Second Life's crackdown on adult content available to lying teens

[WaterWolf]

If you play the online game Second Life, you'll know that the game is loaded with great fun, with regions tailored for your desires, weither they are fighting, romancing, roleplaying, cosplaying, whatever. I've even seen Halo matches being renacted on SL. But there has always been an issue looming over the virtual world, adult content.

Second Life has always primarily been an adult game, but in this real world we all know kids and teens lie. When you're asked for your age or DOB, they'll always set it high to avoid limitations. Second Life has suffered with this too much, with kids coming online to their world, stripping naked and running around going "WOOOHOOO I GOT BEWBS" when their parents catch them, and attempt to sue Linden Labs. Second Life has got sick of this, and have made in my opinion a really radical move towards cracking down on this issue.

Not only does Second Life require you to put literally your whole bank account on their database, they now ask for sensitive information. To access their adult restricted areas, you need either your passport, driving licence, insurance number, bill details, etc. Now don't get me wrong, this is a really efficient way of filtering around the lying kids, unless they hacked the DVLA and somehow placed a fake driving licence on their database. But they seem to have overlooked one issue, internet security.

We all know hackers are out there with their eyes set on the prize; your bank details. I think handing over your sensitive information is just asking for hackers to take your details and clone your identity. If it's not that they claim it while you enter it, but once Second Life has built a huge database of this information, who will stop hackers teaming up to take down their server? The Police definatly wont until it's happened. It was known that Second Life has been hacked before, with millions of users credit details stolen, so why trust them with your passport?

Basicly, the main part of the argument is this: Would you hand over your sensitive personal details over the internet to prove your adult authenticity? If you were legitimately offered £1,000,000 but you had to give them your passport details over an unencrypted network, would you?

[Astraea Nevermore]

Tried out Second Life a couple of times, and always ended up being bored to death with it. Probably that's because I didn't have a pay account, so that I couldn't experiment many features, or probably it was the fact that I didn't really have any idea on how to make friends in there. I always found terribly pointless to just appear from nowhere, pick up a random guy in the square/building/whatever and start to talk about... don't even know what :blink:
To make it even more frustrating, it lagged as hell on my pc.

So... considering my opinion about the whole thing, I guess I wouldn't even want to join Second Life again. But, even if I decided to do that, I would never want to give 'em full access to my personal informations. I'm very paranoid, and very suspicious even when it comes to just use a credit card for online shopping. Giving full access to my identity just to play a game is really too much of a risk, to me.

I could change my mind about it if they really gave me the £1,000,000, though

[pinketamine]

No. I would never give all that personal information, exactly for the reasons you told. Hackers exist, and giving them all the information in the world is not exactly a clever idea.
How would Second Life assure their clients that their personal information is not going to be stolen? What would they do if this information ended in the wrong hands?

Still no to the second question, as someone stealing my identity could cause MANY problems that I would probably be unable to solve even with that million pounds.

[Luxwing_go]

Second life is a big deal. No, I have never played it...but, what I mean is that this whole deal with kids getting on there is a major issue that could do some real damage to the company. I suppose that asking for so much personal information is really the only means they have of filtering their users. The fact that hackers would be able to obtain your information...well, seeing as how the game makes more money than I will ever see in my lifetime in just a year, I am sure that they will be able to purchase the means to create super safe servers.

Honestly, if they were smart, they would require everyone to make a PayPal account and just ask for that info. Therefore, even if someone does hack your account, all they find is that you have PayPal and do not actually find your real bank account.

As for the money question, I would only accept it if the money came with a new identity. ;D Because I'm clever like that.

[simbalena]

Didn't second life already have a problem with hackers? I wouldn't trust a company who can't even stop flying penises.

[Rawra]

You mean... if I already have an account and enter the adult space, I have to give all that info? Cause I won't do that for a game, lol , it's overreacting!

