lindens latest blog: dob a neighbour

I couldn't agree more. That Blog post is going to create more fear, hysteria, and inappropriate Abuse Reports than I care to imagine. Someone needs to slap a muzzle on that boy, or at least read and pre-approve his posts befoe allowing him to make public pronouncements.

The really interesting thing is that he didn't say anything new in that post. Substantially, it was just a reiteration of things Robin has recently said. And once again, the FUD machine kicks into full tilt boogie.

Don't need that. Draw the lines at the Sim level. Mature and or Adult is limited to designated sims. If it's ona PG or G area (I'm sure those will be popping up soon) it's an offense. The trick is defining what is Adult and mMture conscisely and sticking to it.

OMG i want one!

Im concerned LL's scruntiny will get biased based on the weight of ARs on a particular subject. The whole "will of the majority" thing is scary. The "Will of the majority" when there isnt even a VOTE? scarier. The "Will of the majority" based on the activity of some busybody prudish dogooders who are actually a small MINORITY? Horrifying.



I agree and I dont see where they said that in the Blog post, however, It goes back to who will AR for what. With an encouraging post like that - the Cyber Prudes might feel vindicated.



Yes. I think people who are bored will look for stuff to report.



It certainly wont be a majority - but it will only take a fraction of the population (less thant 5%) to FLOOD LL in complaints.



Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. -Albert Einstein

Maybe the solution is to set aside a grid for people who are grown up enough to handle whatever it is consenting people do with each other. We already have a teen grid. Maybe a middle grid where people who want policing of their neighbors vices can have it. And a grown-up grid where the rest of us can be left the hell alone. Screw the PG/M/Adult ratings. Create a whole separate space. Then no one can ever say again that their poor, innocent eyes were troubled by seeing people behave with their partner(s) in a way of their own choosing.

They must be trying to sell or are desperate for more investment capital. Unfortunatly we live in a time where parents refuse to be the "bad guy" in their childrens lives by giving them structure, guidance and discipline.

I have watched mothers where I work standby and watch their toddlers pick up and grab things that are potentially dangerous to a small child, then get upset if something happens rather than stopping their child in the first place. So i'm not surprised LL has said "It’s up to all of us to make sure Second Life remains a safe and welcoming haven of creativity and social vision.", because most parents refuse to monitor their childs online activity.

Still, this is nothing new from LL. They have always been vague about the TOS by not defining what certain violations mean. So you could run afoul of it at anytime.

Because the oppressive government used to diswon and "ban" people (into camps) for having the wrong sexuality, political opinion, race... whatever the "community" (i.e. the government) found "broadly offensive". They called homosexuality a sick perversion, just as people call roleplay between consensual adults "rape" or "child pornography".
And parts of the real community, the population, actually cheered them on and supported them - because it wasn't their sexual preference / opinion / race that was being persecuted, and they were glad to see that something was done about these immoral subjects (in their opinion).

No, this makes it a far wider restriction.

Robin never clearly said that Avatar Portrayals would be treated just as harshly as passing out real photos of real kids involved in sex acts.

And all this is new, and exceedingly vague. Isn't this PRECICELY the sort of content that an Adult flagged sim was supposed to be flagged Adult for? If this is now illegal as well, then WHY do we need the "Adult" parcel tag at all? There will be no permitted content that merits the "Adult" parcel tag.

Encouraging residents to go on a witch hunt and AR anyone who they feel has "offensive content" is a mistake of nightmarish proportions. Griefers will use this as a weapon. A lot of innocent people will get hurt.

Is some of the adult content in SL too intense? Yes. By all means, get rid of things like real kiddie porn pics and snuff porn. But this paints with far too broad a brush. Based on this statement, which we have yet to see validated as Linden Policy by ANY other Linden, I could AR any person who uses a gun, anwhere in SL, even if they are in an approved combat sim. Is that really what they want? Or people persecuting gays, furries, wiccans, Goreans, or any other sub-group that some other group or self-reightious individual finds "broadly offensive"?

Well, he said a lot of new things.
First that LL now, besides ageplay, also finds rape ("forced" roleplay), sexual violence (BDSM) and "other broadly offensive content" undesireable.
Second, that it's up to the community to decide how "other broadly offensive content" is exactly defined (whoever that community is).
Third, that every young Fred Phelps is encouraged to patrol the grid and report whatever offends them, i.e. to visit the sims they previously avoided because they found them offensive and denunciate the owner.
And finally that every sim owner who paid lots of money to realize their fantasies, on their own land, where no one is forced to teleport to, will be immediately banned, robbed of their land, have their content removed, their business closed down, and probably be stoned to death on a witchstake after being tared and feathered, because 2 or 3 Phelpses deemed their content undesireable.

