My response to the New Rule! (Be ready for a long read)

Dear Lindens, Friends, Fellow SL users, and Inhabitants of Planet Earth;

I set forth this statement in response to the post within the Blogs made by “daniellinden” titled “Keeping Second Life Safe, Together” Which when as follows:

“The diversity of things to see and do within Second Life is almost unimaginable, but our community has made it clear to us that certain types of content and activity are simply not acceptable in any form. Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depiction of sexual or lewd acts involving or appearing to involve children or minors; real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of sexual violence including rape, real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of extreme or graphic violence, and other broadly offensive content are never allowed or tolerated within Second Life.
Please help us to keep Second Life a safe and welcoming space by continuing to notify Linden Lab about locations in-world that are violating our Community Standards regarding broadly offensive and potentially illegal content. Our team monitors such notification 24-hours a day, seven-days a week. Individuals and groups promoting or providing such content and activities will be swiftly met with a variety of sanctions, including termination of accounts, closure of groups, removal of content, and loss of land. It’s up to all of us to make sure Second Life remains a safe and welcoming haven of creativity and social vision.”


Today I speak to you as a twenty, nearly twenty-one, year old college student, a Caucasian male that lives in Texas and aspires to gain a degree in Cultural Anthropology and Social Linguistics to the highest level I may, hopefully a Doctorate, if I am lucky enough to live to see that. I speak to you as a free being, one that has the right to determine my own decisions and thoughts, as many religions decree their selected deities did decree upon creation of humanity. I am a strait male; reared by homosexual fathers from the age of ten; reared by my birth mother and father up until then. I have endured many travesties, seen friends held at gunpoint for color of skin, been beaten myself for being friends with others for color of skin. I have been threatened for having a diverse sense of the world, for seeking and trying to understand the world about me, for trying to understand. I have seen my fellows berated for their preferences, and so been berated for hanging out with them, and in kind for my own mannerisms and behaviors.

I am a man that has endured many things; I am a furry, I have been such since, as I term it, was a cub. I feel in tune with a tiger and thus call myself such. Would I ever go forth in real life and attempt to mate with a tiger, no, that is foolish. Not because the tiger would likely kill me, but because that is not what I am in truth. I am a human in reality and my mate, my life partner, as it were, should be such in my eyes and in my opinion. That is how I feel, that is the decision I have made in my life. It is how most others in the world feel, that humans are what we seek to love and lay with at night, but not everyone, and that is the truth. But also I know this, as much as I may disagree with those that lay with other things, and as much as religious texts do preach against said act, it is not my place to decree upon them that their choices are wrong, for that is what their lives have led them to do. It is neither my place to say hey stop doing that if they are not harming others with the act, not do I think it is in the paws of any other being to do so. If it is in the grasp of any being to do so, I do not feel they are of this earth any more, and I leave it to them to decree when they see fit what shall be done when it comes to finding folly with the world.

True, there are so obvious things that are considered a cross-cultural blanket wrong:

1: Murder; An obvious wrong in reality, one I would never condone, and never want to occur to anyone. On the other hand, in an RP, a role play, or an acted out and written story, how does one find fault with the act. If it were deemed wrong to write murder, well there alone we have black-listed almost every murder mystery, every story of intrigue and malice and death, not to mention any religious texts that hold them.

2: Rape; in real life, obviously wrong once more, one should never impose themselves upon another, and especially not in the act of the most sacred thing two people can do, have sex. Though in an RP, once again it is a falsehood, a fallacy, an imaginary circumstance, written up and created by the minds of the beings involved. It is seen in plays, in poems, hell even in religious texts, stories that depict rape, and yet for the sake of a role play it is not allowed, well then lets get rid of all of those.

