How many others are happy with age verification?

Although I completely understand many of the issues have with the new age verification coming in, I was wondering how many of you out there are happy that such steps are being taken?

Personally, as an owner of two museums and an art gallery in SL, I am pleased that attention might finally be taken away from the sexual content and put towards other avenues of creativity and innovation that SL is in many ways pioneering.

Finally, new free accounts might actually check out the many different ways people are using the technology to push boundaries of interaction, education, recreation, and experience. It seems that too many people are putting a whole lot of their time and emotional attachment in SL into purely sexual exploits...

I for one am happy that such restrictions are coming, as long as they are implemented in a manner that does not cross the line (such as flagging art galleries with nude images as 'explicit') - for once we might again see the majority of people engaging in activites OTHER than bumping pixels in a ridiculously wooden and non-erotic manner!

Anybody else with me on this one? What are some of the BENEFITS that will come out of this?


For those interested - you can find my museums/gallery by searching for 'Death by Design'; 'Vodou House Museum'; or 'Lucis Chapel'.

I find it amazing that when one searches for 'religion' there are only a handful of results, 3 of which are my own! I'm not a deeply religious person who wishes to impinge on people's free expression - but we seriously need to start doing more with this technology then having sex and selling clothes...

I am all for age verification for reason already listed within other threads.

However I wanted to comment on your suggestion to increase 'religions' prescence within SL. This is a very bad idea IMO and I dont think politics or religion have any place in SL. As soon as somebody takes it upon themelves to express there religious beliefs then I feel duty bound to express mine and thats how conflict starts, either on a personal level (i've lost friends in RL because of argueing about religion) or conflict on a social level i.e. Germany invading Poland in 1939 springs to mind and that didnt work out too well for anyone.

So I say, keep your religious preferences to your (real) personal life and keep them out of Second Life.

search is your friend.

/trembling at the thought of yet another age verification thread/debate.

i was gonna say to VirLucis, "search is your friend". way too many threads/debates on age verification already, but not everybody is to know that. i have no problem with people bringing their interests (religious or otherwise) into SL, just as long as they don't go all Westboro Baptist on our asses. To the OP, i'm sure there are more than a handful of religious groups. try searching via the website (secondlife.com) and it might return more than in-world search.

...so your freedoms are OK, but his are not?

I welcome age verification as a concpet but I have grave reservations about it's implementation. Religion (or to be more exact, Religiosity) on-line and in real life is a growing issue, and I think it's foolish to pretend it doesn't have a place in SL - lack of "religiosity" (defined as the need to justify things in terms of faith, or to have some faith of some kind at all) seems after all to be an attribute of a very narrow age-range, social status, and job description, who are increasibly adrift from the rest of humanity.

I understand your concern, however I just wanted to highlight a few things...Please note, that none of my spaces has anything at all to do with my religious beliefs but are exhibitions that contain religious (as well as cultural, scientific and other) themes.

I'm not saying that there should be more presence of organised religion in SL - although as a religious anthropologist I personally would love to see it if only to study it.

What I am pushing for, is the more creative use of SL for educational and cultural purposes.

What about a Museum of World Religion? Something that could diffuse many of the inherent misconceptions that many people have about religion. Also, why shouldn't we explore how human spirituality can function in a virtual environment? or politics? or ANYTHING else other than sex?

We have the opportunity to truly explore these technologies as they are emerging, yet like many other things the majority of people are interested in sex, gambling, and violence. I think that all those things have a place in Second Life and should always be there and be improved - but I just want to see the more cultural and intellectual side of Second Life begin to take more shape...or at least garner more interest from new accounts!

Thanks for the reply though, all opinions are important!

I am VERY UNHAPPY with age verification and do not intend to go through with it. I am a "Non-American" and do not feel comfortable giving personal information that applies DIRECTLY to myself to anyone. Credit Cards can be cancelled - Passports / Social Insurance Numbers / Drivers Licenses cannot. I am over the age of maturity. I can afford an expensive lifestyle in Second Life. I dont see why I have to Kowtow to these types of demands simply because of a FEW idiots that managed to get on line and spoil it for us. I have been griefed in Second Life and I am certain they WERE NOT underage judging from their remarks. This wont change anything - except bring down the cost of land as many like me leave the system. This simply satisfies the rather "I'm all right Jack" attitudes of a certain group of people.

