Protestors Question Blondin Linden on Adult Content Plans

By Bixyl Shuftan

When the Revolting Adults held their first protest about Linden Lab’s upcoming plans for Adult Content Filtering, the Linden they questioned professed not to know much about the issue. He told them Blondin Linden would know more. So the group decided to meet at his place in the Hanley sim during his office hours, Wednesday May 20th at 3:30 PM SL time.

On the day of the protest, I tried porting over with the Landmark I had, and nothing. I tried a few more times without success, then looked at the map. The Hanley sim appeared empty, but there were a few people at the edge to the north and south. I ported near the edge of the sim to the north and headed south. I was unable to cross the sim boundary, and it appeared that there was no sim to the south, even though the map told us otherwise. But with the map showing the place was empty, what was going on? That was the question asked when other protesters gathered at the spot. Some suggested some kind of Linden trickery to keep the protest out, “LET US IN!” “... ignoring a jira ticket with over three thousand votes is one thing but, locking us out of office hours?”

Finally one of the protesters told everyone she’d been IMed by someone on the inside, saying there were about 40 people in the sim. Apparently it was limited to that number. I continued to try to port in via the map, and finally I made it in. Once inside, I saw where the people were, and headed there.

Arriving at 3:45 PM, something must have annoyed Blondin Linden just before I got within chat range as he yelled, “LOG OFF NOW!” Whatever happened, that was the only outburst I heard from him, the rest of the time answering questions. I got around the obstacles, and joined the mix of avatars questioning Blondin Linden.

These are not all the questions asked, only those answered. Only two of the questions that I asked Blondin, and one from protest leader Xantarius Cain, got a reply.

Is the estimated "end of June" time still on course for Ursula moves?
ANSWER: End of June is still on track from what I hear. That's when it'll all begin.

Will we be able to access Ursula with 1.22 viewer?
ANSWER: That is a good question and I am not 100%. I need to check. Good question though.

Here is a question, what is the line Linden has set for "Adult" content, and is it really only the extremes of sl's mature content?
ANSWER: Depends on what you consider extreme. The definitions are almost done.

Are the Lindens committed to tweaking the search restrictions indefinitely if needed until they function as intended and will there be a publicly announced plan on how people can get the exceptions that were promised for people who had legitimate use for otherwise adult terms?
ANSWER: We are committed to tweaking them. If you've noticed a bunch of words have been removed based on resident feedback.

Blondin, would giant phallic attacks be permitted in such an event if held on Ursula? :) ANSWER: Griefing is griefing no matter if its on PG, Mature or Adult.

Thanks Blondin - Follow up Question - Jack and Cyn don't seem to be singing from the same song sheet when it comes to land transfers. Cyn suggests pre-speculation and acquisition prior to move is valid. Jack says checks will be made into past content. Which is right?
ANSWER: They both are. Checks into past content will be a last resort if we feel that someone is truly trying to game the system. It's a last resort.

How will object name and descriptions which are set to show in search effect your parcel? For instance in a situation where a mature parcel with appropriate name and land description also has an object using adult language visible in search, will that prevent the parcel from being visible to mature viewers?
ANSWER: I read this quickly so forgive me if I misunderstood. Objects actually ON a parcel wont be filtered if they use adult words.

Question: I do have the concern, that with such guidelines in place, and the reliance on ARs to control it, the system might be too easily abused to report people for alleged adult content violations. Given that I have several friends now who have been suspended for nothing because it seems like there was no one investigating the reports ... how much security is provided against the abuse of the system or to prevent cases where people report activities thinking that they violate the rules but that are not doing thins actually?
ANSWER: Well, you bring up a good point about abusing the abuse reports. There are A LOT of AR's submitted each and everyday and each one gets special attention. I've seen it in action. The Resident team doesn't act unless they feel confident that something has actually happened that needs further investigation. And on that note, AR's do have to be kept secret to protect the residents’ privacy.

