How can i reassure my people?

The wave starts to hit.

I have recently (Third week) started a BDSM group, exclusive, with hand picked members and experienced staff.

Ten minutes ago i received a message from one of my staff that says she is unable to work for me because she is concerned about this change in policy.

The group meets on Mature land, and all the participants are consenting adults.

What do forum members suggest i say to answer this fear in my people?

regards... severely P**sed off and angry and considerably out of pocket if this is the first snowball of an avalanche...
Imogen

Unfortunately, I think the most reassuring thing you can tell them is "wait and see what happens." Even then, I imagine the fear of being summarily banned would be enough to make people afraid to be a visible member of any overtly bdsm-related group. Perhaps, for now, changing the name and public description of the group so that it can't easily be pegged in a casual look-up might help.

LL just dropped this huge bomb on us with no sign that they intend to clarify or tone-down any of the language used in the blog post, so it's understandable that your folks might be hesitant to stay involved.

Well, if you're actually talking about real reassurance rather than kind words and soothing noises, I don't think there's anything reassuring to say which will also be true.

The most that one can hope for - and I think this is fairly believable - is that LL are making a big noise about this in order to satisfy investors and legislators that they have the _intention_ of dealing with all this nasty horrible unsafe porn yuck, but don't really care one way or the other. You're still at risk of a random banning should some reporter happen upon your club, though, or you be ARed by someone.

There are no assurances, sorry. I am also upset . . .

My strategy is to build the group and not SL

Making new friends in the group and getting to know others will allow you to over come LL's current witch-hunt strategy.

We have the same problem with "Yahoo groups" as they randomly delete groups at times. Most of us have had to create backup plans and create alternate lists.

LL has to decide if it's going to be a ISP or a web 2.0 hosting site. It can't be both since the "Common carrier" laws require it to separate the two.

In the end LL will either figure it out or something else will take it's place.

I also think that LL will eventually have to remove paypal as an option for users with "Adult" profiles.

Simple, do what I did,
have a lawyer (who luckily is your best friend), standing by is LL try anything that is against their own community standards act, that we *actually* agreed to:

5. Indecency
Second Life is an adult community, but Mature material is not necessarily appropriate in all areas (see Global Standards below). Content, communication, or behavior which involves intense language or expletives, nudity or sexual content, the depiction of sex or violence, or anything else broadly offensive must be contained within private land in areas rated Mature (M). Names of Residents, objects, places and groups are broadly viewable in Second Life directories and on the Second Life website, and must adhere to PG guidelines.

what is your lawyer friend's strategy, considering Linden Lab has always reserved the right to terminate your account at its sole discretion for any reason whatsoever, without refund or obligation to you?

you could argue that the reason for your banning is invalid because you agreed to different terms and conditions. they could turn around and say "fine, you're banned just because we feel like it then."

having said that, check out this clause... ..so if the terms and conditions you agreed to have changed, that's irrelevant. We all agreed that they could change them and the onus is on us to check for alterations.

I feel your pain. I had a business making BDSM toys that I must go into tonight and shut down lest someone find my vendors offensive. I also downgraded my just-upgraded-to-premium account because I had originally planned to set up a store somewhere, but now I don't need to buy land that will be taken away.

I'm sorry, truly I am. I am just relieved that I didn't spend a whole lot of money on this and in fact will walk away from it having started with nothing and now having a few thousand lindens.

The moral?

"Nothing in Second Life is guaranteed forever".

What happened to you could happen to any of us, or all of us if SL was closed (temporarily or permanently).

This recent child porn thing was a perfect example... luckily the authorities chose to deal with it externally but could just have easily ordered a total shutdown of the grid, and search through terabytes of information to see exactly what everyone has in their inventory to find out who is involved in it - and there's absolutely nothing you, I or Linden Lab would probably have been able to do about it.

Broccoli

whoa ... I think its a stretch to think the German Authorities can order a shut down of Second Life.

the US authorities can't even do that without a court order.

SECOND LIFE, May 31 (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that Linden Lab’s terms of service for Second Life residents are not legally binding, according to court papers filed on Wednesday.

TOS is not binding. A judge all ready ruled that, start there, then go at them.

So, you're agreeing that it could actually happen, and might well have if someone like Fox had gotten hold of it instead of the German station?

Broccoli

oooh, that's interesting! how did that pass my radar? still, if a man who is himself a lawyer is struggling financially to get his case heard, I'd have to be out of pocket a considerable sum (thousands of dollars) before I'd be bothered taking LL to court for what is, at the end of the day, just a form of entertainment.

Fear and Loathing in Second Life...soon to be a police state. hmmm...

I'll design the secret police uniforms! The'll be white and say "Image Missing" on them.

Advice from a total stranger -

Sit tight and see where things go. Gut feeling here is the new policy won't last, its simply impossible to put any kind of meaningful definitions on what can get you banned.

And don't forget, if BDSM falls within the ban list, they better get ready to ban the famous Ansche Chung, she has a whole area dedicated to those folks.

This is so why I hate news media sound bites.

The ruling around the terms of service was around specific provisions, primarily the arbitratrion clause. It doesn't say that none of the terms of service are binding. The ruling is specifically about whether or not the Pennsylvania court has jurisdiction to hear the case.

One of my members has left the group, because of the Linden Blog.

Lindens, if you are listening, please, make this clear to people who think the worst, and help people who continue to hope for the best.

Quoted from
Originally Posted by Imogen Saltair
The wave starts to hit.

I have recently (Third week) started a BDSM group, exclusive, with hand picked members and experienced staff.

Ten minutes ago i received a message from one of my staff that says she is unable to work for me because she is concerned about this change in policy.

The group meets on Mature land, and all the participants are consenting adults.

What do forum members suggest i say to answer this fear in my people?

regards... severely P**sed off and angry and considerably out of pocket if this is the first snowball of an avalanche...
Imogen

One of the many reasons I have decided not to go premium, and will also no longer put any more money into this game, If I cant buy something with my sales soon then I wont be needing it. Unfortuneatly if this catches on it will not hurt LL but only the content creators.

That doesn't matter. The law generally cannot force a private company to provide you with a product.

Throw all your now adult consenting illegal toys in a time capsule. We can dig it up 10 years from now imagining how this used to be OUR world, OUR imagination, which now is becoming sooooo www.THERE world.

If the PG and moralist people shout loud and long enough we'll have to resort to default skins with non removable under garments.
We'll only be able to explore, create PG related content, and be resident zombie chatter boxes.

What's the point of age verification when there won't be anything left to offend anyone.

You all forget that blog about age verification and flagging your parcel/sim (land, whatever) as adult? I'm pretty sure nothing will happen until those two little gems come about. Then, it's up to you and your group to do what you think is best.

All this blog stuff is preparing for the eventual. It's not time to panic......it's time to figure out what you are going to do. verify and flag or not. Your choice.

The sky is falling!!!!! The sky is falling!!!! Run for your lives.............the sky is falling!!!!

Has anyone tried e-mailing someone from LL to get an answer? I e-mailed Torley Friday but have not recieved a response of any kind. Before any shops are shut down, accounts downgraded, or land sold shouldn't we wait to see if LL will elaborate at all about what their rules mean?

I just don't understand this argument at all. It's as if there was never any art produced in all of human history that wasn't somehow related to sex.