[MsScribble]

I'm on second life and will never give them my bank details. I'm sure Linden Labs need to tackle the problem of underage players but really can't understand how they think we would feel comfortable doing that, and they certianly can't promise those details will be safe. And being cluey-with-computers-aware-of-security-issues type people, i'm pretty sure that no-one from LL would EVER disclose their own bank details within an online game.

Maybe they should just make second life PG? Cartoon sex is pointless beyond my comprehension and pixel breasts etc are just that, so what would we really being missing by not being able to virtually bonk, strip or constantly swear? And maybe the actual adults on sl would stop acting like 12 year olds.

Not that the people who have reportedly made real life millions in the virtual sex trade would agree lol.

[unalisaa]

Maybe they should just make second life PG? Cartoon sex is pointless beyond my comprehension and pixel breasts etc are just that, so what would we really being missing by not being able to virtually bonk, strip or constantly swear? And maybe the actual adults on sl would stop acting like 12 year olds.
Really? Adults should give up their interests just because they are not suitable for kids? Should video stores stop renting out pornography because under-aged kids might show a fake ID trying to rent it?
SL was never made for children, and I don't think it's fair to its players to make it more child-oriented to pander to parents who can't control their kids.
One solution might be to increase control, but honestly, I'd say the only responsibility a game has is to inform and warn that Boobs Lie Ahead. Other than that, the responsibility lies entirely on parents. Teach your kid how to use the Internet safely, and tell them that if they want to cruise for porn, SL might not be the best place to do it. List the reasons. They make sense.

[WaterWolf]

Just to point out, remember Second Life is used for buisnesses too, people actually get employed by other companies over SL. Would you give your CV over SL for an online job? Bearing in mind the Linden Dollar exchange rate is... shocking.

Second Life does have PG areas, where if you run around naked and swearing all the time you get banned. An example of this is the region Help Island Public.

Just to add another argument, that i see seems to be very common, Do you think it's OK to be in a relationship with someone in real life AND on second life? With 2 different people.

Tried out Second Life a couple of times, and always ended up being bored to death with it. Probably that's because I didn't have a pay account, so that I couldn't experiment many features, or probably it was the fact that I didn't really have any idea on how to make friends in there. I always found terribly pointless to just appear from nowhere, pick up a random guy in the square/building/whatever and start to talk about... don't even know what :blink:
The main attraction of Second Life is that it's a free 3D construction software with added social networking... or is that social failworking? Also i've never really made friends over SL because some people are really odd on it. I just practised building on it, because it's the easiest 3D builder next to google sketchup.
To make it even more frustrating, it lagged as hell on my pc.
People overdo their avatars with tons of vectors and objects and particles, which cause immense lag even for high end machines, something they usually fail to cap. And their lag help service is... Meh?

So... considering my opinion about the whole thing, I guess I wouldn't even want to join Second Life again. But, even if I decided to do that, I would never want to give 'em full access to my personal informations. I'm very paranoid, and very suspicious even when it comes to just use a credit card for online shopping. Giving full access to my identity just to play a game is really too much of a risk, to me.
Giving credit card details give leeway for hackers to steal your money, but giving your sensitive details give them access to your identity. And like stated earlier they've been hacked numerous times so you're almost guaranteed to suddenly have millions of yourself running around. Identity wise. It'll almost be like The Matrix where the Smith guy copies himself millions and millions of times.

How would Second Life assure their clients that their personal information is not going to be stolen? What would they do if this information ended in the wrong hands?
They claim on their website that "No private infomation is stored on our servers". Im sorry, HOW are you activated if there is no record of you activating? Somewhere will have your details. What will stop them from accepting false infomation? If not them, maybe the virus that exists on like 80% of Windows computers.
You mean... if I already have an account and enter the adult space, I have to give all that info? Cause I won't do that for a game, lol , it's overreacting!
Remember Second Life has been sued numerous times, so they are taking precautions. If you google 'Second Life sued' you see many MANY lawsuits.