Oh end of June? So The Aporncalypse happens at the same time as the Homestead price increase?
ANSWER: It's bad timing - I know. But the two have nothing to do with each other.

Bixyl Shuftan: Blondin, can you tell us what will happen to landowners and businessmen/women who decline to rate their land?
ANSWER: I'm assuming you mean Private estate owners as they are the only ones who have to flag regions. In reality, not to much unless they get AR'ed. Then the Resi team will come in, look around and decide what to do. Most like, it'll be a few IM's asking the owner to flag.

Oh Blondin, what's the score with the viewer? I heard if you check Adult you can't see any PG or M results. Are they going to fix that or is it intended?
ANSWER: Seems to work for my RC viewer. There are check boxes for ADULT< MATURE AND PG. Check any and all that you want to see

I heard all furries are going to be rated as Adult from now on. Can you comment on this baseless rumour?
ANSWER: In no shape, way or form, are furries going to be generally classified as Adult.

Not flittering objects seems like a loophole that will be exploited. I follow the rules, but my competition uses objects to advertise, but get around the rating system. How will LL deal with objects in search that don't match the parcel rating?
ANSWER: Abuse Reports.

And it was answered on the JIRA because that was a big concern for fear of griefers being able to search bomb places.
ANSWER: I believe this is the correct reason.

Come on guys, give up with the sign on page thing already. It's a stupid way to announce something.
ANSWER: It has proven to get a lot of attention and it will be something we utilize in the future about commenting this to a wider audience.

Question - does that include returning protest posters from private land ?
ANSWER: Are you talking about the signs I returned? The sign on my land? The signs that were causing lag? Didn't I leave one out for good faith?

Blondin, I repeat my question... Are we Europeans having support for enter the mature section? Because we Europeans don't have the age verification system.
ANSWER: I know that laws in Europe are a bit different, but there are many Europeans who are already verified. Off the top of my head Lord Sullivan is verified.

Bixyl Shuftan: Blondin, can you tell us if age-verification will be designed to protect the anonymity of users?
ANSWER: No one is forcing you to use Aristotle. That is just one way. You can do it by having a payment relationship with Linden and your identities will not be any less secure.

They said from the start that this isn't about preventing people selling sex beds on mature land, you just can't advertise a sex bed in classifieds as sex is filtered?
ANSWER: Correct.

Blondin: The draft 'definitions' are fairly vague and subjective - you have mentioned getting final ones soon - are these much tighter or basically the same as the draft that is currently there (the one that has any photorealistic nudity as being adult) ie: all good quality skins = adult.
ANSWER: The format will look the same but we've taken the chance to explain a bit about photo realistic. THe word will still be in there, but no, it doesn't apply to the selling of skins.

Blondin, will traffic scores still affect search rankings?
ANSWER: I don't know.

Question - Many people have bought mainland parcels in the same region to provide prims to support their core business - however 2/3rds of land may not look adult will we be left with a turkey when only a 1/3rd is allowed to move for free?
ANSWER: I believe that all holds can be combined and moved over. If only a section of your land is ADULT, you can move it all, not just that portion.

What about assurances I wont get stuck wiith my (hopefully still) popular club in a sim with another equally popular club?
ANSWER: We will be very conscious of our placements.

Blondin, pardon me, but that's disingenuous. You can sell a product, but not advertise it? Come on.
ANSWER: If you rely on those key words, ie if that's the market you want to focus your advertising on, then you should be on adult land. Apply for a move.

The more I sit in on this, the more it becomes clear that no matter how much the userbase protests these changes, the userbase who pours money into LL's pockets daily, these changes are still going to happen despite the fact that only a vocal minority wants them. Talk about bad customer service.
ANSWER: But if you notice, we've changed a lot of what we originally had in mind based on resident feedback.

