CHILD AVATARS TO BE ALLOWED IN ADULT AREAS ???

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

Prelude note to readers: An article appeared in an online "newspaper" stating that SL is to be banned in Australia for being an X-rated game. I questioned the validity of that article from the start. Regardless, the fact is that Australian law (apparently) does ban any online game with a rating over M15... and of course SL definitely is way past M15. So whether SL gets banned or not lies yet to be seen. But the main issue is the fact they're even being considered for ban-- and the pervading company attitude that has brought them under the firing sights of both Australia and (previously) the German government (Germany was primarily responsible for forcing Linden Lab to ban "AgePlay"-- the virtual representation of pedophelia). Historically, Linden Lab has done little to filter the content of their board. They have evinced no concept of social responsibility-- unless such was forced upon them.

That said, on to the blog...

This was found in Linden Lab's "Zandra" blog today (Zandra is the new "adult continent"):

9) Are child avatars allowed on Adult land? Child avatars are allowed on adult land as long as they are account verified like any other Resident. Those choosing to represent themselves with a child avatar do not represent a minor as the account holder. Not all adult land is going to be hosting adult content either. There is plenty of protected land on Zindra that will technically be adult but safe in terms of content. This however does not change any prior policies regarding child avatars. Sexual ageplay is not allowed anywhere on the grid, regardless of rating.

AUSTRALIA BANNING LINDEN LAB?
According to Internet blog reports, Australia has placed Second Life on its national Internet ban list for proferring widespread pornography. Considering the above announcement-- is it any wonder? I feel very sorry for the users in Australia who might lose their investments and associates on Second Life. That's just totally lousy. But can one blame a government from banning what is essentially a pimp board that encourages child abuse?

No matter what spin Linden Lab may try to put on the issue... allowing child avatars on a publicly-advertised adult-specific continent is just asking for trouble. All we're seeing here is more of Linden Lab's historically consistent moral and ethical depravity rising to the top. From the company that initially brought you default-naked-young-girl avatars (Ruth), the company that failed for years to act on blatant AgePlay (until the German government put its foot down)-- from the company that has for years allowed the worst of excessively-perverse garbage to be thrust under our noses at nearly every market grid wide-- from that same company comes the announcement that child avatars will be allowed on its adult-specific continent. But oh no--- AgePlay won't be allowed-- no sirreee!

Is the company totally blind to how two-faced and hypocritical that statement appears to the general public? If they want to ban AgePlay from their board-- then keep child avatars out of adult areas. Any allowance whatsoever of such things is openly condoning and enabling anything that might happen as a result. If Linden Lab thinks that allowing child avatars on Zandra will have no public repercussions... management is clearly clueless.

THE AUSTRALIAN CONTROVERSY
Second Life aside-- there is a huge controversy about the Australian government's choice to keep pornography off the Internet. But we have to understand... this is a country where topless beaches are the norm. They are not prudes. They simply realize the difference between nudity-- and degradation of women and obscene presentation of human sexuality.

The Internet is full of the most vile forms of pornographic obscenity (and I do mean obscenity... stuff that would give Hugh Hefner a heart attack). I won't even describe some of the stuff that has popped up on my screen over the years. People who promote such things are psychopaths who should have been locked away (or terminated) years ago, before they harmed anyone else. They are the vilest of the vile, without excuse or value.

We must realize that children have easy access to the Internet and that those "Warning! 18+ only admitted!" signs don't stop them for five seconds. I'd say in that aspect, Australia has our country beat. That the United States allows such things to go unregulated and uncontrolled is absolutlely shameful. It is total disregard for the mental and emotional welfare of our young ones. The result: many professionals believe we are raising a generation of virtual sociopaths.

In this country, people have become so jaded, so imune to conscience, so sexually-impacted by everything from toothpaste advertisements to kid's TV shows... it would appear nothing is considered "obscene" any more.

Australia disagrees-- and they put their foot down in the form of law. They passed laws against Internet pornography (quite some time ago it appears). Reportedly, they're considering enforcing it on Second Life, a system with blatant and excessive pornography throughout... on such scales that it turns the stomach of even the most liberal and tolerant.

THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
I thought that Linden Lab was on the right track when they started removing such things from the mainland-- much as cities zone porn to a red-light district. But it seems rather than moving porn out of the main thoroughfare-- Linden Lab intended on using that new continent as a marketing ploy. That is obvious in the number of splash-page advertisements for their new "adult continent". Basically, the company is saying:

LOOK HERE! YOU CAN FIND ALL THE PORN AND SEX YOU WANT RIGHT HERE ALL IN ONE PLACE. AND GUESS WHAT??? WE'RE EVEN ALLOWING CHILD AVATARS! WOOHOO!"

/me shakes head. Soon, no one with any sense of morals or ethics is going to be able to stomach either Linden Lab or Second Life. What will be left-- will be people who have nothing of either. I'm glad other VR worlds are being established. Second Life is becoming a ghetto, a low-life, no-class cesspool of attitude and depravity. If I speak strongly here-- it's because it seems time someone did.

HANG A RED LIGHT ON THE DOOR
I would try to appeal to this company's sense of conscience and ethics... if there was any evidence they had any. As it stands, perhaps they should just be honest and hang a red light on the door. If they want to be a pimp board, at least stop trying to gloss over the fact.

If on the other hand, they really do want to remove blatant pornography and public offense, they are surely going to have to excercise some common sense and make better decisions than the one noted above. Allowing child avatars on the adult continent is just loony. If they wanted to improve their reputation at all-- they are going about it totally the wrong way. If anything, their child avatar decision exposes their true, consistent nature: a company that's claiming to be the wannabe virtual web, yet up to its neck in sex merchanting and virtual pedophelia.



--o--

[Zauber Paracelsus]

I'm suddenly reminded of the Bene Tleilax from the Dune novels. For thousands of years, they were well-known for their knowledge of genetic and biological engineering, and notorious for their moral and ethical depravity. And sometimes for their stupidity (at least in regards to politics and assassination attempts). All of that was concealing a secret plan of theirs to shed the millenia of stereotypes to show their "true" selves to the universe.

Does Linden Lab have such a conspiracy in mind, or have they already been trying to do so continuously but failing miserably because they never shedded the stupidity and moral/ethical depravity?

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

I agree with you Edward, that there is a big difference between legal banning and unwarranted "witchhunt" type censorship. My point being made wasn't the right or wrong of what Senator Conroy is doing-- but rather the position of Linden Lab and Second Life in the situation.

You said yourself: " It does not allow sales in Australia of items with a maturity rating over MA15. There is no MA 18 in Australia."

I'd have to say that Second Life is well beyond "MA15". So while what Senator Conroy is doing is proper or not is still a question-- the basic legal premise of the Australian government to ban games that go beyond MA15 is, in my opinion, solid. We have done similar things to this in our country: cigarettes and tobacco products may no longer be advertised on television.

It should be obvious to anyone that a in internet "game" full of sex is going to be a big attraction to anyone who has access to a computer-- especially children and teens. Regardless of what Senator Conroy is currently doing... the Australian law exists and (as far as I can tell) Second Life clearly falls under that law. If anyone can provide clear and concise evidence that Australian law does not ban "mature games"... then I'll include such in the above blog.

But this blog is not about the Australian decision per se. It's about the decision of Second Life to purposefully support X-rated activities on their board... and including child avatars in the mix. Seriously-- would any of us permit a child in a bar-- much less a brothel? Their claim that "adults" are behind the child avatar is really a very questionable platform.

Until evidence is presented that Second Life is not in breach of existing Australian law, I stick by the primary point of this post: Linden Lab has turned Second Life into a blatant porn market and that status was called to account by the Australian government. The fact that the company publicly announcing intent to allow "child avatars" in areas clearly marked "adult"-- emphasizes the perverted viewpoints of that company. There are some areas that are black and white, some that are gray. Linden Lab's current decision is by no means "gray"... such concepts should be offensive to anyone who has any responsible sense of ethics and conscience.

