INAUGURAL ISSUE: WE REVIEW EVERYTHING FROM THE SUPERFICIAL TO THE ECONOMICS OF SECOND LIFE®
Second Culture A Different Perspective on Second Life® Societies
Inside the BBW World For some in Second Life, the 36-24-36 body shape is standard practice. For others, it has become a cookie-cutter design and unrealistic. Second Culture investigates what makes it worthwhile.
Child Avatars From potential bait for pedophiles to their controversial inclusion in Zindra, we examine the reasons for their existence and what their future might hold in Second Life.
Freebies For some merchants, they’re promotional tools used to hook Second Life residents—not only keeping them brand-loyal, but simply keeping them in-world. For others, they symbolize a replacement for full-priced goods and a loss of revenue.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Cover-Up at the Nude Beaches Is there an growing sense of prudishness in Second Life?
Club Owners & Ego Are a few club owners in it just to feed their ego and make up for a lack of real-life status?
A New Form of Child Exploitation One American real-life politicians is willing to take advantage of the general public’s ignorance to virtual worlds. Fall 2009
Second Life’s “Police” Forces: How much power do they have? How much power do they want?
Publication Information Author, Layout Designer, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Slick Munro Second Culture is published seasonally by Munro E-Publishing/ RGN Digital Media. Individual copies are made available free of charge online. © 2009 under Slick Munro’s real-life name. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in any information storage or retrieval system without the publisher’s written permission. Views expressed in Second Culture are not necessarily those of any advertisers, nor are the views of any advertiser necessarily those of the publisher. Second Culture can accept no responsibility for the veracity of any claims made by its advertisers. General inquiries and advertisement pricing information is available by e-mail at slick.munro@gmail.com.
Viewpoints
2
From the Editor
3
Philosophy
Second Culture will hopefully offer something new to the growing field of Second Liferelated publications.
Separate but Equal Some residents say that they’ve made a separation between their Second Life persona and real-life persona. But how much difference is there if a real-life person is behind the avatar?
Additional Offerings
16
Politics
17
Avatars
Second Life®, SL™, and inSL™ are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. This publication is not affiliated with or sponsored by Linden Research, Inc. Any real-life images that are used have been taken from sources that are in the public domain. Copyrighted images are not used unless taken by Slick Munro.
A Different View
Table of Contents
Child Exploitation A politician from Illinois took advantage of his constituents’ ignorance of Second Life and claimed that he would attempt to put a stop to children’s access to the grid. The problem? There was no truth to what he was telling the voters.
Indecent Exposure Several prominent nude beaches in Second Life routinely have visitors who would much rather stay fully-clothed. Are they unaware of the theme or simply too modest to even remove their virtual clothing?
Feature Stories
6 9 14
Avatars
Inside the World of BBW Not all residents have an interest is looking like everyone else.
17
Avatars
Child’s Play The use of avatars which look like children is an ongoing debate. Economics
Freebies: Promotional Tools or Suicide? Some merchants are opposed to freebies as they might decrease the chances for full-price purchases. Others argue that they’re key promotional tools.
19
Psychology
Club Owners: Entrepreneurs or Egoists? Some club owners have shown tendencies of wielding their power by banning visitors for nonsensical “offenses”; others blame their visitors for lag and even claim legal power that they don’t have. Are Second Life clubs becoming an outlet for those with real-life shortcomings?
File → Quit Second Life “Police” Forces
They aren’t recognized by Linden Labs, they have enforcement power only when granted by owners, and in some instances they’ve engaged in extortion. Are they more a headache than your basic griefer?