Vir I have just read you most recent addition to the chat. You sound like a decent man but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep religion out of SecondLife. This will do more harm than good. With the well-meaning will come the fanatical FAR RIGHT of any religious group. Please dont bring that to what was once a FREE community.

Oh, and I'm sorry for not contributing on this to one of the other threads - I probably should of titled the thread a bit better to focus on the particular topic that I feel needs attention

But in my mind, I hope that age verification drastically reduces the number of people using SL as a tool for cybersex...if only so that the other possibilities can be explored more completely and more successfully.

And for everyone's information - I personally won't be verifying my age for many of the reasons previously stated (main one being privacy of information from whoever)...but then, I don't really have a reason to verify my age as I don't use SL for reasons that (so far) would be deemed necessary to do so...

I am for age verification in a way that works and also is not a poorly camoflaged scheme to harvest the personal info of the citizens for second life for sale to this other company.

Vir, you personal choice for cyber sex is your own opinion but for many it is a release and a sense of contact with another person. It is just another dimenion of the human emotional framework and dynamic. Do not condemn people simply becuase they engage in cyber sex. many people have "marriages" here which probably will offend many of the religious community and the moral majority and even those who profess to be open-minded. But leave them alone. They arent bothering you. For a friend of mine it is the saving grace for a miserable marriage in real life.

Yep, if we need anything in SL, it's definitely more religion. I can't wait for the virtual Westboro Baptist Church... their members could reach a much broader audience than in RL with their typical messages like "God hates fags" or "God smiles when a fag dies." That would be so much better than adult entertainment.

Sorry for the sarcasm if you happen to be a Buddhist, Taoist or Hindu... not that those guys make any more sense than other religions, but at least they're harmless nuts.

That being said, I'm not against the presence of religious organisations in SL. I'm totally for freedom of speech and expression, but for everyone please. And get the kids off the adult grid instead of desperately trying to make the grid safe for them (btw, especially religious content badly needs age verification, to avoid it messing with the gullible minds of children).

Whereas you make some fine points about art and other mediums having a presence in SL, your above quote smacks of selfishness.

However I am happy with age verification myself, I'm not at all happy with the suggested method. I fail to see how it's going to deal with people falsely representing themselves as being 18+ and more importantly it's a beacon for identity thieves.

Hello,



if one needs age verification to open the possibilites for other than 'cybersex'... excuse me... this sounds wrong.
In SL one is free to do what he likes. May this be sex, dancing, arts, talking or music... if the 'number' of people chooses to use it for sex.. this is democracy... the majority votes... and age verification won't change a thing... it is not all about poseballs, you know.

What I am also concerned with is going to be the rise of Vigilante groups who actively search out offenders for reporting to the Lindens. Also I can see a Police Force being formed with all the expected complications that that will entail. And NOT treating their behaviour as a Role Playing "Game" - they will have credibility. There are many people here who will love to play good cop/ bad cop. And pry into our personal lives. This age-verification and moral verification will NOT clean up SL; it will drive such behaviours underground and will provide license for peeping toms and nosy bastards to pry into our lives with cameras and spy ware. In SL my house has been bugged already by an ex-partner and the conversations I had were immediately emailed to his personal email address. This has been verified by the person who bought our house and had his personal email grow by 85 messages a day. Age verification will simply be another tool to nose around in our private lives.

I am not going to leave SL however; I am fascinated to see how this all plays out. It is another chapter but I mourn for the days when SL was an exciting place and avatars were Nekos, Furries and Satyrs with no fear of repurcussions - because - trust me - that will be coming soon.

I would like to add that when I volunteered as a Helper to Newbies coming to SL I noticed an increasing number of miniature avitars (too close to "children" and VERY strange) coming through the "gateway". I complained about this but it was impossible to do something about it. This was many months ago. Now it has come to this. If Linden had acted quickly then a lot of this could have been avoided.

Darn, and I'm just in the middle of setting up a Neko Shinto Shrine!

