Is Anonymity Really Necessary?

You just contradicted yourself. That being said could anyone explain in exact concise terms what you would have to know about a person in Second Life to consider them to not be anonymous? A mere name seems pretty useless and anything beyond that does in fact open the door up to possible exposure to identity theft, unwanted marketing and solicitation, and harrassment including stalking.

It really doesn't matter if you know people's names on here, because you still wont be able to figure out which of the clods hitting on you is a mouth breather living in his mother's basement.

*laughs* Ohhh so true!

Yes, I also would like to know what it is exactly that people need to know. What type of information would make you trust me more?

I can totally agree with Colette on this one. My best friend was murdered, after being abducted by someone who we had just met. For that reason, I am very hesitant to tell ANYONE anything more than where I am (in a city sort of way) from in RL. People who havn't had bad experiences such as this would be more likely to say there is nothing wrong with disclosing RL identities, people who have know that the world can be an evil place, and are less likely to trust just anyone.

Great suggestion: being able to ban all avatars of the same RL person!

Frankly, we can get both, as mentioned above: require identification to LL, but not inworld. Allow banning by RL identity (even though it's unknown).

That really helps stop vandalism, and doesn't threaten privacy (as long as LL holds up their end of the deal and keeps the information secure).

Chip, does that meet your goals, or do you really think that RL identities should be publicly available for every avatar? I hope you're not arguing it, because it renders one of SL's greatest assets nil.

One of the great things about SL is you can be whomever you can make of yourself, including things that people you associate in RL with would disapprove of. I would not stand on any moral high ground and claim that nobody should ever do anything that they wouldn't want anyone else to know about. Don't we deserve privacy?

No doubt there are people who wouldn't mind everyone knowing everything they do. But it's certainly not a majority of people in RL, let alone SL! Frankly, when I jerk off in the shower, I keep the curtain closed. It's nobody's business but mine.

Exactly. All LL does is hold the key to identify which avatars a ban applies to. We get to ban or not. And of course, LL can ban completely (rather than just to a parcel) for ToS violations, as they do.

For users of BanLink, it should be up to each subscriber to choose whether to honor a ban by banning just the av or the individual behind the av.

Of course, some folks will find ways to simulate multiple RL identities -- it's not that difficult. But it does raise the bar substantially, and they can't do this ad-infinitum the way they can with creating new avs (I believe -- though there might be some limit on avatars per however LL identifies you, as they did before they allowed free accounts alts).

But it will be an improvement. The cost is that we'd lose some folks who won't commit their RL info (or a credit account number, or whatever) in order to use SL. That's a cost I'm willing to bear.

Nicely said, especially the last part.

This is what ARs are for, and with LL holding identity information (confidentially), they can prevent the individual from further grief. This makes ARs more effective and less common (because we lose a lot of easy griefers).

Can we get a separate thread if were gonna do a banlink debate?

I'd hate to get accused of trashing this one. Ill just say I'm against banlink.

Linking avatars is okay,

Although you probably shouldn't let people know which avatars belong to the same person.

My main concern is the telling a whole bunch of strangers my full RL name. I would quit SL if that were the case. I couldn't live with the worry of stalkers no matter what the statistics. I deal with enough anxiety anyhow.

Plenty of people who use the forums know my RL first name. But I wouldn't really want strangers to know that either, as I'm sure most reading wouldn't.

I don't know I am bit torn. I get that some people do very horrible things when they think they can't get caught.
Truth is there is less and less privacy in the real world, anyone can find out anything about anyone if they really want too or know how.

I too have had a loved one murdered, so yes I will not blurt my identity out to everyone, but even my deep bitterness I have been able to make friends here in SL and come to trust them enough to express my experiences and allow them to help me. No, not everyone can be trusted with your identity, but coming from some one that had been bitter, dour and depressed for a good many years and will likely feel the effects of his loss for a many years to come, I have come to trust those I call friends in SL with my pain and they have in turn trusted me with theirs to help me. Trust is always a 3 edged sword, it can cut you, cut the other, or cut down boundries, so it should not be rushed to nor should it be feared, but respected greatly as it can harm or heal, bring people closer or drive them apart.

I have several people I know who were murdered, raped by strangers it was before the internet though. My rl partner though knows people he knew online who vanished and showed
up dead who were tortured to death by people they met in same bdsm chatrooms he had hung out with.
I won't do bdsm or sex online because it's issue of trust, it should be done with people in real life that I know well.
I am think I am one of few Gay men I know who doesn't do anonymous sex and I do this because I am survivor of something pretty unspeakable and I don't find these days that even
sexually appealing. I share certain things online and in world with people I feel safe with.
There are people who know my rl address and name but I get to choose who it is I want to share that information with.

Exactly, you may give people on the street your first name if asked, even exchange insurance information if you are in an accident with them, but rarely does anyone walk around broadcasting to everyone everywhere they go. You choose who to trust, or give this information when you are lawfully bound to give it, some of these people may not be trust worthy at all, but at least in most cases you can make your own judgment if they are untrustworthy and you give them information of your identity SL or RL you can only blame yourself, some times it comes at a higher cost than it should. I still miss my loved one very much, I cry some nights and I wish she were still here to enjoy life, but she is not so I have to try to live as best I can without her.

I was stalked once. It wasn't nice.
If someone has your real name, location and something about your work or interests it is fairly simple to home in on you, particularly if you are active online.

It's not a huge help to know who the stalker is. There are levels of stalking. The kind where they don't murder you or even physically harm you is not necessarily going to be stopped by authority figures quickly (or indeed , ever).


Getting back to that link I posted to the Ralsky spammer example - There's someone who's been scamming for years, with everyone knowing who he is.
His lawyer, Philip Kushner of Cleveland, said: “There’s a lot of people who are hostile to spam and I understand that, but it’s a separate question about whether he’s done anything illegal.”

Has he/she done something *illegal*? And even if he/she has, what are the odds of getting the legal system to take action - presuming you have the money and time to pursue it?


Knowing someone's RL identity is very useful if you want to harass them.
Knowing someone's RL identity is not a whole heap of use if you want to defend yourself against them. If they are in a different jurisdiction, you might just like to forget about it. Even if in the same jurisdiction - ditto.

I agree 100%. Making every av's RL name public would not prevent nearly as much grief as it would cause, and it would kill many of the great things about SL (the ability to 'be' someone you're not in RL).

For those people that are afraid of being stalked then I suggest you show your fat ass in your 1st life profile and you'll be just fine.

That will just get you a different kink in stalker.

They've created an anti-stalking device in 1st life.

Is that You 2K?

nice shirt.

Who the hell pissed in your Cheerios?

Its 2K ,

go through some of his old posts.

his cheerios come pre-pissed on.

By Yaks or something.

So you're saying fat people, especially fat women must be so ugly they cannot possible be victims of crime like rape because they are ugly=fat?
Last time I checked those who rape don't rape just the beautiful and thin.

Nah, FD. I think he just enjoys stirring the pot.
Everyone has an ass, some have fat asses and some ARE asses.