What is broadly offensive? Please stick to the topic this time.

In which case, use of the word would be "broadly offensive" because the majority would assume it to be so?

Oh boy!


niggardly - niggardly - niggardly !!!
So someone AR me for that.
Some faceless Linden reviews and assumes it's offensive.
Bang!
No appeal?


Note to self: Stick to monosy........ xxxxxxx Stick to simple words with one syl..... xxxxxx Stick to words with one sound.

No seriously, that really does seem fair. I wasn't being sarcastic. It allows LL to be flexible and judge each individual case on its merits. Yes, it leads to confusion among residents - but the benefits of LL not being tied to a dogmatic approach outweigh those cons.

Yep .. a whitewash!

Just like the last sentence of my employment contract, '.. and any other duties as directed by the management' ... thereby making everything that preceeded it, superfluous.

On the one hand, they're giving us free rein by not specifying. On the other, they're reserving thr right to do anything. Very tiresome .. but then they don't have to answer to us.

Simple has two syl....sounds....in it. I have now AR'd you, your cousin, your neighbours, your grandparents and your third grade English teacher.

Err.. just what exactly is this an invite for? <tremble>

There was no definitive answer given last time because no definitive answer exists. Just as the concept of "The Normal Man" is nothing more than an ideal. Human beings are widely varied in thier tastes, and attitudes. Recently, a well meaning person asked if Pixel Sex should be banned from SL. Now the response was consistently 73+/-% Against such a ban. That meant that Less than 10% of the population found sex in SL objectionable, yet these people are convinced that THIER View of the world is the normal one, and 73% of the SL population are Abnormal, a complete Misinterpretation of the term Normal. I can Give you My View point on what is broadly offensive, that is to say, those things that garner a negative reaction more often than not in a Public setting, But it will be only My Opinion, Based upon My Observations of the people.
There are some Pat answers, Like Open displays of Nazi paraphenalia, But when you examine it Closer the Context is more important than the display it's self. If the Parapeenalia were part of a Historical, or educational presentation, or Recreation where it is Clearly stated that these were the trappings of "The Bad Guys" then open display of nazi paraphenalia would fall far Outside the Realm of "Broadly Offensive"
There is no Easy, or difinitive answer to the question of Broadly Offensive because the slightest change in Context can alter the entire meaning and Intent. The shades of Grey are so Vast that this question will be debated for months without clear resolution.

What we will be left with as a definition in the end is "Broadly offensive is what the individual linden decides at the specific moment based upon their own personal views and interpretations of the guidelines LL Must set in deliberately Broad, and vague terms in order to avoid any Legal Challenge"
For a Long time in US history it was broadly offensive for a Black person to be seen in an affectionate relationship with a white person. Something can be Broadly offensive, and still NOT be wrong, and the fact that many find something Offensive doesn't make them Right. That is why caution is necesary when applying the term, and attaching any punative action to it.

You want an Easy answer to "Broadly offensive"? the Easy answer is, there ISN'T an Easy answer.

Angel.

Children

Racism

Fascism

Intolerance

Stupidity

Ignorance

And of that list ... I find the last one most offensive of all, but I see plenty of all the above in SL ... especially stupidity.

And yet you have already proven yourself guilty of two of them, Possibly three depending upon the interpretation of others. You cannot Claim to be against intolerance while practicing intolerance against others. Since by your own definitions your behaviour is broadly offensive, Will you be removing yourself from SL, or are these standards that only apply to other people?

You see, this is the whole problem with "Broadly offensive", people NEVER think thier own behaviour Might fall into someone elses catagory, or thier own for that matter.

Angel.

applauds Mr Shea and You for posting a kick butt reminder

I agree.

I cannot tolerate intolerance of any sort. I won't stand for it!!

Damned if I know........

I didn't create her standards, i only applied them.
People can be extremely quick to judge the actions and behaviours of others while being totally blind to thier own.
They are so busy finding fault with everyone around them they never Look in a Mirror.

Angel.

Like I said, Broadly Offensive was clearly defined in Daniels post. It consists of anything that can be judged offensive enough to cause a problem with Linden Lab to be embarrassed and loose corporate customers with whom they deal with. Simple as that.

Now....WHERE that line in the sand is is anyone's guess. They are vewy vewy wishy washy waffley about defining "Broadly Offensive." The reason is, that if they had a clear definition (like a RL law), then they would have to enforce the definition (like police do). They have made it clear, that is something they do not want to do.

I don't find the concept of broadly offensive to hard. To me it means an avtivity or image or whatever that would offend a broad range of the community within the context it is shown. The context is the key. For example I'd consider rape role play in a public area to be accross the line. Not because I personally would be offended but I could see how it could be deeply offensive to some. On the other hand if the same role play was done in a place called say "Bob's Rape Role Play Pleasuredome" I would consuder that not to be accross the line because I could reasonably assume that people offended by that activity would not be there. To take a RL example, Itchy and Scratchy cartoons show intensly violent activity. But they can be showen to a young audience because there context is cartoonish and humerous.
To expect LL to publish prescriptive rules around this stuff I find just silly. I'm a grown up I can make my own judgements and I'd much rather do that and risk being ARd becasue my judgment is wrong. The alternative is to come to a world filled with rules and police and vigilanties trying to enforce them regardless of context.

If anything Daniels famous blog wen't to far in putting rules around broadly offensive. He may have had more luck if he'd tried to more tightly define broadly offensive.

Isn't the phrase "broadly offensive" just another way to say that something is obscene? If so, then this debate is not new. Neither is it exclusive to SL. It is a gray area and what is or isn't considered obscene is usually decided by a court of law on a case per case basis.

"Even at the federal level, there does NOT exist a specific listing of which exact acts are to classified as "obscene" outside of the legally determined court cases." (Wikipedia, wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscenity)

Perceptions being reality.

This is a pointless discussion. Daniel Linden has already said elsewhere that "broadly offensive" is deliberately vague and ambiguous, and LL have no intention of ever spelling out what they will and will not include in it.

That way they can use it as inconsistently as they like.

That's true, but only something that meets the public eye can be obscene. If it happens in a private bedroom or in a club behind closed doors, it's no one's business but the persons involved in it.

If now a morally upright citizen walks into the darkroom area of a gay BDSM bar (for example), it's his own fault. He chose to be exposed to things he might find obscene or offensive, things that the law would also rule obscene if they happened in public. But they don't happen in public and are therefore perfectly legal. Even if the BDSM bar advertises in the local newspaper, even if their doors are open for everyone.

wow this thread is full of all kinds of hate and intolerance. If anyone needs to get a life its people who dont have anything better to do then sit on their fat as*** definining what is acceptable to other grown adults. You know whats broadly offensive? you are. im a fine art painter in real life and aside from that im eccentric, free thinking and pretty odd. Im alot of other things too that society does find valuable. But if being in the majority is the only way to be accepted in this world then every real artist here better pack it up right now. Nice to know we arent vaulable or accepted. Its your loss really.

Uhm... somehow, I didn't see much hate here before you posted this.

yah i bet you dont see far beyond your own nose Thats ok tho im sure someone will know exactly what im talking about

This debate was largely allowed to continue because it was news and people needed to talk about it, but that the news aspect of it feels like months ago and the debate is no longer constructive. During that time, the issues of trolling, flaming, private discussion and being off-topic were over looked. The honeymoon period has come to an end.

This thread is being locked for:
Flaming / Trolling
Off-Topic
Reposting