[Zauber Paracelsus]

I wonder if Senator Conroy has heard of the Streisand Effect? He's probably shaking in his shoes if he does.

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

The Strisand Effect: Attempting to censor something and thereby bringing more attention to it. "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it."

That unfortunately becomes true... and even moreso as people become more jaded to obscenity. It comes to the point that even that which is most obscene is considered "freedom of expression".

There is no better example than the "murder-rape" clubs and AgePlay on Second Life. When Linden Lab rightly decided to remove AgePlay-- it wasn't due to any moral or ethical consideration (involved members claimed it was "adults" behind the child avatars and thus not "actually" pedophelia), but due to direct threat by the German Government to ban their system from the country (Australia is not the first goverment to object to Second Life).

So yes, the users of the Internet will find ways to circumvent all kinds of censorship-- even proper sensorship. I'm not saying that what the senator is doing is right or wrong; that's not my call. I am saying that the Internet itself is so far beyond any concept wholesome or socially-responsible that it's frightening. The effect on the minds and outlooks of youth (who now have access to the most perverse of concepts) is damaging in the extreme.

What the senator himself is doing is highly controversial. Right or wrong-- I can't say. But I do know that if Australia has a long-established law against any Internet game that's beyond M-15... then Second Life most certainly is way past that level. So Linden Lab either conforms to Australian law... or they get banned from Australia. It's one of those "duh" things. Follow the law-- or pay the consequences.

[Powers Constantine]

The whole thing is just sick and perverted. SL's intention is perfectly clear--we allow pedophelia!!! It is alive and well on SL!! I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN LL WILL GET WHAT IS COMING TO THEM!!!! Those in LL that have permitted this should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Even an idiot can see that LL is giving pedophiles a "legal" place to live out their fantasies!!! I am just livid and more than ever hoping for the day that LL collapses!!! My first inclination was to leave SL. However after much thought I realized I could do much better to stay in SL and become an very strong advocate against their policies "in world". It is up to all of us to protect the innocent ones here--the children.
Your comments here have proved over and over what great advocates you all are for all that is good and decent. I am so grateful for people like you that do speak up for the many injustices that are done to the innocent ones in our world! These actions will not return void--they never do!!!

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

Powers, you make a very valid response to all those who ask, "If you dislike Linden Lab so much, why continue on SL?"

This is a question I ask myself almost daily. "Why should Elf Clan continue on Second Life when Linden Lab is so obviously contrary to everything Elf Clan stands for?"

The answer always comes back the same: Because Elf Clan stands for honor, regardless of Linden Lab. I don't mean this to sound self-congratulatory or egotistical; I state this merely as fact: many people look to Elf Clan and our lands as an example of what Second Life should have been. Not in the aspect of fantasy or our builds (those are irrelevant to the issue) but from the standpoint of basic honor, consistently-enforced rules, concern for our members, and organized Charter in which everyone knows exactly where they stand, and fair rulings that apply to everyone (even Eldars).

Second Life unfortunately mimicks real life. It could be far better-- but instead Linden Lab has intentionally chosen to let it be just as degenerate and obscene as real life. Instead of giving us a better place to enjoy our virtual lives-- the company has permitted and even encouraged surrounding us with the vilest of environments.

Just as we cannot get away from real life-- Elf Clan cannot get rid of Second Life and still exist as we exist (although with the advent of other VR worlds... that day is coming). But just as in real life, we can separate ourselves from such things. Thus we have our private sims in which drama and obsenity is met with zero tolerance, and in which Elf Clan attempts to set a positive example for all newcomers.

The result? Our Charter has actually helped people change their lives (their real lives). People who were going to leave Second Life all together suddenly discovered Elf Clan and what we stand for... and stayed. We offer a haven to those who tire and sicken of what they find elsewhere on the board.