Well, I can be a "way" of one

Hey Lucrezia since I am a Neko Woman, I welcome idea of Shinto Shrine. It will help calm all of us Cat Humans down after all this panic. By the way I was once informed by some whacky avatar that I was going straight to hell for wearing a Neko skin. I purred back.

I couldn't care less if we had age verification or not, but i just don't wish it to effect my account in any way. The way i see it, I've already proved all i need to prove to LL, and i don't deem them worthy of knowing my SSN.

I support verification, in order to keep minors out and especially away from unsuitable content.

I support verification, as it will easily identify the sort of material that many of us want to avoid.

I do not, however, support the method chosen by Linden Lab to undertake the verification, and do not wish to be labelled as being "interested in adult content", rather than just that I am identifiable.

Regarding the 'religion' comment, there is absolutely no reason why religion should not have a place in Second Life, as it as perfectly a valid expression of someone's personality as any other. Tolerance works both ways, you know.

Broccoli

I am wondering why you think this will be the result. It seems to assume that cybersex takes place between minors or with minors and if they weren't on the grid there would be less sexual content. I am not sure I see this as the case.

I thought that this policy, in part, cleared the way for more sexual content/behavior because it will be assumed beyond a resonable doubt that verified avatars/customers are of age. For those who worried that the person on the other end of their chat might be a minor, and all of the potentiall legal ramifications of that, age verification removes that burden.

It may be true that if you remain unverified you won't see it though.

I've seen lots of wonderful displays that serve educational purposes -- especially in genetics and sciences. Displays that lend itself to a 3D world, and damn if I could have had access to that aeons ago in Uni when I majored in Chemistry.

The point is, SL is what we make it. Moreover, SL also finds us. There's an interesting exchange that occurs and everyone is on their own journey.

However, like in the real world and history shows us many examples (as well as current conflicts) that moral and religious crusades only have a negative effect. They serve no benefit except to the proselytizer and their mind that they've done (insert Deity of service)'s work.

If SL residents want to have sex, gamble, build a church, have an art show, create a lavish garden, set up a humble home... whatever... WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE? And why should anyone else care? Who do we have to prove anything to except ourselves?





Age Verification will not proliferate some state of "holiness" or decline the sex industry. And so what?

My hat's off to anyone who explores themselves and SL with an intent to enjoy themselves (and hopefully not cause harm to others).

Bottom line -- if someone feels "culture" and "education" or anything is lacking in SL, then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Don't sit on the sidelines and complain. This applies to RL as well. If there's something lacking it's because there's either no interest (can't believe that) or everyone else is sitting around waiting for someone else to act.

The world is full of "there should be this/that" and far fewer "I will make this/that".

Peace.

you complained about short avatars?

ha ha! Well I hope you visit when it will be finished (a month or so). It will be called Neko no Jinja, and it's current very unfinished state is on Necros. In the meantime, feel free to meditate or chase butterflies in Cho no Chashitsu, my butterfly tea house garden on Black Art!

I'd have purred back as well. LOL Such comments really make me STOP dead and wonder "My god, what the hell are you doing in SL, in a world that pushes all sorts of boundaries?" LOL

Hear hear! I for one, prefer sex to religion .. or religiocity for that matter

Added: sorry for the curt line above. I tried to support one of Jigs posts above but hit a problem with posting - anyone else ever see 'Invalid thread, if you think this was an error, contact webmaster'?

Anyway, I tried to say that the plethora of mature content and sites must indicate that there is a market for it. Vir intimated that age verification would reduce the number seeking these areas. Even if that were true, (already argued point) I don't imagine that LL would willingly reduce their market demand?

Others have already made my further points so I'll just shut up for now.

I have religion jammed down my throat everyday in RL, I surely don't need it in SL. But then you keep it on your sim, I don't need to visit it, so each to their own.

As for age verification, I am going to loose friends coming to my island probally because of this, because I will probally have to flag my island adult. Do I cyber NO, well maybe after after a few drink and in just IM's .

I have adult vendors at my mall, we do have a dungeon. But the main thing is when we are relaxing just friends and we are on the beach and I want to play "adult" type music and we decide to dance around nude I guess we have to be adult now to enjoy this. I find this just ridiculous.