Blondin, does linden labs have any intention of opening up additional lines of communication or conversation on this matter? Will we see any more brown bags or forum conversations or are we reduced to the just office hours?
ANSWER: The Brownbags are over. But we'll be opening another forum thread which I'll be actively back on once the update blog goes out.

Blondin, where in the TOS or Community Standards will it be stated that adult content is OK on private land, and that these changes apply only to BUSINESSES?
ANSWER: the TOS will be changed to reflect all these changes around adult content.

Blondin: You skipped my question a second time. How many sims are you going to auction?
ANSWER: I don't know. Depends on how many are left after the swap I suppose.

Blondin, what about others who =can't= for whatever reason, but who DO want to? because here in Italy we don't have the "buy linden" service.
ANSWER: A support ticket would be the best bet.

Q: (it was missed last time I was here, and has been so far today, so I'll just ask it one more time before giving up)...Regarding groups, if/when they also get adult flagged for keyword use, what about the thousands of Residents who are NPIOF or unverified who are already existing members of said groups? Do they remain in the group, get auto-ejected? Possible repercussions?
Answer: I don't know what will happen to those members.

Xantarius Cain: Hi Blondin: Linden Lab has previously stated that private sim owners will not be affected much (other than having search terms for those sims filtered if the residents performing the search is not age-verified). TWO QUESTIONS: (a) Will private sims be required to rate themselves as "adult" if they contain adult material? (b) Will adults who have not been age-verified be locked out of these private "adult" sims? IF YES to both, private sims will be affected more than previously thought. IF NO, this presents a HUGE hole in the age-verification security that LL is building. Please explain.
Answer: yes to A and yes to B.

Haha, Blondin has been lowering the avatar limit on his sim to reduce the number of people shouting at him in this meeting.
ANSWER: Not true. I never shy away!

Well they did remove ponyplay from the filter, because the ponyplayers argued that there doesn't have to be anything sexual about ponyplay. T**s are still inherently sexual for some reason, though.
ANSWER: Google T**s.


It was after answering that question at 4:42 PM than Blondin told us, “Ok, That’s it for me tonight. I’ll be back next week!” Responses from the audience varied. Some were satisfied with Blondin’s answers, thanking him. Others were not, complaining of canned replies, skipping their questions, or of giving replies that weren’t true. One resigned resident commented, “I guess we’ll have to be satisfied with a gilded cage.”

Shortly afterward, I heard from Revolting Adults that the JIRA ticket concerning adult content they had been asking people to sign hit 4000 votes.

Bixyl Shuftan

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Interview with Xantarius Cain

With Linden Labs’ plans to move adult content to it’s own area in Second Life away from the rest of the Metaverse, opposition to “adult content filtering” quickly came about and is starting to organize. Among those spreading the word and trying to get people against these plans is Xantaruis Cain. Recently, I had a chance to talk with him at his gun shop, which had both a notecard giver for his group’s proposal, and a package with items such as protest signs.


Bixyl Shuftan: So, you're been trying to help organize the protest against Linden Lab's "adult content" plans?

Xantarius Cain: Yes. That's correct. We're in the process of organizing a series of protests. Right now, we're putting together a notecard of questions for the G-Team, which is apparently tasked with handling the adult content changes. And, of course, we're putting together a small information packet to be distributed by the signs we'd like to ask our supporters to carry at the protest(s).

Bixyl Shuftan: Why do you feel Linden Labs’ plans are bad for Second Life?

Xantarius Cain: As I see it, there are a few reasons why this move is bad for Second Life. First, this change alters the essence, for me, of what SL was supposed to be about. Linden Labs’ goal of creating a world where they as a company intervened as little as possible, allowing the residents to decide how to create and run the world, has already been eroded. This will continue down the same path as eliminating casinos, for example.