We are not alone in these things. Our friends at Raglan and Dreams and other fine lands have similar policies: *Honor* *Respect* *Friendship*. These are simple, basic concepts that shine in several fine groups. Unfortunately, I can count those groups on my fingers. I'm sure there are more such, but they are few and far between. But at least we know there is Elf Clan. When Elf Clan left Second Life, all I heard, repeatedly, was "Please come back. There is nothing like it anywhere." So we returned, and here the Elves are-- and Orcs and dwagons and all our other friends-- and here we stand as a beacon to all saying, "Here is a port of safety from the depravity of Second Life." That is how our policy shall always remain (at least, as long as I and Peter are alive to insure such). And after us, if Second Life even still exists, I hope our Greeters carry on the tradition we have started, if not as Elf Clan then in their own group that they take up after us.

Yes, Linden Lab will eventually pay for the course it's chosen. They may laugh at that thought... but the concept is very old: "Whatever a man soweth, this he shall reap." There are always, always consequences for actions.

For the good of the good people on SL who have invested heavily in both money and time, for those who have social circles there and who are otherwise hampered from enjoying life, I have long hoped that SL wouldn't totally collapse, tried to make recommendations and given warnings to Linden Lab to help them prevent its total collapse. But I'm coming to realize SL is almost to the "point of no return" in which it will be beyond repairing. Fortunately, other grids are arriving that will provide people alternatives. If Second Life were to collapse tomorrow, Elf Clan is already established on Reaction Grid and we have a fine reputation there of being supportive, friendly and pro-RG. They're not perfect, but then, neither is SL. There are bugs to be sure, platform issues, problems. but the people at RG have proven "good attitude", customer-supportive policies that continue to shine out time and time again. So Linden Lab at this point can do what it wants-- and reap the consequences of their actions. Our eggs are no longer in one basket.

[Powers Constantine]

In my profession, I see what these beasts have done to the innocent. LL's decision to allow child avatars will only increase the vicious sexual needs of these pedophiles. By saying there are legal age adults behind these avatars means absolutely nothing!!! Seriously, who do they think they are kidding? They must see us all as a bunch of idiots!!! They are feeding the fantasies of these moral degererates and INCREASING their insatiable needs that they will act on in the real world!!

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

Peter and I fully agree JD: there will be no additional Elf Clan sims on Second Life. We made such decision of course, due to the OpenSim stunt (LL has to know that when they forced us to shut down six sims-- there will be no investment in additional).

All further expansion will be on external grids. We already have more sims elsewhere than we do on SL. For that, LL has only themselves to blame. They pushed one push too far. Now they add insult in injury.

This decision to allow child avatars on a publicly-advertised "adult" continent... does Linden Lab have any morals or ethics at all... or even basic common sense? That's why we keep dealings with them to absolute bare minimum. I concentrate fully on Elf Clan. Our group doesn't engage in LL promotional projects, their social events, their celebrations, or any other Linden Lab-focused activity. I don't support RL pimps or pedophiles, and I surely won't tolerate virtual ones.

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

Powers: "They are feeding the fantasies of these moral degererates and INCREASING their insatiable needs that they will act on in the real world!!"

That is so true, Powers. I often hear people argue, "Virtual activities give potential pedophiles a release for such things so they don't enact them in real life."

Such people are truly clueless about RL psychology. It doesn't give them a release, any more than gross pornography makes rapists less likely to commit rape. It INCREASES their tendency to do so, feeding such thoughts and strengthening them to the point they almost HAVE to have real-life release... and it's never enough.

Like alcoholism, the only way to fight such things is to get away from them, distance oneself, actively and intentionally resist such desires and urges. Thinking that giving these people a "virtual release" will make them less dangerous is not just naive-- it's dangerously ignorant.

I suspect such people would have a complete change of opinion if (perish forbid) it's one of their children that becomes the victim of such a fiend. I doubt then they'll be so tolerant of pedophilia in any form, real or virtual. I doubt then they will be so eager to condone allowing child avatars on the adult continent.

[Schlitzie Martini]

"It INCREASES their tendency to do so, feeding such thoughts and strengthening them to the point they almost HAVE to have real-life release..."

to put it in computer geek terms, "garbage in = garbage out"