lindens latest blog: dob a neighbour

You need not resort to insults to try to make a point. There is a huge difference between a pedophile and a husband who likes his wife to dress up as a cheerleader. There is a huge difference between rape and bondage games.

There are those who would like to see SL become entirely PG, not realizing the irreversible damage that would do.

I want to see SL continue to be a tolerant, open place where one is free to explore their imagination, not the nanny state you seem to want it to be.

I suspect a number of people are stepping back a little to think about this and see what happens over the next week or so.

Linden Labs let the creeps push the envelope FAR too long and again are relying on the residents to clean it up, while they throw out self serving dreck with terms like "Broadly Offensive" content. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? (Sorry for the expletive). And please someone explain how a "rape" can be comitted In SL?

Not looking forward to small groups of religious fanatics being able to easily cut swaths through the population of Second Life. Also, wouldn't griefers potentially find much more joy in "skybox hunting" with "Disable Camera Constraints" to get people kicked out of the game, rather than being satisfied with simply caging at random?

Instead of these vague Blog Posts, why don't they take the CYA procedure of sticking one of the standardized rating stickers on the game? For example:

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

That way when some prude finds something they don't like, a mere "Did you not see the warning sticker" can send them on their merry way. Even adding a potiential content disclaimer to be clicked on every login would be preferable to giving this sort of highly-abusable power to the general populace.

Then again, this is the company that gives us shiny new "KEWL" features that are themselves highly bug-ridden on top of two-month-old-plus existing bugs.

They didn't say "committing" a rape, they said "depicting" a rape... RP'in a rape would be considered taboo... what about "depicting" a shooting or stabbing (hello gorean sims)...?

Ah, yes. Because consensual roleplay = rl rape, domestic abuse...

You've just denigrated everyone who has undergone REAL abuse and rape, as well as the people who do things that you object to.

Way to go, bucko.

A quote from the Linden Blog:

" 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."

How is that "too vague" for you?

1. real life images of sexual or lewd acts involving minors.... are never allowed or tolerated within Secondlife
2. avatar portrayals of sexual or lewd acts involving minors... are never allowed or tolerated within Secondlife
3. real life images of sexual violence, including rape... are never allowed or tolerated within Secondlife
4. avatar portrayals of sexual violence, including rape.... are never allowed or tolerated within Secondlife
5. real life images of extreme or graphic violence... are never allowed or tolerated within Secondlife
6. avatar portrayals of extreme or graphic violence.... are never allowed or tolerated within Secondlife
7 ...and... other broadly offensive content... are never allowed or tolerated within Secondlife


As an aside... i think this new statement from Linden Labs is not well thought out... and i agree with people commenting on this being a "slippery slope".

Define sexual violence: is stuff that's considered consensual in RL now banned?

(i.e. spankings)

It appears that only one person in this thread is in favor of censorship, and against free expression, so why not let him/her think about their outrageous statement for a few days before we all get the pitchforks and torches out? I heard somewhere that people can change.

#7 is a little vague. I totally understand why they say it but that does not make it less vague.


Got any examples of what you would *not* think fits in the above but that others might? Serious question..

So, then the question is. Do we get fancy LL Gestapo uniforms?

Define Offensive.

One definition: sex for anything other than procreation.

There goes all of SL's sex.

How exactly do you rape someone in an envronment where every act is, by the design of the envronment, totally consentual? What exactly is a depiction of sexual violence? Is bondage "sexual violence"? My SL partner (who is my RL wife) enjoy a little bondage play. Do we now risk being banned if we have sex in SL with her (consentually) bound up? Please let us know.

Only if it is offensive to someone.

okay. so people that are thinking it is vague are only focusing on the last thing LL said: "and other broadly offensive content are never allowed or tolerated within Second Life". Got it!

i agree the last part is vague because it can encompass many many things.... so yes, their last tagged on bit is most definitely vague.. but their new stance on "Depictions of Violence - Depictions of Violent Sex" - "Depictions of Children involved in Sexual situations" is very clear... to me.

that said, i don't even get how they can logically feel pushed to make these new rules... especially the violence one... considering violence (at least in the USA) is such a large part of our society's "entertainment"... videogames, action movies, even to some degree sports (boxing, hockey, wrestling).

Maybe we should just bypass the Linden Lab folks and report things directly to the Vancouver Police.

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/05/vancouver_polic.html

The RL stuff I can see, and I suppose I can accept that they turned a blind eye to the sexual ageplay stuff until it started getting publicity.

But given how much there is around Gor (a search for Gor under places turns up over 100 hits), and other violent roleplay sims, the assertion that portrayals of sexual or extreme violence are never tolerated is disingenous at best. As near as I can figure, it's been allowed and tolerated since the earliest days.

I find crass consumerism offensive. Can we please ban all the real life corporations from peddling their shit in SL?

I also find people imposing their morals on others offensive.

That part is the part that worries me, because in many countries the things I do consensually both in RL and SL are illegal to depict. "Broadly offensive" is so vague as to catch things that you or I might never think of.

this is the way I read it too.

Of course depending on the definition of #7 they are either midway down the slippery slope, or near the bottom.

As for how well thought out the Post was and how well written ..

Id like to vote right now that Den Linden stops making official blog posts. Give Cyn Linden the job she writes much better from what I can see.

----------------------------------
As to the message - the "turn in your neighbor" policy is a mess.

It really didnt need to be made in the blog post - enough people are already happy to turn in their neighbors for anything they outlaw to be reported beyond their ability to keep track of it.

Besides the fact that its offensive to encourage people to turn in their neighbors for things that you should'nt know is happening if you respect their privacy.

--------------------------------
As far as new rules ...

They dont seem to be outlawing anything new except rape play though.

So rape play is now banned.

Of course they might be including BDSM in a "sexual violence" then it gets a lot different.

The broadly offensive clause has always existed so them saying it isnt by ITSELF a warning.

--------------------------------------------------------------

This also coincidently FINALLY clarifies that Sexual Ageplay ban includes depictions involving Avatars who look like children, they definitely are banned which they wouldnt clearly state before in plain english.

No those are forbidden from what I see from TOS. or I would wear my helferin uniform.

Did they roll this out before they rolled out the ability to tag your land with an adult rating?

They didn't use the term "sexual situations". They said "portrayals or depictions of sexual or lewd acts", which is very different.

One of the things that gets Linden into trouble, as far as interpreting policies, is their inconsistent choice of words. Now I realize you're not speaking for them, and that you're just paraphrasing. But given how volatile this subject always is, I suggest setting a good example for the Linden folks by taking the extra effort to always use the same words to mean a given thing.

yes

Be a good citizen. Be an informer.