[MsScribble]

Really? Adults should give up their interests just because they are not suitable for kids? Should video stores stop renting out pornography because under-aged kids might show a fake ID trying to rent it?
SL was never made for children, and I don't think it's fair to its players to make it more child-oriented to pander to parents who can't control their kids.
One solution might be to increase control, but honestly, I'd say the only responsibility a game has is to inform and warn that Boobs Lie Ahead. Other than that, the responsibility lies entirely on parents. Teach your kid how to use the Internet safely, and tell them that if they want to cruise for porn, SL might not be the best place to do it. List the reasons. They make sense.

You're right - i was just being flippant about turning SL into a pg place. I don't actually want it pg so much as more adult. Men in their 40's yelling 'i see bewbies!' every ten minutes gets a bit ridiculous. Maybe i go to the wrong places lol.

[unalisaa]

You're right - i was just being flippant about turning SL into a pg place. I don't actually want it pg so much as more adult. Men in their 40's yelling 'i see bewbies!' every ten minutes gets a bit ridiculous. Maybe i go to the wrong places lol.
Oh, I apologise for missing that. Yes, people are immature on the 'Net a lot. Maybe it's the anonymity. Maybe they are just not very smart. I definitely think you should go elsewhere if you want maturity d:

Just to add another argument, that i see seems to be very common, Do you think it's OK to be in a relationship with someone in real life AND on second life? With 2 different people.
This is an interesting question. I've seen a lot of people claim that cheating doesn't count if it's on the Internet, but I'd say that the moment you become emotionally invested, unless you have other arrangements with your significant other, it's cheating. If you'd be uncomfortable with your significant other knowing what you're doing, odds are you're doing something that isn't okay.

[WaterWolf]

The main reason i also go on Second Life is that as i have stated on other threads countless times, i live in my imagination. I always dress my SL person is absurd clothing styles to inspire my creativity. It's annoying when you do this and some 13 year old kid who is bored to hell decides to run along, cage you, abuse privellages, strip you naked, then fire you into the sky. Basicly, Second Life server is located in Lady GaGa's brain.

This is an interesting question. I've seen a lot of people claim that cheating doesn't count if it's on the Internet, but I'd say that the moment you become emotionally invested, unless you have other arrangements with your significant other, it's cheating. If you'd be uncomfortable with your significant other knowing what you're doing, odds are you're doing something that isn't okay.
Imagine explaining it to the misses, "Excuse me dear im just going on Second Life to kanoodle with a female wolf while we type sexual noises"

[unalisaa]

Imagine explaining it to the misses, "Excuse me dear im just going on Second Life to kanoodle with a female wolf while we type sexual noises"
Then again, if they are married, one would hope she already knew he was into wolves.

[el_flel]

One solution might be to increase control, but honestly, I'd say the only responsibility a game has is to inform and warn that Boobs Lie Ahead. Other than that, the responsibility lies entirely on parents. Teach your kid how to use the Internet safely, and tell them that if they want to cruise for porn, SL might not be the best place to do it. List the reasons. They make sense.^ This, basically. Considering how extremely easy it is to come across porn, I'd say that this "problem" with SL isn't really much of a problem. This seems to be another case where parents expect companies to do their parenting for them.

I don't like to provide bank/card details for something where I'm not spending money, but if I am expected to pay then I will provide them (I play MMORPGs which are obviously paid for). However, in this case, if I wasn't paying for an account already I would be really reluctant to provide my bank details. As for asking for passport/driving license - I've never had anywhere online ask for those and again would be quite reluctant.

Ultimately, I guess it would depend on how much I wanted to play the game, but I don't think this is a particularly fair way of weeding out the under-age players. As unalisaa said, it's the parents' job to ensure that their child isn't going on age-inappropriate websites, not the owners of said sites.

[Nekowolf]

@MsScribble: "Cartoon sex is pointless beyond my comprehension"

I just want to say I resent that. I love hentai; the only difference between it and real porn is that one is real people, the other is animated.

Anyway, I know I'd never give out information like that, to any site. It's way too much of a security risk.