From the Editor
A Different View by Slick Munro
What This E-Magazine Is
What This E-Magazine is Not
It’s no secret that the number of publications
No matter the topic that might be presented in
related to Second Life has been growing over the last few years. Fashion, music, art, personalities:
Second Culture, it will be done so in a way that is as educational and informational as possible. This
they run the gambit. It might seem a bit
publication’s agenda is not one that is to advance
outlandish to throw yet another hat into the ring,
a certain viewpoint unless all views have been
but one thing that I found myself doing
considered.
throughout my time in SL was wondering why
If an article mentions particular data or
people did the things that they did. Moreover,
references a source of information, that source
why did I do the things that I did?
will be attributed whenever possible. If a direct
It was at that time that I decided to begin
quote is mentioned in an article, quotation marks
blogging about my take on different things that I
will be used to avoid any possible confusion or
discovered in Second Life, but I soon realized that if I kept blogging at length that I would soon have
accusations of taking information out of context. That segues into the next aspect of what
enough material to easily write an e-magazine. It
Second Culture is not: It will not be a gossip rag
was then that I figured that I had the ability to
and it will not focus on drama that is so prominent
make the e-magazine and add it to the
in-world. (And yes, I’m quite aware that some
burgeoning field of SL publications.
people will call everything “drama” and simply
The premise of this e-magazine is to analyze
wish that no one talks about any topic
what happens in SL no matter the topic. By
whatsoever. For those people I would say, “Please
viewing the grid’s happenings from a sociological
lock yourself away in your home and never read,
perspective, I’m hoping to offer a refreshing take
watch, or listen to the outside world again. You’re
on many of the things that we see in-world or read about on SL-related blogs, Websites, and
too fragile.”) My goal for this publication is to offer
comment forums.
something that will make you think, whether you
In fact, many of these outlets are wonderful
agree with it or not. If I accomplish that, my job
sources of information for analysis because they
is done.
are the outlets which have—and will no doubt continue to—provided an immense amount of
All the best,
personal anecdotes on the topics discussed. From
Slick
avatars to real-life politics that affect Second Life, they’ve most likely been discussed at some point online.
2
Philosophy
Fantasy
or
Reality?
...or both?
The argument can be made that Second Life is an extension of real-life simply because humans are behind the avatars. Having been an SL user since 2007, one
As such, can it not be argued that SL must
thing that I have yet to come to a conclusion on is whether
be an extension of real-life, if only because a “real-life”
or not SL is or isn’t a fantasy
person has undertaken the
world. Allow me to explain.
action in the first place? For
The virtual world of
example, the grid itself was
Second Life is one that is not
invented by human beings.
tangible. The images are
Thus, their real-life led to its
pixels on a screen and
creation. My avatar’s skin was
information kept in
created by a person, thus
computers. When we view particular images
making it an extension of that person’s real life.
while in-world, we’re viewing that information. We’re viewing the pixels of the information that
I clicked “wear” to wear the skin, and thus my action caused the avatar to don the skin. Had I
has been created by someone, somewhere. If
not done so, the avatar would not have donned
we see a house, for instance,
the skin on its own.
the house’s walls cannot be
When a human being logs in
touched, they can’t be set
to SL, their avatar becomes
ablaze, they can’t be
“alive” or “awakes” from its
vandalized, they can’t be torn
state of non-existence.
down.
Indeed, it’s not even
They can, however, have
“slumber” because the
our avatars “touch” them or lean against them; they can
avatar doesn’t exist anywhere on the grid until
have animated flames set
activated. Had no human
upon them; they can have
being logged in, the avatar
pixelated spray paint applied to them; they can
would not have “lived” on its own. It wouldn’t
be removed by having the owner “take” them
walk around on its own, nor would it build or
and put them back into their inventory.
shop for merchandise on its own.
The act of doing such things must be done
Therefore, the argument can be made that
by human beings—the same human beings
SL’s very existence comes from real-life, and
behind the avatars. (This is not including robot
more specifically, the people on the other side
avatars which have substantially invaded the grid over the last few months.)
of the computer screen.