3: Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depiction of sexual or lewd acts involving or appearing to involve children or minors; well, when an adult is involved, yes this is wrong, and sex between children, well if they consent with one another that is their prerogative, though could be deemed wrong by modern standards, as well we thing only adults should have sex, now don’t we? But on the other hand, let’s think about this for a moment. In our past, as humans, we have seen the opinion of what is child and adult drastically change. I most societies it has always been derived from puberty, from a right of passage, or a proving of the capability of the being at hand; yet in the modern society it rests with an age, a certain point at which because you have lived so long, you are suddenly an adult. Look back though, shall we? The religious texts are filled with stories of beings of the age fourteen or so being wed. Back in the past some groups said it was at the right of passage one would become married as well, or begin to pursue a mate. There are stories, classic works from all days that depict in one manner or another acts of or involving beings clearly under the age of eighteen, and yet, here upon SL you would ban the depicting of such in writing for it is wrong. Well then let’s just do away with all the before mentioned that involve them.

4: Real-life Images; well, this is a pretty loose statement. First, if you can kindly set forth what exactly is meant by “Real-Life Images”, then I think you will be doing all of SL a service. I say this because if I draw something sexual on a piece of paper then post it on SL via one of the many free TVs, that is a real life image, a picture of a lewd drawing, and yet it is artwork. I drew it with the intent of being artwork, not having sexual content even possibly, say I drew a furry, a picture of one of my friend’s character or one from my mind, but wanted to share it. Is that thus a piece to be banned for? If so, we have a lot of artwork to start destroying out there, and let’s start with Michelangelo’s David because his penis is showing. Wait, that is classic art, that was not intended as a sexual statement. That is an opinion of the masses, but only the artist can truly say that and being the correct one. So, who is to say what an artist intended with his or her work? Leave it to the artist to do that, not the masses.

5: Avatar Portrayals; this has no bearing on Real Life. As far as my rant on this, refer to the above comment on “Real-Life Images”.

6: Other depictions of extreme or graphic violence; well, this is wrong I suppose, showing violence, but then again, how do we ever point out what is going wrong if we don’t? Every day on the news, we see things about war, things about a person being murdered. Every day new movies are being made, that are violent and bloody, every day, stories written that are such as well. Who is to deem what is right or wrong, but if this is something to be banned on SL, a fake world, a fake life, a false system of existence, that is entertainment and holds no true sway over reality, we may as well once more decree a ban on things such as war, stories related to them, writing related to them, movies, games, artwork, and yes, even the religious texts that depict war, famine, and massacre. Hey, even better, let’s just start tossing all the people that wrote them in jail, or wait, let’s ban them from real life. There we go, let’s just go and eradicate every person that has ever done anything that pertained to depicting extreme or graphic violent. Well, anyone ready to step forth and be eradicated, because I am sure we have all dealt with something like that, now haven’t we? Wait, oh yes, that is right, once more, this is SL, a fake and totally fictional and created world, meaning once more, if I have not said it enough, or made this fact blatantly lucid, it had no sway over the realm of reality. Even more so, what of the people that take it too far, that bring this realm of fantasy into the presence of time and space we call the real world, well, that is the decision of the parties involved, and it is up to the laws and settings of their individual places of residence by which they will be punished for such.

7: Other broadly offensive content are never allowed or tolerated within Second Life; well, let’s start by looking at every single community and culture in the world and start demolishing them for each thing that we find wrong in them shall we? Okay, here is what I mean by that: Within every culture there is an accepted standard, within every community as well, and so each group lives by those ideals. Here within SL, we see many depictions of different groups. Within each group there are many different ideals by which life is lived. Within each of these groups even there are different dichotomies that but heads and split to form their own ideals. Even more within these sects there are smaller selections that hold their own ideals, and say things in their own ideals. Further down there are the littler groups that speak of things in closer ideals. Yet in each of those groups, there is the individual, the person that decides upon things for themselves. This is where the start of it rests. One person, one, that is all, is the one that creates an idea or thought, it is only others that can choose to do so as well, but it is only because each of those individuals decide that they act as they do. Each decision, made well, is made based upon well thought out and derived ideals, ones taken form the experiences in life prior to the moment of the decision. Now then, a person that has never been spurned for something may find it hard to understand how spurning feels, but who among us has never been shut out of something?

