from the obvious annoyance of agreeing with something that I don't agree with...

LL has made it clear that they aren't going to be responsible for content, and what I make isn't deleted from the world when I cancel my account. What are the odds they are going to stride into court when little bobby's momma sues, and tell them that sorry, he clicked that TOS AFTER he made what little bobby saw, so really no one is to blame?

No, I think they'll be able to point to the fact you agreed to the TOS, your name as creator of what little bobby saw, and leave it at that. You might, with some effort convince the court that that TOS was after you released the material into the wild, but given there are judges who have to be taught what a website is, even now, I don't like the odds.

So, no, once I click the TOS, when it finally comes, I have to assume not only what I am going to do, but everything I have done, is going to be held to it. If I can't delete it myself, I'm just not going to produce it with any "R" rated material involved.

Paranoid? Maybe, but I'd rather not see my name on the news, innocent or not. That is, if I bother producing anything at all worthwhile. I'm frankly unmotivated to at this point.