This will end up hurting them in the end (LL). We'll see just how long private island owners continue to pay their outrageous hosting fees for mature sims that aren't allowed mature content. I certainly wouldn't pay to be restricted to someone elses idea of self expression.

Don't try to make this out as being a problem from Christians of any description - otherwise you're no better than those you're speaking out against.

Broccoli

Well Livejournal brought it upon themselves with the pathetic handling of the breastfeeding Mothers icons. Open a chink of light and the AR's will come flooding in.

As for the main blog, actual child pornography photos, actual rape photos, I'd report anyone handing me images like that. However as with Livejournal, LL are opening themselves up for the same sort of moral crusade and just like Livejournal, there's likely to be some very painful fallout.

I don't need to be told that if people are handing out child porn and rape photos that they need to be reported.

A good point was made that under the current Community Standards (indecency) - Broadly offensice material IS allowed on Mature Land.

However the Blog Posts suggests it is not.

This seems to be a disconnect.

They should have used different terminoloy.

Basically I feel they have put Ageplay, and now Rape play into the Unacceptable level, but the problem is Broadly offensive is terminology allready used AND ALLOWED in Mature sims.

Additionally the CS only lists Intollerance as unacceptable - It doesnt actually have an unacceptable sexual/violence connotation for Mature land.


It seems to me, that this blog post conflicts with the Community Standards and thus one will need to be rewritten.

I suggest Broadly Offensive be reserved for normal Porn , etc , Like it was before yesterday - And a new catagory be created for the stuff they wish to ban.

Id like to say again; Robin, Phil - whoever is listening: Please dont let Dan Linden Play with the Blog.

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# 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.
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In a somewhat ironic twist (at least it is to me): Judge rules against ‘one-sided’ TOS in Bragg lawsuit (http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/05/31/judge-rules-against-one-sided-tos-in-bragg-lawsuit/)

LL may well threaten and actually close accounts and forfeit holdings under its new policy, but it does seem anyone willing to spare the expense can take them to court over it and not have it outright dismissed.

This is entirely true - there are no Account protections at all.

I find this unacceptable.

It should be hard to get banned from Second Life. Instead its relatively easy.

Most of your comment is a debate for another day. The point relating to this topic is that according to LL's guidelines, the Bible should be banned in SL for the exact same reasons they want to ban other things.

I'd be glad to debate you on the other items in your post however in a different thread or medium.

Remember that guy who advertised a while back he could make people disappear from SL, and how we all laughed at him? I think I know where he wound up.

I disagree.

First, it depends upon the depiction. There are plenty of movies showing sexual abuse that aren't denigrating to the victim. There are depictions that might be painful to victims, and then shouldn't have to risk coming across such accidentally, but that's not the same as either denigrating or offensive.

More importantly, though, when people put so much energy into objecting to these depictions, what they're doing is saying that the depictions are just as bad as the actual abuse. It trivializes the real abuse, with real pain and real experiences by equating it to something that's just a game.

Ask yourself this: Which is more important, getting Linden to crack down on sexual ageplay or getting kids sports leagues to put more effort on background checks of their coaches? Where is your time more effectively spent, responding to notes here or being a chaperone for a group of kids going on a trip? You just found out about an incident in your neighborhood, do you stay at home and hunt for ageplayers on SL or do you to the town council meeting to support spending more money on police?

I realize that you're coming from good intentions. It's just that there are so many more effective things to be doing that worrying about fictional cartoon depictions being created by consenting adults is denigrating to those in need of of real support and real prevention.

No, but conflating the two is insulting.

Having survived both real rape and real abuse, believe me, I can tell the difference.

I am so going to wear one on the mainland now. And, no, I don't care that my av is male.


As a side note, in that artical..."Bragg had identified a means to purchase land in Second Life below market rates. After he purchased thousands of U.S. dollars worth of virtual real estate in this manner, Linden Lab summarily terminated his account, prompting his lawsuit."
Might I hazard to guess he was one of the ones who either bought up a bunch of first land, or had a bot? If so, the jerks will win out. The rest of us get the left overs.

And this will prove what exactly?

I'll buy one Oryx - can't wait to see reactions if i go to Ahern lol.

If you have to ask...

I do indeed as there's a great deal of ignorance being displayed.