In the end, I suppose it comes to this, when one really thinks about it, the so called “Golden Rule”: “Do Unto Others, As You Would Have Done Unto You.” In layman’s terms, for the languid and lackadaisical of mind, “Treat your fellow humans how you would want them to treat you.” To make it even more base, “If you want people to be nice to you and respect and treat you well, you have to start by doing the same for them.” Wait, but doesn’t respecting other ideals and mindsets mean you are calling your own wrong? No! Simply put, if you are true to your own ideals, if you really do believe in what you say, then show it by debating and discussing with those of other ideas, do not condemn others when you do not understand their thoughts to begin with. As a person that seeks to understand others, I know well this can happen, you can actually stick to your own beliefs, yes, that is right, the thoughts that you feel are right, note here I am talking about you, the individual that is actually reading this. I am not talking about your religion, I am not talking about your way of life, I am talking about the fact that your have made choices that lead you to those, and thus those are what you feel are correct. You, yes you alone, you the one sitting in front of the monitor you are reading this message upon, you are the only one, in this entire world, that bears the exact mindset and ideals that you do. This is because, you are an individual, you live your life, no one else does, you made the choices the way you did, you have lead yourself to be what you are...

What then does this mean?

This means, simply, you are the only one, the only one in the world, that has the exact thoughts on what is right and wrong, what is accepted and not accepted, and thus that means everyone else in the world has a different, albeit, quite possibly in a very minor manner, but still different, mindset than you. Do you condemn them all for this fact? No! You find a few, you work around your differences, and you become friends, or at least tolerate them for a little while, talk to them for a little bit, and decide one thing or another upon them, and then do as you will. Are you friends with them because others think you should be? No. Do you talk to them because others think you should? No. These are things you do, even if based off peers or other’s words, you still did because you deemed it what you should do. Your will is the one responsible for this.

Now then, what does this mean, why am I saying all this in response to that statement made by a supposed Linden Labs official?

I say this because of this fact, that this is a fantasy world, meaning a place where we may act out whims and do as we see fit. In turn, you as the individual, the one playing the game, may decide what you do within the game world. If I want, I can build a house, build a computer, and sit at a desk and put on the screen an image and act like I ma on the computer. If I want, I can use a female or male avatar, and run around as I please as such. If I want I can even decide to be a hermaphrodite, then run around like that. Now then, say that I in time have a mate, and well this being a second life, my mate and I wish to have cubs, have a child if you will. Wait, an avatar depicting a child is grounds for being banned; suddenly we can’t have a child anymore. We have no intent of doing anything sexual with our cub, what parent would, but we can’t have one all of a sudden? Well, why do I say this, because simply put someone can report that they think we are Age-playing our cub and doing something lewd with the cub, and thus a ban could occur.

Well then, let’s see just how many people out there have, for the sake of their Role-played lives, children... Well, there are a bunch of banned accounts.

How about this: Furries? Yes, I am talking about a point also close to my heart here. I am a furry, I use SL as my only means of really depicting that, it is the closest I can come, especially considering that I do not fur-suit do to my feeling that fur-suiting is a silly behavior... Wait, isn’t that what being a furry is about? Wrong! Being a furry is an individual thing, each and every one of us furs has a different reason for being as we are, stereotyping us is just as wrong as stereotyping anything else in the world. At any rate, being a furry is a way of life, my decision my choice, but I do not run around saying everyone else should be one, no I only feel I should, it is up to others what they are not me.

Well then, what about mock battles, wars, duels, and the sort? So, say a person is Role-Playing something like the Victorial Era, where it was common to see duels with pistols where one person was shot and the other lived. The medieval era, people were massacred then, villages raped and pillaged, so no one can RP that? Movies show it, writing shows it, but we can’t in a fantasy setting such as those?

Bondage, Sadomasochism, things of the like, those can be viewed as rape, but they are usually fully consensual, especially in SL, it is not like you can force another person to let you tie them in SL.

Strip Clubs, most have rules saying minors are not allowed, and that means minor-like avatars as well. It is the same in Real Life, and yet could ones that have sex on stage get banned?

