The Age Verification (or Identity Verification, as it seems like it might be called internally again) implementation for Second Life has been a fairly fraught process so far, with no clear resolution in sight.

With allegations of dubious respect for privacy on the part of the verification provider, questions about the actual nature of the service being provided, difficulties closing the deal, policy changes about whether it will be mandatory or not and whether you will be able to tell if someone is verified or not, doubts about the effectiveness of the actual restrictions, that the system seems to be easily cheated, that Linden Lab doesn't appear to trust that successful verification is sufficient, and a slew of issues and open questions (not limited to the fact that it may be quite likely unlawful for you to provide your identity information if you are outside the USA due to assorted anti-terror laws and agreements) ... well, it hasn't been a smooth road in the almost-a-year since this started.

The Second Life Grid Grind's Jamie David got an email from Linden Lab for his alt account, Agelock Short. It appears someone reported Agelock Short for being underage, and the account was suspended pending an age-check, as is commonly done in these situations.

The problem is that Agelock Short was already successfully age-verified as an adult through Linden Lab's age-verification arrangement with Aristotle/Integrity. That apparently, is not good enough.

We've taken a long look at the way Second Life beta age-verification works (or fails to) as far as the age-verification provider Aristotle/Integrity is concerned. The next part ultimately is how does age-restriction actually work on the Second Life grid?

With the aid of a test subject and the latest release candidate, we took a look at the age-verification based access-restriction flag to find out exactly what it does.

Second Life users have found a way to deal with Aristotle/Integrity's age-verification service (who's non-USA failure rates seem to be awfully high, and who's data may be a touch less than comprehensive) and a straightforward and easy way to get themselves verified.

Famous people and dead people. Also famous, dead people. In fact, people are having more success verifying their accounts with the credentials of the deceased than with the living.

As the fur continues to fly over Second Life's beta age-verification system, one of the aspects that has only really been lightly touched on is informed choice.

Before offering your identity documents and personal data to any third-party, there are things you need to know, otherwise you cannot be said to be capable of making an informed choice in the matter. So far, that information hasn't been comprehensively provided to you.