3
On the other hand, one of the most popular
This ruling can obviously be debated as well
philosophies that I’ve encountered while in SL is the idea that real-life is real-life (behind the
as a debate over what is “pornography,” “virtual pornography,” and “virtual child
computer screen), and Second Life is Second
pornography,” but that is not the primary
Life. The concept is that
purpose of this article. The
they are mutually exclusive
purpose of this article is to
and they have nothing to
point out that an argument
do with each other.
has been established that
This argument does
forces us to view the
have weight because the
situation both ways: the
concept of “fantasy” comes
United States views virtual
into play regularly on the grid. If I’m lounging naked
worlds as a fantasy land; Germany looks at the
at a nude beach (which is
virtual world in terms of
a post for itself, because
what is represented on the
I’m usually the only one
screen and in the private
naked at the nude beaches
messages.
which I’ve visited), am I
Keeping with that,
“really” at a nude beach?
however, how do we
Am I not simply projecting an avatar on a
interpret furries, child avatars, zombie avatars,
computer screen? Is it not simply a collection
silly avatars, space sims, war sims, sex sims,
of pixels which look like humans and sand and water, instead of
and everything else in between? If a human avatar has virtual sex
actually being people, sand, and
with a furry avatar, can or should it
water?
be punishable for having
Thus, it becomes a fantasy
committed bestiality? Is it just a
world.
fantasy land, or is it an extension
This view has actually been
and representation of real-life? If a
upheld legally by the United States
child avatar is spotted on a mature
Supreme Court. In 2002, the
sim (which has been happening
Supreme Court ruled on the case
too often from what I’ve been
of Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition and said that broad laws
reading and hearing), should the use of child avatars there be
against “virtual child pornography”
banned? Should the use of child
were unconstitutional. In essence,
avatars anywhere on the grid be
they said that a pixelated image of
banned, given that all users
a child isn’t actually a tangible
supposed to be 18 years-of-age or
victimized child. Germany views it
older? Or do we simply go back to
differently, however, and has established jail
the “it’s just fantasy” argument and support
time for up to three to five years if convicted of
the idea that anything permissible by Linden
having “virtual” child porn.
Lab is what can occur?
4
While I’ve attempted to present both
make Second Life exist in its current form.
possibilities for what Second Life is—or rather, can be—if I were pressed to choose one of the
We’re all part of the Second Life economy as well as the grid as a whole. Without each one
two possibilities, I would argue that Second Life
of us, the grid collapses.
is actually an extension of real-life with
Each one of us, however, is real. We’ve
exceptions that must be made.
helped to create a
This is similar to the always popular
seemingly fantasy
argument of economics: capitalism
world by bringing
versus socialism or communism. The
with us first-life
debate then becomes that of what kind
views, creativity,
of economic system the United States
individuality,
has: free-market capitalism or socialism? Ultimately, we’ve blended
industriousness, and values (moral
the two. In addition, facets of our
or immoral).
economy must interact with each other
These variables
to comprise the economy as a whole.
make Second Life
For example,
and Second Life
throughout the
thus becomes an
debates over
extension of the
which sector of
first-life that we live
the economy needed a financial “bailout” more than the other, those Americans
Without a human being in control of the avatar, the avatar could not exist. They don’t act on their own; they’re not “alive.”
with some kind of stake in their respective facet were quick to suggest that their role in the economy was more important than another. Those in banking viewed their role as being more important than those in a company such as General Motors; many GM employees felt that their role in the economy was greater than that of the banks. In truth, both play an interactive role: without loans from a bank, a General Motors vehicle might not be purchased by a consumer. Similarly, Second Life would not exist were it not for a real-life human being being behind it in some way: from those who started Linden Labs to those, like me, who currently help to
24 hours a day, seven days a week. We don’t turn our first-life off simply by logging in. Second Life simply becomes part of our first-life and we, in turn, influence it.
✖
Avatars
When Cookie-Cutter Avatars Become a Bore:
Inside the World of
BBW In 2007, at the suggestion of a friend, I
skin modifications were limited. I could make it
signed up for Second Life. I had heard about it from word-of-mouth and had not investigated it
lighter or darker, but it lacked hair and I couldn’t remove my mustache and goatee.
at length, but eventually was talked into creating
Over those first few weeks—if not months—I
an account. The first thing that I needed was a
noticed that most of the avatars looked the
name, so I admittedly wanted to have a
same: the men had the bodybuilder
little fun with it. I could have gone
shape; the women had the look of
with my real-life first name, but I wanted to inject a little humor and thus adopted a name that was akin to one of a porn star. After initially rezzing, my next step was to get rid of my newbie
Pamela Anderson or Angelina Jolie.