Slavery, show me a country in the world that is not condemned by others for allowing slavery? Wait, it is consensual, well guess what, the sex where people are acting like minors, I guarantee you that is consensual, you know why? Wait, you guessed it, because someone, meaning the person on the computer controlling that avatar, ahs to decide to allow it to occur.

Wait, that is right, all of these things happen, because of consent. Yes! That’s right! People agree to do all of the things that occur on SL. It is not like real life where rape and murder and the kind actually happen. No, it’s fantasy! It is all user controlled, we make the decisions!

That’s right people, you are playing a game. How do you know that? How do I know that? Well, let’s think for a moment here... That computer you are sitting at, that is reality; those things on the screen, those are data, light, and the representation of them in the form of a series of colors you see as an image. That is a fake. That is not really happening to anything, except another computer program’s responses.

The point is, you don’t like seeing something, don’t pay attention to it, go elsewhere. Why though, it’s wrong? Well, that may be according to you, but, let’s just do something and let the religious deity you follow decide that, while you go about living life as you see fit and stop worrying so much about what others do. In truth, if we are so wrong in what we do, how are we ever going to be accepted by you anyway, so why try to make us right to begin with?

In closing, I simply say this. Tolerance is something that is hard enough to find in real life, understanding too, why decide to disrupt the fantasies of others by destroying those things we thought we could at least find a little of here? To Linden Labs, I say this, instead of destroying the behaviors that people enjoy and that can be ignored fairly easily if a person just leaves a simulator or avoids a parcel, why not do something more about those that cause grief for people that are just having fun? Why not actually do something more to impede those that attack groups that just play the game in a manner that disrupts no one else? I say before you start to worry about cleaning up SL’s sexual and violence based realms, try doing something that helps people actually enjoy the game without disruption?

Sincerely,

Oran Enoch

I think alot of people are not seeing the big picture here. SL is a company and like any company they are out to make as much profit as they can. That being said, SL is getting alot of major attention from very large companies such as Dell, NBC and so on. In order to get and keep clients like that, they are not going to have a choice but to clean SL up. I hate to put it this way but point blank... They are trading in the people who have made SL what it is today for major corps. SL is on its way of becoming more of a buisness tool then what it is today and now the Lindens are starting to form that mold. You see it more and more everyday.

Its all about profit.

Exactly. To get the most out of something, you have to appear as positive as you can. If you are shown to condone things that the "general" public does not, then other major companies are less likely to back you.

While I do agree with you, and this is also very relevant to the current LiveJournal mass deletion debacle (http://stewardess.livejournal.com/261058.html), it does not mean that those individuals who are passionate about SL (and who are very aware as to who holds the cards and that LL can, in the end, do whatever they like) will not band together and attempt to make their voice heard in a reasonable manner.

Yes, there will be extremists on both sides, and the OP has done an excellent job in finding the sane middle ground. All we can do now is wait for clarification and make the best of things.

SL IS what we make for ourselves, and I don't ascribe to living in fear for my proclivities. No witch hunt has ever come out as having been a societal positive in the end. LL doesn't want that either. As I said in another thread, LL's policies are beta versions -- time will tell, and until then, rational proclamations of concerns expressed to the appropriate parties is the best we can do.

I think.

Can we have an executive summary please? Nothing anyone says is so important that it absolutely requires 7 pages to write.

That is the whole truth. My argument is to stop with the Bullshit , Patronizing "We are making SL Safe for children", Blog Entries that keep coming out, so nebulously worded that you'd need a Spice infused Guild Navigator to get through them. (Sorry I channeled Dennis Miller there for a sec). I've been here six months and I've never seen an organization that was so communicationally challenged in my life, and I work for the State. Stop with the disingenuous babbling and just tell us what you are going to do, when you are going to do it, and why you are going to do it. That's all. I know what I want form SL. And if it's no longer available, I'll thank you for the enjoyment I have received and go on my way, no hard feelings.

Much as has already been said...

Common sense should prevail.

Let's be respectful of one another regardless of personal interests and opinions.

SL affords many unique and wonderful opportunities for expression of creativity and desire that cannot happen in RL, so it would be a shame to see that limited or eliminated.

