First the Germans... now the French are having a go

"I'm a Barbie Girl in a Barbie World,
Life in Plastic is so fantastic,
You can brush my hair undress me anywhere,
Imagination is your Creation." - Aqua

"Darling you got to let me know,should I stay or should I go?" - The Clash

"Beazelbub has a devil put aside for me, For MEE, FOR MMEEEEEEEEE!"- Queen

To gain SOME control over minors gaining access to undesireable content, can only be acheived on 2 fronts, one being LL tightening up their efforts to create borders of access through the ilke of age verfication, and Parents using a client that has parental controls.... this is nothing new, its been done before many times with the introduction/development of the internet.

As SL is no more than yet another internet based resource, the elements are there, but without those fundemental controls. No parental controls in the browser, and no verification once access is applied for.. If SL fails it will be because of this single fundemental flaw.

If LL want to take SL further without imploding, it HAS to address this situation!

Forget your updates, introducing new eye candy, bug fixes... fix this NOW.

Yeah the problem also is that our new ( French ) government is quite in favor of internet censorship/control/filtering .

Sarkozy and his mob might be a gang of NeoCon stooges, but I doubt they'll get far with any plans to restrict internet access / usage. It reminds me of Canute attempting to hold back the tide.

You mean distributing child pornography via sl should be allowed? Stop posting such crap before you read the text for real.

'In the course of a search of his home last week officers had also searched a computer belonging to the suspect, the spokesman declared. The man had earlier tried to delete the files with child pornography content on his hard disk, the spokesman added. Specialists of the criminal investigation department had, however, been able to restore the files'

sl mustn't be a heaven for criminals. That absolutely is not a problem with LL or german or french laws but with some outright criminal persons who try to hide here among us.

Of course it shouldnt be allowed.

However just like any other system of transfering files theres nothing Linden Labs can do to stop any paticular instance until they find out about it.

You can use Yahoo Instant Massenger for example to transfer files - the Messenger doesnt look at all the image files and try to decide if the subject is over 18.

I dont think a computer is even capable of deciding if the subject in any particular photo is over the age of 18. Unless its fairly obvious theres no way for even humans to do so.

Unless any system of image scrutiny is automated, theres no way it can work in Second Life - becuase there are simply too many texture uploads - it is part what SL is about.

SL shouldnt be held to a stricter standard than the rest of the internet on this.


I am certain if LL is made aware of Child Porn Images that have been uploaded they will quickly act.

A RL analogy may be if the trade occurred in a corner booth at a tavern. Is the tavern owner rsponsible for the illegal act because it happened on his property without his knowledge?

Only if the tavern utilizes some form of technology which confuses and frightens the persecutors.

that means LL does not know, what is happening in their SL ? You're joking. They tolerated it as long as possible and now have to react to minimize the bad press. The tavern owner LL DID know of the illegal acts on his property and he didn't react (still no id verfication system on no official monitoring of textures and activities on the grid), so he IS responsible. LL is not just another ISP ...

You are saying LL actually knowingly allowed Child Porn to be exchanged?

I completely disagree.

The knowlingly allowed Residents (who are all 18+ nominaly) wear cartoon child avatars and have pixel and cyber sex with cartoon adult Avatars. Thats all they knowingly allowed.

Do you have evidence to prove LL KNOWINGLY let child pornography be exchanged within SL. Not the cartoon ageplay images, but actual RL images. I do't believe that either. If you can prove me wrong by all means please do so. That would be of great import.

There is no need for evidence. If LL did not think of that, they are just plain stupid and deserve everything that happens now. If you give people a platform, you have to give it at least a thought for what purposes that platform will be used. And picture exchange is a very obvious functionality ...

The tavern owner just looked away, knowing that there are problems with the functionality ...

So you think LL should activly monitor all Textures uploaded and exchanged in Second Life?

Do you have some sort of idea how they could do that?

I wonder how many Child Porn pictures have been transfered Via Email , IM systems and FTP on the normal Internet. Probably more per day that have ever been transfered in SL in 4 years.