“This shape is me; this is who I am.”
avatar. The friend who talked me into
But then one afternoon I was exploring and came across a female avatar which was obviously different; it looked real. Her waist didn’t appear to be 24 inches; her breasts weren’t unnaturally large.
signing up for Second Life was generous
Overall, she didn’t look like yet one more
enough to buy my first shape and skin for me.
porn star avatar.
To be frank, it was your typical Second Life male
I would eventually discover that more people
avatar: shoulders that were unnaturally broad; a
than just her had one of these avatars and my
waist that was unnaturally small; legs that had a
inquiries and investigations led me to the BBW
cartoonish hourglass shape. Fortunately the
Beach Club, where it was odd to not see one of
shape could be modified, but unfortunately my
these shapes.
6
Intrigued, I wanted to know why these women were so willing to break from the cookie-cutter shape and essentially be themselves. Resident Mimi Kayor explained that her first
changed my avatar to a small BBW shape, and after a bit, I altered her to look like my real-life self.” It’s easy to see that, aside from bot avatars, human beings are behind each avatar.
Second Life shape was the usual 36-24-36
Indeed, they often bring with them their real-
kind, and that she picked it because it
life views and prejudices. Kayor said, “People
appeared to be the thing to do, especially if
treat you differently in both real-life and SL
you wanted to interact with others.
when you don’t look like the norm. I’m a true
She explained, “In the beginning of my SL
believer that SL is just an extension of real-life
life, I really thought that I wanted to be that
and this view was reaffirmed when I switched
‘perfect’ woman. I’m a BBW in real-life and I wanted to try something different. I wanted to
to a BBW avatar. The reactions of other avatars ran the gamut from truly positive
see how the ‘other side’ lived. I was out
comments to downright mean interactions in
shopping one day and saw a BBW avatar—the
public chat. Some people think I am crazy for
first one I had ever seen in SL. Second Life is
being ‘imperfect’ in a world where perfection is
full of individuality and creativity—nekos,
possible.”
furries, vampires, even inanimate objects—but
Kayor elaborated on the public chat
not true real-life women shapes. All I could
comments by saying that other residents asked
think was that this woman was so brave for
questions such as, “Why would you make an
being different from everybody else.”
avatar fat?” and “Why would you want to be so
Kayor stated that her move to change shapes was a social experiment of sorts. “I
ugly with all the beautiful people in SL?” Those questions made her have passing thoughts of
wanted to see if people treated me differently
returning to the cookie-cutter shaped avatar,
than when I was the skinny avatar. I originally
but she ultimately decided to stay with the minority. “This shape is me,” she concluded. “This is who I am. I want to enjoy SL as myself. I don’t need or want to spend time here examining how to act as a Barbie doll. I’m going to be myself, both on the inside and the outside, and savor what SL
C M T
has to offer.” Another resident, Jenny Lynn Twine, also started with a smaller shape but ultimately changed it to make it look more realistic. While she didn’t have any negative responses with her new, bigger figure, she did say that if she went to any of her old haunts that she would revert to
using the old shape. Twine did not have any negative experiences with the bigger shape, however. “For some of the few people I kept on my friends list that I visited with my new body, there was no negative response,” she explained. Indeed, in a world where avatar shapes are diverse, subsets of human avatars exist: short, tall, thin, heavy, old, middle-aged, and even young. The creativity level and willingness to be different is the only thing standing in the way of each resident. In the case of those within the BBW community, they have opted to stand apart from the other human avatars and create a visual being that is most often akin to their real-life self. Hence, the only limiting factor is that of their own mind, whether it’s influenced by their own desire to be different or conformist. As we can see, we are the ones who choose to make it what it is.