Emphasis should be placed on eliminating/reducing problems within SL such as griefing and truly hurtful activities, rather than placing limitations on those who are having fun and harming no one.

*applauds* Yes!!

I find it annoying and dishonest that they claim they are making the MAIN GRID safe for the 'children.' Children, which aren't supposed to be here in the first place. It's not like there isn't another section of the grid dedicated to the teens! Also, why not let the companies set up shop in the Teen Grid, if the company is soooo morally against catering to the the adult lifestyle? There are a lot of children's sites that do it *coughNeopetscough*

But, as Brenda said, if they'd just drop the act, say that I can't do what I want, I'll gladly cash out and leave. I can't say I wouldn't have hard feelings, but I'll definitely balance it with the amount of fun I've had over the long run.

Were sitting here bashing each other over proseletyzing, soap boxing and disingenupus moral stands. But why not? We are following the example set by our Providers. "I learned it from you Dad!"

Well, I want to place a summary, to get my true point across...

Essentially, we all play this game to enjoy a fantasy. We all make the choice to play it, no one makes us do so. We all decide to do everything we do within the game of our own vloition, no one makes us, not one tells us we have to. If we are not forced to act as we do, why then should we constrain others in the decisions we make within a world of fantasy and imagination. In the real world, I can imagine that I wish to kill someone, have sex with someone, hit them, hug them, or whatever I feel, as long as I do not do it, it has no bearing. Considering that Second Life is a false world, one that is based of in the end, no matter how it is looked at, creations that are truly artwork and writing, then you would think the same rules apply. In real life, you don't like a book, you don't read it, you don't like a picture, you don't look at it, you don't like a person, you don't acknowledge them, or so one would think. Truth be told, it seems more often than not that ridicule and disgracing is in order, but why do we need to bring that into Second Life as well?

Fantasy is fantasy. If that fantasy happens to be in a book, a movie, a play, a comic, or in an online virtual world it is STILL a fantasy. A movie which depicts murder is the same as a book which depicts murder is the same as an online world that depicts murder. A movie that depicts a violent sex act is the same as a bodice ripper book that depicts the same as is an online world that depicts the same.

So who decides what is filmable, printable, drawable? In the United States there are laws which say "this is depictable" and pretty much everything goes, if the creator is willing to adhere to ratings laws (G, PG, R, NC-17, X, XXX). The creator himself decides what he will depict. The owner or producer of the book, movie, or what-have-you is the determining force in this matter.

So the real question is: Who owns Second Life?

Is it Linden Lab, who owns the computers on which it resides? If Linden Lab owns Second Life, then yes it can determine what it will allow and disallow. We are "guests" as it were.

Is it the residents of Second Life that purchase land, own land, pay tier, etc? In that case, we should be able to decide what happens on our land. We don't have the right to decide what happens on other lands.

Or is it a combination of LL and the residents? This is very much becoming a legal question. LL owns the computer, but I have bought the land. I have created the content which sits on the land. Through LL's own statement on Intellectual Property, what I create is mine to do with as I please. LL may still own the land, because the land was created by LL and is therefore LL's Intellectual Property.

I pity the judge who will have to decide this all someday.

the world may be false as you say but the photographs and printed text are as real as they are anywhere else and this is what they are trying to "fix"

its not the Ideas is the fact that people can make them into images and text which can be transmitted. Some actually all of these images are real by some definition and never ever will you be able to stop the real world from leaking into any online setting. Its on the net and its in any online community that exists be it a forum a sophistocated MMORPG or some online yahoo group/club.

Some providers on the internet seek to disallow certain things from occuring while others ignore it and let anything happen including the use of their servers for sending spam, trojan horses and promotin racial hatred.

Second Life is run by a company that has made a decision and well no further words are needed I would think

Its pretty simple really if you want to go to a place that allows anything then you can so choose just as you say you made choices here to enter second life there are choices to leave it and choices that you can make based on choices Linden Labs has made.

eh its not that hard to understand is it?


by the way I disagree with half of what is going on BUT i do recognize why its occuring and the fact that these people who run this service that I use are allowed to make the decisions they made cause well like its their choice

I dunno i haven't seen much bashing i see a bunch of ideas or opinions that clash hehe

I'm pretty sure everyone realizes what is going on and why and I am even pretty sure everyone understands it.

