Second Life moves to 1.23, opens adult continent, allows more content

by Tateru Nino Jun 16th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Culture, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Linden Lab has released the new viewer, bringing Second Life up to 1.23 a few days earlier than expected, off the back of a very short release-candidate cycle.

The new viewer brings three things with it: The new Adults-only continent (formerly Ursula and now Zindra), user-verification by documents or payment-status, and a new Adults-only content rating that opens up Second Life to more extreme sexual and violent content.

At least so long as it is confined to the adult continent and no child avatars are involved, of course. That this was all done as a adult-continent rather than an adult-grid suggests that Linden Lab's intergrid interoperability isn't ready for prime-time yet.

There have certainly been plenty of objections to the system:

Verification/ID is as easy to fake as it is in the physical world.
Some object to the increased range of adult content.
Some object to the segregation of adult content.
Some object to the new content rating definitions (and some to the rewording of them)

Realistically however, it's now pretty much obvious that this was what Mitch Kapor was presaging in his rather contentious speech one year ago this month. So, it seems pretty clear that the plan has probably been in the works for as much as 18 months. With that much momentum, very little was really likely to be changed or tweaked in the final quarter of the plan.

Kapor cautioned at the time: "It is always an uneasy transition for the pioneers, and I think we're going to go through that again. It has to be opened up it has to be made easier to use. There are some things which have to happen. There are some things that Linden Lab has to do ... to allow the potential of the platform to unfold ... to improve ease of use, ease of learning."

It's not hard to see these changes in that particular warning. True, the Lab's allowed more content to go under the Adults-only banner – content that was hitherto expressly forbidden – but it isn't really clear whether that sweetens the deal, or simply raises more objections.

Whichever it might be, there's nothing to be done but to make the best of what we all have.

The new 1.23 viewer is available for Windows, Linux and Mac (universal binary), and can be downloaded from the usual places. You can use a third-party viewer, of course, but until they move up to the necessary minimums, access to search with third-party viewers may be somewhat limited.

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Tags: adult-content, age-verification, idv, linden-lab, mitch-kapor, opinion, patches, second-life, second-life-viewer, sl-adult-content, sl-version-1.23, ursula-continent, virtual-worlds, zindra-continent

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

JP said on 12:18PM 6-16-2009

Isn't he the guy that shoulders most of the responsibility as to why Sigil went to shit, and VG was released to early? And then just up and sold it, fired 90% of his company, and walked away?

Now that his hiatus is over, he wants to make a "come back"? LOL. Just what this industry needs.

JP said on 12:20PM 6-16-2009

Wrong article. ignore.

Burix said on 12:27PM 6-16-2009

Is the new adult continent named "Pen Island" perchance?

Ari Blackthorne said on 4:00PM 6-16-2009

I ventured into Zindra - I was "verified" back when only estate owners were allowed to 'beta-test' the verification system. I had no issues getting in there and searching for "adult" filtered words and locations.

To test, I logged into my bot alt - which isn't "verified" - and the filtering in search (all forms of search) is in fact in effect. So anyone who has verified that way (including any false-positives, I supposed) will be good to go as they say.

A couple bugs they say are fixed, arn't. Well, I downloaded the viewer last night on first announcement. makes me wonder. I think I'll downlaod it again tonight.

Ari Blackthorne said on 4:01PM 6-16-2009

Ayane said on 4:45PM 6-16-2009

"user-verification by documents or payment-status"

Hang on does that mean I don't have to give them my SSIN if I don't want to?

Tateru Nino said on 5:05PM 6-16-2009

Any payment to the Lab for something (a premium account, L$ purchase or whatever) using a CC, prepaid CC, or verified paypal account is sufficient to mark you as 'verified' -- if you've ever done any of these things on your account, you're probably verified already.

Ayane said on 5:38PM 6-16-2009

Oh wow...thank you very much for the info Tateru. ^_^

So I can access the adult content by simply verifying my account with my credit card....sweet!

Ayane said on 2:36PM 6-18-2009

So just to clarify this (I was looking at my account information today) If I put in my CCard info again and buy some L$ like I did in the past....then I can access adult content?

I'll be verified?

Tateru Nino said on 2:46PM 6-18-2009

In theory, if you've already done it in the past on that account, then you're already verified.

Ayane said on 2:53PM 6-18-2009

Thank you again. ^_^

That is very good to hear. I mean I don't care how 'secure' they say the other methods are....I trust them more with my cred card info than my passport number or SSIN (even if it is the last 4 digits). o_O

Also being Canadian I think my country has a law against some of my personal info being requested by an 'entertainment' venue like SL.

Will this show up on my account? Can i somehow see that I am verified? Or will I just have to go in a search for naughty things? LOL

Tateru Nino said on 3:26PM 6-18-2009

I am pretty sure if you can teleport to one of the Zindra sims listed here, then the system considers you verified: https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/land/blog/2009/06/15/welcome-to-zindra

Ari Blackthorne said on 4:53PM 6-16-2009

@ Ayane

You've never had to give your SSN.

You give publicly available information that anyone anywhere can find on you anyway. Once you've enterred your information you have a choice of "verification" options.

The SSN option is only the last four digits of your SSN.