✖
Linden Labs made an effort to create a new “adult” area to remove highly sexual content from Second Life’s general population. They’ve also created a firestorm by allowing child avatars to roam the area while simultaneously preaching against sexualized age-play with those childlike avatars. Editor’s note: This article is an attempt to objectively focus
identified as the “victim” of the act; the avatars
on the ongoing debate pertaining to the appearance and allowance of childlike avatars in the new adult region of
are pixels and are not flesh and blood. In 2002, the United States Supreme Court
Zindra. All sides are (hopefully) presented in an objective way and no conclusion is intended to be advanced.
ruled in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition that
Crime & Punishment
child pornography—the Child Pornography
the law which would have prohibited virtual
In 2007, German television network ARD
Prevention Act of 1996 (CPPA)—included
notified Linden Labs that age-play—
prohibitions that were “overbroad
which is sexually-themed interactions between a child avatar and an adult
and unconstitutional.” The CPPA,
avatar—was occurring on the grid. It
“prohibits speech that records no
the court wrote in its opinion,
was discovered that the human beings in control of the avatars were
crime and creates no victims by its production.” They also stated that
a 54-year-old man and a 27-year-old
“virtual child pornography is not
woman, who were both subsequently
‘intrinsically related’ to the sexual
banned from Second Life.
abuse of children.” The Court
German law categorizes virtual
explained that “while the
pornography with real-life
Government asserts that the images
pornography, and as such they view virtual child pornography as real-life
can lead to instances of child abuse, the causal link is contingent and
pornography. As such, it is punishable in
indirect. The harm does not necessarily follow
Germany by up to five years in prison.
from the speech, but depends upon some unquantified potential for subsequent criminal
In the United States, virtual pornography is not categorized with real-life child pornography
acts.” In essence, the Supreme Court made
because no real-life human child can be
9
two points: (1.) there is a major difference
of such avatars to be present in a region that
between avatars and real-life children, and (2.) we can’t treat virtual child
was set aside for X-rated content.⁴ On one side we can see
abuse as real-life child
the argument for allowing
abuse because the real-life
them in Zindra or
child abuse has not
anywhere else on the grid:
actually occurred, nor has
a Supreme Court ruling
it been said that the virtual
like that of the Ashcroft
child pornography has
case as well as the fact
caused the real-life
that Linden Labs has
abuse.¹
made it known that they
This is important to note because the issue of
forbid sexual age-play. One can say that if an
child avatars as well as
avatar takes on any
virtual child pornography
shape, no matter what it
has become a heated
is, that the person behind
debate over the last few weeks, mainly due to
the avatar has agreed to Linden Labs’ terms-of-
Linden Labs permitting child avatars on the
service agreement, which forbids anyone under
newly-opened adult area of Zindra.²
the age of 18 years to sign up for an account to
Zindra was created to host adult-level
use the adult grid. Add that to the
content such as higher-end sexual
aforementioned Ashcroft ruling,
content that might be akin to movies with an MA-17 or X rating if
which affirms that legally an avatar is not a real child, and we see that
we were to view it in terms of
the view of an-avatar-is-an-avatar
movies. Many business owners
could quickly be defended.
had to relocate to Zindra through a
On the other hand, we also see the
lottery ticket process that had
obvious: by allowing a child avatar
some controversy in itself. Some
into a highly-sexualized region, we
merchants alleged that Linden Labs
increased the odds for sexual age-
bypassed their adult-level
play simple due to the
businesses for relocation in an
percentages. If you allow a child
effort to play favorites to friends. Others claimed that some
avatar to visit adult avatars in an X-rated area, you’ll increase the
relocations tickets—which were
chances of age-play occurring
said to be on a first-come-first-
simply because it’s allowed. If a
serve basis—were passed over for
ban on child avatars were
tickets handed in at a later date due to
implemented, the chance would be zero.
favoritism.³
Does Size Matter?
