FTC Report on virtual worlds released December 10

http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/ftc-virtual-worlds-report-due.php

It seems there's a lot of text based smut out there, which is not surprising since that's what they went looking for.

As for the rest of the report, we'll just have to wait and see.

Pretty much a non-informative article. The only concrete statement I read was that the report was due out Dec 10.

The take away is that the FTC is arriving. The wild wild west days are officially over. virtual world companies will have to play by commerce regulation rules going forward.

But not because of consumer complaints. Because of political "things". Which is dangerous.

When it comes to marketing mature content to kids with movies, music, and video games, the FTC has generally been in favor of industry self-regulation rather than heavy-handed FTC involvement. When it comes to making a blind guess about smut in virtual worlds, I would guess the FTC goes in the same direction, giving the industry a chance to self-regulate first.

But whatever way it goes, the time lapse from initial report to first action is likely to take long enough that Second Life will be out of business by the time any sort of FTC regulation would happen.

I didn't get that at all from the article. But, I do agree with your assessment of the FTC's stance. And in that light it bolsters LL's recent actions with adult content. And, as a whole, this community (I'm talking about this forum community) has been extremely resistant to those actions. Doesn't make much sense to me when in the next breath those same people absolutely loathe government intervention (which is on the way if the industry does not self police). Fight LL's efforts and fight government intervention.......we will loose on both fronts.

But, we are speculating here.......the report isn't out nor official yet. However, I agree with Amity.

A little bit of background for those who may have missed it the first time around.
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/05/representative.html
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/10/mark-kirk-still.html
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/12/ftc-investigating-explicit-content-in-virtual-worlds/

but of course LL has always claimed that they have done everything without any duress from outsiders. Free will and all that.

I went outside of the article to make my guess. Here's a press release regarding the last report on the entertainment industry marketing violence to children. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/04/marketingviolence.shtm The chairman of the FTC remains the same since that report, so that's the basis of my guess.

Plus, I know people who work in government regulatory agencies. They are not going to be keen to increase their workload on a trivial issue, and the report is going to support their desired workload. I wouldn't see any regulatory agency wanting to increase its workload, unless it has discovered something truly ghastly in the initial investigation.

Yet another report by an unconstitutional agency that we would be better off scrapping, if only to save the tax money wasted on salaries.

While some people admittedly are doing that, I think a lot will grudgingly admit LL does need to get things under control. What they object to is the heavy handed, inconsistent and generally incompetent way they handle it.

I don't see all that much heavy handedness. But, I will admit the consistancy lacks a bit. It's almost blatantly obvious on that point.

I don't believe that the FTC is really the issue here. It's what Mr Kirk decides to do with the information that will affect us. According to Blondin, the planning for the changes started 10 months prior to March this year which coincidentally around the time Mr Kirk started raving about the evils of Second Life.

LL is trying to portray a clean, business friendly image. No matter what the FTC says in this instance it will be what Mr Kirk runs around saying that will generate the publicity and that's what they'll be trying to avoid.

Ll have a new starter coming on board who, it seems, will be dealing with cleaning up those who have stayed on the mature mainland. What their remit will actually be hasn't been announced but I'm sure one of the things they'll be tasked with is trying to keep the veneer of respectability in place in light of the report and the responses.

as for grudging. I cannot think of anyone who was directly impacted that was resistant to the idea of separating the content. It was the drive by screamers who created the dramatic noise - as they do with all change. Witness the current drama over npiof and the threats to leave if it came in blah blah blah.

The big issue for adult content providers was, and still is, the lack of clear information on the policy objectives, capriciousness and lack of basic fairness. In effect LL charge us the same as everyone else but now deliver a lesser service across the board. For those who seek adult content the issue was more around information and access.

Essentially, Dec 10 is the day when the final stage of this will probably kick off again and that's why I posted the link. Those who have been following the content separation from the beginning will have recognised this and the rest of you now have fair warning to get your popcorn and settle down for a ring side seat.