Dale Innis said on 6:55PM 6-16-2009

I'm still wildly curious, Tateru, why you think that there's this big category of things that will be allowed on Zindra that weren't previously allowed in Mature land. The ToS has not changed, and it's the ToS that governs what's allowed on pre-change Mature land, and what will be allowed on post-change Adult land. As far as I know, the restrictions are officially exactly the same. The "Indecency" section of the ToS, in particular, says that if you want to do "broadly offensive" stuff you have to do it in private. That's true on mature land today, and unless they change the ToS (and I haven't heard any suggestion that they're planning to), it will be true on Adult land (including Zindra) after the change.

I expect there will be some borderline cases, where something that would have been deemed a ToS violation on Mature land because it might offend the neighbors too much will get a pass on Zindra because the neighbors are, after all, choosing to live in Adult land, but I tend to think that will be a small effect.

So just what is it that you think "opens up Second Life to more extreme sexual and violent content", and what evidence do you have for that? Inquiring minds want to know. :)

Tateru Nino said on 12:25AM 6-17-2009

Neither the TOS nor the CS (Community Standards) changed when gambling, banking, strong violence, or sexual ageplay were restricted. Those content restrictions were handled in the blog and on the knowledge-base, primarily, but users were expected to adhere to them.

Both the TOS and the CS rely on definitions that are expanded and explained elsewhere, and during the last couple of months, we've documented the changes to them. The extension isn't a huge one, but it's there and I've written about it in a number of places during the process. Try starting here: http://www.massively.com/2009/04/27/what-do-second-lifes-new-content-ratings-actually-mean/

Scylla Rhiadra said on 10:39AM 6-18-2009

The issue of what the new adult classification will mean to allowable content in SL is an extremely important one, and has been the central focus of questions posed by myself and colleagues at various Linden Office hours. The actual situation seems to be rather ambiguous. I am not quite as certain as you, Tateru, that the new classification simply tosses the 2007 SL blog prohibitions against extreme violence and depictions of sexual violence out the window, but the indications are certainly worrisome.

To begin with, the new definition for allowable content in Adult does seem to echo eerily the language used to characterized prohibitions in the 2007 announcement. As disturbing as this is the utter refusal of any of the Lindens whom I have asked about this to state explicitly whether the 2007 prohibitions are, or are not, still in effect. Most of my direct questions on this subject have either been ignored, or have been have been greeted by bland non-answers, such as this one by Blondin: "Anything forbidden in the TOS or CS will still be forbidden ."

My own suspicion is that LL is being deliberately vague about this because it serves their purposes to be so. Indeed, I think that this is why the 2007 prohibitions have never been integrated into the TOS or the CS. Ambiguity allows LL to pick and choose on a case-by-case basis which regulations to apply. Thus, for example, LL has made it (fairly) clear that sexualized age play will still not be permitted on Zindra (even if child avatars apparently will be), despite the fact that it is not explicitly banned by either the TOS or the CS. Here is one instance, then, where the 2007 prohibitions, which ARE explicit on this matter, do seem to remain in effect. As for the other types of content covered in 2007 . . . well, who knows?

I have a great many concerns about the classification scheme and its implementation, but none seem to me to be more important than this one. What sorts of content, formerly prohibited, will now be allowed to slip into Zindra? And, given that the Zindra will largely be inhabited and visited by those explicitly seeking adult content, how effective will current monitoring and abuse reporting mechanisms be? I think that anyone who is at all concerned about the presence of extreme pornography, particularly that depicting rape and other forms of violence against women, should be pressuring LL to be much more upfront about this. Neither residents, nor content providers, are well-served by the current ambiguity.

Tateru Nino said on 11:21AM 6-18-2009

Linden Lab has assured us that statements or answers made by individual staff or at office hours or in other venues (except as deemed official) do not necessarily reflect policy, may be incomplete, incorrect, or just completely erroneous, and should not be relied on as a source of information, clarification, guidance or advice. (The exact wording is in an old email, but I don't think the term "fairy tale" was actually used, which seems like a bit of a lack considering)

We're told that the only information that should be considered to be correct is that which comes through official channels: The PR people, the website (not including the wiki or forums), the blog, or press releases, or if the staff member tells you that it is an "official policy statement" -- in which case, email me!

So, if we were to take the Lab's position at face-value, anything said at office-hours is just so much fluff -- unless they tell you it is an official policy statement (I always ask!) and not more likely to be correct than Joe Newbie.

Alas.

Scylla Rhiadra said on 11:42AM 6-18-2009

Alas indeed. I wish I could say I am surprised but, given the backtracking and inconsistency I've seen at office hours, I find this all too likely. In any case, I find the studied evasions more telling than anything I've actually heard at these little confabs.

I have been told (at an office hour . . .) that the TOS and CS will be "updated" to bring them into line with the new policies on Adult content. It will be interesting to see what such updates consist of, although I suspect that they will be minimal and . . . vague.

danielravennest said on 10:33PM 6-19-2009

The TOS and CS at present don't mention Adult regions at all right now, so they are inconsistent with the state of the software. Even if its only to substitute Adult for where it says Mature now, they need to change to make sense.

Catnapkitty said on 8:42PM 6-20-2009

Quite the heated debate going on right now in several SL forums over just what 'Adult' means for Zindra.

There seem to be two camps:
1. It means an Adult only continent.
2. It means anything from PG up to Adult.

A like debate exists over the presence of Child AVs, and pretty falls into camp 1 above wanting them voted off the island, and camp 2 thinking they should get to go home with the million dollars at the end of the season.

It will be very interesting to see how it falls out, but I suspect that if camp 2 wins, Adult content may end up being pushed largely out of SL by land barons buying up Zindra and converting it to PG and mature to increase search hits.