No Need for evidence? So what is your answer? Allow No exchanges of images at all to take away the possibility of misuse. If you and I meet in world and I send you a picture of my pet weasel, does LL know what picture, 2 specific avatrs are exchanging, and at what exact time? I'm not defending the por purveyors, or even LL necessarily, in a lot of ays they have been asleep at the switch, but your logic on this one escapes me. You are accusing them of aiding and abetting a crime, and claiming no evidence is necessary?

well that about says it all.

Its actually worse than that-

If you remove the ability to upload and exchange images you remove the ability to upload new textures for objects, clothing and avatars.

So basically cuz everyone else is doing it its ok for LL to allow it too? Child porn is illegal, on the internet, at home, wherever. Its not LL's responsibility to stop it from being distributed beyond thier platform but it is thier responsitilbity to keep it out of thier game.

Most people like to try to change the issue. Blame the french! Blame the people who don't stand over thier children watching what they do on the net! Blame it on relgion! Frankly...the issue is none of those things. The issue is that they CAN and WILL get in LL because of the current "check this box to say you're 18 and we'll just believe you" enrollment.

We all remember being a teenager..knowing that we knew it all and could act all grown up even if our parents tried to stop us. We were sneaky and lied about what we were really up to. I do not put stock in my 12 year olds answers cuz I know what I was like at his age. I don't think the internet is anywhere a 12 year old should be unsupervised so he has no access to it. Some people would feel I was uhh, how did that guy put it now?...scared that he would learn tolerance, self-expression and critical thinking? Some would feel I was limiting his education by not allowing him to be on the internet. Just because its THERE doesn't mean its meant for children to roam free on. A HUGE part of it is the parents responsibility but when you deliver a platform that you know will be used as a way to "explore" things you would not be able to in rl without prosecution (from the law or your family/friends) you have to know that you are responsible for keeping children out. This is no place for kids, hell some days it freaks me out with the things I see.

We can hide behind laws and manipulate the words as much as we want but it still comes down to being repsonsible for children because they are not morally or intellectually developed enough to make thier own rational choices.

LL's liability should be exactly the same as any ISP's. When someone reports content on their system that violates the law they are obligated to remove it. Nothing more, nothing less.

How?

Like Chip said when someone tells them its there they remove it, and ban the person who uploaded it.

Same thing Yahoo would do if someone uploaded Child Porn to their Geocities website.

How could they even begin policing the images they werent alerted to? Have someone approve all uploads? Do you have any idea how many textures are uploaded daily to Second Life?



This issue is seperate from the Child Porn Issue. The issue of age verification is a common one with the rest of the internet. Its the targetting of Second Life that has people blaming the French and the Germans. Becuase this is a Second Life Forum people tend to think provincially about Second Life. Second Life shouldnt be held to a different standard than other Web Hosting systems that include chat and uploadable images.



Again Child Porn and what Children see and do on the internet are not the same issue.

Fake the funk and get your rump roast
One dose of the toast'll make you jump if you come close
Pun spoke, ain't no more debatin; my Squad been waitin
for the perfect time to give you what you all been waitin
An orgi-nation of veterans built
with genuine skills to pay the heat, gas, and the rest of the bills-Big Pun

Now I close my eyes
And I wonder why
I don't despise
Now all I can do
Is love what was once
So alive and new - Billy Idol


In the board room of a squirrely third world government
Hammerin' tunes there on the bones of the innocent
Greedy little minds sit tradin' guns and bad medicine
Could it be it's time for Brother Abel to raise some cain
If we hold our dreams pressed in the palm of our hands
There'll come a day when we all will stand
And say
That enough is enough-Billy Ray Cyrus

Eeww, BRC, that's low, I apologise for using Aqua

"Breathe the Pressure,
You play the game I test you here,
Physco, somatic, Alikazeme,
Won why more time!
Inhale, Inhale,
You're the Victim" - Prodigy