[Astraea Nevermore]

The main attraction of Second Life is that it's a free 3D construction software with added social networking... or is that social failworking? Also i've never really made friends over SL because some people are really odd on it. I just practised building on it, because it's the easiest 3D builder next to google sketchup.

Right, I kinda forgot about the 3D builder part. Tried it only once, the best I could manage to do was a glass cube I left somewhere in the zone I was visiting at the time, 'cos I didn't know what to do with it D:

People overdo their avatars with tons of vectors and objects and particles, which cause immense lag even for high end machines, something they usually fail to cap. And their lag help service is... Meh?
Oh, so that's why it lags that much. I thought it was pretty normal on my old laptop, 'cos it lagged basically with everything, but I had the same issue on my new computer, too.

As for the romance part, that's something I've been thinking a lot about. A couple of years ago I was on a MMORPG with my boyfriend of the time and his character suddenly started to "flirt" with another character. Everytime I entered the game, I found him "flirting" with this other fictional character. It wasn't exactly a pleasant situation, but I tried to survive. Then, I saw her making sexual references during the gameplay, and I got totally mad.
Ok that it was just a game, but it was going a bit too far, to me... not to mention that it was supposed to be a game full of little kids, and both of them were in a 'public' room. I politely asked to this girl to please avoid sexual references during the game, 'cos I didn't really like to see that kind of stuff referred to my real life boyfriend, even if in a fictional setting. First, she told me that "she didn't mean to be offensive" and whatever.
Then, she contacted my boyfriend via private message, to tell him that I was bothering her and being very childish. From there, what was supposed to be "just a game" and a "fictional lovestory" brought some real life fights, with both her and my boyfriend... who was defending her -_____-

So, no, I don't like the idea of having a "fictional" relationship on Second Life (or any other place) together with a real life relationship. I already know that it would make me feel uncomfortable with the whole situation, plus, the idea that something like what I already experienced in the past could happen again ain't exactly at the top of my wishlist.

[Oaktree]

I don't find Second Life particularly interesting. Astraea pretty much summed up my feelings on the game in her first comment. However, I think it's pretty silly for parents to sue Linden Labs, or any other company, for content on the internet that they don't want their children accessing. There are plenty of parental control options on browsers and little kids probably shouldn't be on the internet unsupervised anyway. It's the responsibility of the parents to make sure that their children aren't seeing anything on the internet that they don't want their children to see.

If parents continue to sue for their children playing SL, then Linden Labs will have to go to more drastic measures to prevent it. If Linden Labs goes to those drastic measures, fewer people will want to play SL. It's a Catch-22 for the company because people don't want to take any personal responsibility.

I would never give that information out to Linden Labs, or most other websites. There are very few places where I will even enter credit card information. It's just another reason for me to not play Second Life. If I were someone in charge at Linden Labs, though, I would be quick to point out that parents should be responsible for their children and that suing over things their children see on the internet is censorship.

[MsScribble]

@MsScribble: "Cartoon sex is pointless beyond my comprehension"

I just want to say I resent that. I love hentai; the only difference between it and real porn is that one is real people, the other is animated.

You can resent it if you really want to waste your energy. I'M not into it, lots of people are. I wouldn't worry so much about how other people feel about things. I'm not bothered by pixel bonking, why should worry about the fact that i'm not doing it? :-)

[WaterWolf]

I found him "flirting" with this other fictional character.

I just imagine this guy standing next to an NPC going "Hey there hot stuff" :lol:

I love hentai;

http://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/British-Simpsons-Tea-Spit.jpg

[SuicidiaParasidia]

@MsScribble:I love hentai; the only difference between it and real porn is that one is real people, the other is animated.

well, that, and youre less likely to get an eyeful of someones huge hairy rump mole in the process of getting your rocks off.

as for the actual topic.... hahaha, no. i feel reluctant to even tell banking sites my address, much less some entertainment oriented site that cant keep its security tight.