Second, Linden Lab has not been clear as to why this is necessary. I've heard claims that there is a small percentage of users who would like to have content filters put into place. But this small group seems to have a lot of power, which seems more than strange. What I believe is that Linden Lab (feels they need to) do this in order to make Second Life, which has a reputation in the mainstream media for being mostly about sex and sex clubs, more appealing to government organizations and universities. I see a few reasons why this alone is a terrible idea. Linden Lab has always maintained that they believe virtual worlds will be the future of the Web. I tend to agree. The problem is that they have not done their research. They fail to understand why the Web was a success.

Simply put: the web was not filtered. Although nations attempted to control it, it was out of their control. This is not the case with Second Life. The steps Linden Lab proposes will most-certainly hurt the product (Second Life) in the long run. The aim of the company should be, as it once appeared to be, to set Second Life as the standard (via OpenSIM, etc) for virtual worlds. If they impose artificial limits on how the residents can use the service, it will NEVER be a standard. Some other corporation or nonprofit group will enter the market, splintering the user base. This hurts Linden Lab, and Second Life.

Third, this WILL CHANGE the behavior of the Residents in Second Life, and that's very bad if you value the idea that behavior in the virtual world should be organic, not some artificial thing that comes about as a result of what users can and cannot do. This is because they are anonymous. Taking this anonymity away from them by requiring that they "age-verify" themselves so that they can gain access to adult areas of the world will completely alter their behavior. They may be less likely to agree to age verification, and will thus have no access to the content they wish to view...

Now, some will say, "What about those who would engage in illegal behavior? If you aren't doing anything illegal, you have nothing to worry about." Not true. You have a lot to worry about. If someone is breaking the law, and Linden Lab, or the U.S. FBI, or whatever legal organization, needs to find you, they can. Your IP can be paired with your avatar. Your ISP will honor a warrant to trace the IP to you. This is how it works right now. But age verification gives Linden Lab all the power. They no longer require a government's involvement to find out who you are. They will have that information. No warrant. Nothing. Just them and your information. Many will have a problem with this and will opt out. And this hurts Second Life by basically removing a whole class of people from the game.

To put it simply, Second Life was about a Libertarian society. It will soon be about something else. And that's sad. :-(

I also think this is a slippery slope...what's next? Guns? Violence? Will I have to move my store eventually?

Bixyl Shuftan: Good points. For those who don’t know, what forms are the protests taking?

Xantarius Cain: The protests ... we're focusing on gathering a group of people (using the "Revolting Adults" in-world group) to head to some of the Office Hour events held by various Linden Lab employees. It will likely be several protests over several weeks.

Bixyl Shuftan: Was there a date set for the protest yet?

Xantarius Cain: The first will be either this week or next, but nothing solid yet. We're still working out the details.

Bixyl Shuftan: How many do you think will participate in the protests?

Xantarius Cain: that's the big question, isn't it? (laughs) I have a theory that most people prefer to complain and do nothing. Electoral politics in my own country tell me this is true, but I think we have a real shot at getting a good group of people who are in the group (Revolting Adults) to join in on the protests, since it was founded for this purpose and they joined in order to get information about protests.

Bixyl Shuftan: How hopeful are you that the protests will cause Linden Labs to change direction?

Xantarius Cain: I'm hopeful that we can get Linden Lab to change direction on *some* of the proposed changes, at least. But a complete reversal? We might be fighting a losing battle...but I like that sort of battle. At the very least, Linden Lab will NOT say that they did not hear from anyone on this. They will NOT say that the majority of Residents wanted it. And they will NOT say that they didn't steamroll over the wishes of the Residents.

I'd also like to note that no Linden Lab employee has been assigned to the JIRA ticket that was opened for this. That has caused many to feel that LL doesn't care what they think. My guess: They probably don't care *enough* to change their minds because they see government and university money in their future.

Bixyl Shuftan: Do you feel if Linden Labs goes through as planned, people who have been here for a while will start to leave?