Just like any other online community there are 2 milion different points of views that all basically end the say way with these 2 words right here "yes but"

So we can all say "yes but" and we are hehe

also as for communication there are other companies out there one of them being probably the largest gaming company around that is just as bad at communicating if not worse. Its actually pretty common. The developers hatch their plans and put them into motion and some other guy eventually gets told "oh yeah did we tell you we are releasing project XXX next week? better let everyone know just in case" as they run by the water cooler

you totally missed my point.


I'm not talking about Real Life images coming into SL. I'm saying that what happens in a book is up to the author, not the company that makes the paper. What happens in a movie is up to the producer/director, not the company that constructed the camera.

Some people will argue that since Linden Lab says that everything EXCEPT intellectual property is its property, it therefore has the right to decide what happens on its computers.

Other people will argue that Linden Lab sells a service; the residents "own" the content. They therefore have the right to decide what happens on "their" property, with their intellectual content. If someone own the intellectual content to a sex poseball, then that person should be able to determine how it is used. Linden Lab is merely providing a platform.

We buy Microsoft Windows but Microsoft doesn't tell us what we can or cannot use it for.

*shrugs and wanders off to make a pot of coffee*

twastn't a reply to you we simply hit submit at the same time on the message board that is if your talking about my reply to the original post

Willy, are you propagating the widely debated myth that Techies have poor social and communication skills....... *Takes his crayons and runs*

But they keep trying to.....

HEHE

gimme my crayons back!

I dunno if they dont have communication skills its just that they are on the inside and get all wrapped up in what they are doing and forget to send a memo. They may be very good writers and communicators only its just that they umm forget

Been there and done that (the forgetting part)

Ahh gotcha! Hehe

You have my deepest sympathy. Been there, done that. Get away if you can.

I am considering it. As much as I love my work, the crap you have to wade through and the politics is just getting to me. I don't mind being told what to do, but don't tell me HOW to do it.

oran imagine how mad you would have been if your browser had crashed while you were posting that

He he. Always copy to clipboard before posting.

Some wise person once said (well actually many say it over time but its true)

"the way to ruin your gaming experience is to read and react to the forums"

I read them, but I dont do a whole lot of reacting. If I were to get my knickers in a twist evertime some guy handed down a new policy and worry about all the if' ands or buts it would cause my brain to implode in on itself.

There is a very quick cure to most of this. Dont worry about the forums, read the "news" Linden Labs puts out (and they aren't so bad at it as I said there is a lot worse out there), but dont overly worry about it. If at one point you find that what they do actually does affect the game play once its implemented then make a decision to leave. I have only had this happen once to me where the changes actually made it so that I left and it was awhile ago and many games ago now. The truth is most changes the average user barely even notices and those ingame dont even know about the changes because they ignore the blog entries and worry about it when it gets there. The happiest population of the game by far is likely those who dont read the forums much

Honestly Forums can and will in many cases ruin your gaming experience (err or whatever you want to call this thing we do in SL i call it a game but its kind of a mish mashy thingy..). People get all angry about so many things in so many different ways and whatnot. In the end is it really worth it?

Go have fun and when it stops being fun find another source of fun.

And if you are like me, you actually like to solve problems instead of securing your position by blocking every solution possible.

The first thing that impressed me about your posts was your great sense of humour, the second thing is that you think.

I did manage to find work after a year of recovering from burnout that paid much better and let me work at the blazing problem solving speed I love. For me it was coordinating film shoots. I'm sure there is something out there for you or hell, suffer it out and enjoy your retirement. One thing I've learned about me is that I give lousy advice.

Good advice, I just worry that SL is being represented to the world by a very small and vociferous group of people. And as much as I don't like taking the risk of being trashed here, I do think its important that another point of view gets expressed even if its just for the sake of people who are lurking.