Xantarius Cain: That's a tough question. I do not think that those who are not affected will leave, no. They might complain. They might be upset. But it will be the principle of it (as it is for me). I do think that people will be much more inclined to leave if a competitor creates a virtual world that is similar to Second Life but more (1) democratic and (2) libertarian. There are others who are leaving now. They won't give Linden Lab their personal information (age-verify). I shouldn't say *now*... what I mean is that they have already said that they will leave.

Bixyl Shuftan: Anything else to add?

Xantarius Cain: I think I've added most of what I would say at that part. I would add this: Like anything else in life, if you are unhappy with something, you stand up against it. Failure to do so will tell those in power that you either (1) support them, or (2) do not care. Either way, they'll move forward and you'll live with their decisions.

And so the interview ended, with Xantarius going back to his business.

Bixyl Shuftan

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The changes to Second Life announced ...

more on the changes

The changes to Second Life announced by Linden Labs regarding "adult", "mature" and "pg" content at first glance seem not unreasonable, although one might wonder why a world that consists of nothing but adults needs enforced pg areas, but generally some sort of zoning is not unreasonable, if one owns a nice quiet cafe or club then you might well be a little disturbed to find a large, rowdy prison or BDSM club as your next door neighbour. So the initial proposal did not concern me overly.

Now, fellow residents not only am I concerned, I am angry - one might even say I am mad as hell.

First, lets look at what LL define as "adult":

________quote___________

The Adult designation applies to Second Life® Regions that host conduct or display content that is sexually explicit or intensely violent, or depicts illicit drug use. Any Region must be designated Adult and therefore require account verification, if it advertises or publicly promotes the following:

• Representations of intensely violent acts, whether or not photo-realistic (for example, depicting death, torture, dismemberment or other severe bodily harm)
• Photo-realistic nudity
• Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities (whether or not photo-realistic)

Groups, event listings and classified ads that reference these themes or content must also be designated Adult.
Linden Lab will enforce these rules. However, we can't monitor all ephemeral content and conduct within Second Life.

_________________________

Now then, lets look at this in detail...because it is all a little vague ladies and gentleman. Intensely violent - right - so obviously - a Gorean branding of a slave shouldn't be happening in the middle of a pg street (it never does anyway but..) how about someone dressed up as Indiana Jones costume bull-whipping bad guys down the street? It isn't sexually explicit but...violent - yes, intensely violent? That's pretty subjective.

Photo realistic nudity - simple enough - you might think - you can't wander through a pg shopping mall naked and with your xcite bits swinging (even if turned off - not particularly unreasonable - although as a European I have to wonder why anyone would or could be offended by a naked human form). The trouble is this is a very broad definition and it applies to all sorts of things - perhaps it's ok to ask skin makers to pixalate out the "naughty bits" but it would also prevent a reproduction of Michelangelo’s statue of David being displayed in a pg sim, I know of at least one artist in SL who has been informed by a Linden that they can display their art in a pg sim as long as they create "pasties" to cover up the nipples and genitalia. I find the idea that art will be censored so deeply offensive that I am incoherent with rage. What does it say about SL residents that they "might" be offended by a work of art? The statue of David stood in Florence town square, on view to one and all, men women and children for around 500 years, even now the original is in a museum for it's own protection, the city authorities have replaced it in the town square with a replica of this great work as far as I am aware the residents of Florence are no more corrupt than the residents of any small city in America.

Where does this end? Good question, I regularly walk around the grid in corset tops (which show my avatars ample cleavage), skirts which give a glimpse of my stocking tops and killer high heels - although I am certainly not open to offers of a sexual nature, there is no denying that my avatar is full of "Expressively themed content" - so will I only be allowed onto a pg sim if I am "modestly" dressed? and who is going to say what is "modest"? Is it going to be that for me to travel into a pg sim I am going to have to don a burkah or go back to wearing my nuns habit, which covers me from top to toe?

Now the last part, "illicit drug use", let us assume, for a moment, that all drug use on SL is illicit because well, as far as I know, prescriptions aren't available on SL and all drugs (even alcohol) are illicit somewhere in the world. All well and good, you might say - except, well any depiction of drug use is going to be adult, so, no Bob Marley posters with his trade mark "joint" available on a pg sim, no history or in depth explanation of the Rastafarian religion, no recreations of a Victorian opium den - it all goes, ladies and gentleman, to a ghetto marked "adult".

Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad except that the age verification system LL are beta testing just doesn't work well (if at all) for people out side of the USA, there are serious and reasonable concerns about the security of that personal data and - well - according to TOS we are all adults, and if LL want to confirm this (more to cover their legal asses than for any other reason) then ask people to provide a telephone number where a member of staff can contact a new resident to confirm their age.

Fellow residents, I would say to you this proposal has been badly thought out, and more reasonable alternatives (which are possibly more expensive to LL) have been ignored. If you let this go, if you shrug your shoulders, and say "it's just a game, it won't affect me", then fair enough, walk away, but remember, this will affect the basic principles of freedom of expression and freedom of speech in a virtual world founded on the principles of "Give the people a platform and let them create a metaverse".

If on the other hand you are moved by this, then vote for the jira ticket http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-2727 , make your voice heard on the forums, join one of the groups in world and, if at all possible, join the in world protest that is being organised by the Revolting Adults group.

The cynic in me says that Linden Labs will do whatever they feel will maximise their profit margin, but do not let them sweep the biggest percentage of the grid in to "adult" rated ghettos and say "No one complained".

Firehorse Rearwind

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New "adult" content filtering

By now I hope you all know at least something about Linden Labs plans to merge the teen grid and zone "Adult" or "Mature" content in SL, not only will such items (and places - even by extension people) will be restricted in location and in the search.

Personally I think that these changes will happen, because it is my belief that LL want to attract government and educational

institutions into SL - I know of one project, which can not go ahead because of the SL model as it is now, that has funding of over £100,000 for it's first year in SL, and would bring in it's own residents. Admittedly these residents wouldn't, on the whole, be the sort of residents who have, until now created and built the majority of content in SL but they would bring in an income stream to LL. I actually believe that the money will win the day and that LL will implement these changes regardless of our opinion but that just on principle I will make sure they can't push me into an adult ghetto and say I never complained.
Right now there are groups dedicated to objecting to the changes (the I AM adult content group is probably the largest of these), there is a Jira ticket, demanding that LL halt all of the proposed changes ( jira ticket ). there is a google group for organising and discussing in world protests (google group for residents). Make your voice heard, because it is my belief that trying to ghetto-ise "adult" and "mature" content is the thin end of the the wedge - and if adult themes and adult sexuality are likely to offend or corrupt minors, then perhaps those minors should not be integrated into a world which was designed to be "adult" (it is in the TOS - when you sign up you agree that you are over the age of consent and it is worth looking at the TOS - some of it is very interesting).

" Linden Lab cannot ensure that other users or any non-employee of Linden Lab will not provide Content or access to Content that parents or guardians may find inappropriate or that any user may find objectionable."

So - there you are, under their own TOS LL say that users might provide "adult" (one assumes that anything that is inappropriate or objectionable for viewing by a minor is, by default, "adult") content on the teen grid, but yet they still want to sanatise the main grid for whatever purposes (again, I say this has to do with improving their public image so they can attract publicly funded bodies onto Second Life).

On a personal note, none of my businesses are, by their nature, adult, my personal Second Life is not going to be particularly affected by this move, for me this is a matter of principle. I would rather have a Second Life which is tolerant of all human quirks and kinks, than live in a virtual world where some things are considered "beyond the pale".

Fellow residents, go not quiet into that dark night, lift up your voice and protest. Also be aware, I intend to keep bring this to your attention and I hope my fellow writers here on SL-newspapers, and other bloggers/writers about SL will also keep writing about this subject. There are principles involved - you remember principles, don't you?

Firehorse Rearwind

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