Those criticisms aside, the debate of
What makes this ban-versus-not-ban issues
allowing child avatars in a highly-sexual area is
a sticky situation is the make-up of the avatars
one that has made for heated arguments and
themselves. If we traverse the grid, we quickly
some residents have made legitimate arguments both for and against the allowance
see a plethora of avatar types: humans, furries, nekos, zombies, movie characters, animals, and
10
even inanimate objects. Because of this, we
the profile shown on this page shows that the
must realize that diversity—as well as creativity —is present in the virtual world of Second Life.
person behind the avatar has made her a fiveyear-old who is “looking for a family.”
Included in that diverse populace can be
In this case the desired age is very easy to
short people.
identify. Because of this, we could then wonder
The argument has been made by residents
if a ban on certain height would be required. If
that a “childlike” avatar can, in fact, actually be
this is the case, it would open a huge can of
a short human avatar: midget, dwarf, or even a
worms given the different types of avatars seen
“realistic” human
in Second Life,
avatar, given the
from cheetahs to
gargantuan stature
stuffed rabbits to
of most avatars. As such, the
coffee tables. The argument
question which has
could be made that
been posed is that
there are so many
of: What’s a child
avatars as it is,
avatar and what’s a short adult avatar? This question might be challenging at times, but other times it becomes much easier to see. For example,
that picking one particular type of avatar would be impossible because it would negative consequences on other avatars in some way— even if those avatars weren’t explicitly intending to violate any provision. Moreover, if we ban child avatars as well as age-play, will we have to go a step further and make regulations pertaining to furries or animals, too?
11
As an example, if
the cloud of legality hanging overhead. Child
a human avatar and an animal avatar are
pornography is a serious issue across the globe and does not go the way of the dodo no matter
spotted engaging in
how much some people might want it to.
sexual activity, can
Are we, however, prepared for whatever
we—or should we—
outcome it might bring to the grid? Will the
ban both users
fevered pitch of the back-and-forth banter bring
because in many
unwanted and unneeded negative attention
countries bestiality
from the general public? Will Second Life as a
is deemed a criminal
whole be noticed yet again
offense, punishable
by the mainstream media
by law? After all, we’ve established
for nothing more than its sex-related problems, the
that a particular type of activity—namely age-
way that it has in the
play—is one that is viewed as reprehensible
past?
throughout many societies the globe over. Or,
We will have to wait and
for novelty’s sake, can or should we ban users
see. Given that Second
who might use zombie avatars for sexual
Life is a private
purposes, since necrophilia is a broadly frowned
enterprise, it will be up to
upon act?
those at Linden Labs to decide how they want to deal with the issue. Their decision will dictated by two things: (1.) the law in each country that has access to Second Life, and (2.) business. In fact, their business decisions can be related to the legal issues because they will worry about potential lawsuits and negative press, which has a direct impact on their finances. At the same time, residents should not fear taking a stance on the issue given the important
Conclusion—sort of
nature of it, and given the controversy surrounding land migration to appease those
To be sure, this debate is not going to go away as long as child avatars are allowed to be both on the grid and especially in the adult-
who either don’t like knowing that sexual content even exists in Second Life or those who
content region. Comment threads on
fear that children might get onto the grid—which
XStreetSL.com are added to on a daily basis
not only violates the terms-of-service
regarding the issue—even though some
agreement but also proves that their parents
residents have voiced their opposition to the
have little control over them—and see
entire debate and hoped that by closing the
something that someone underage isn’t
thread the issue would somehow go away.⁵
supposed to see.
Issues of this magnitude do not simply
The unfortunate “solution” was to treat adults like children with a confusing result for
disappear, though—especially when they have
12
many residents when they discovered that
References for this Article
childlike avatars were allowed in the adult area regardless.
1.http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-795.ZS.html 2.https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php? name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=113895&postdays=0&po
Any ongoing discussion is one that will help
storder=asc&start=0
to bring some conclusion to the issue one way
3.https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?
or another.
name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=117037&start=0
While there have been voices that suggest
4.https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?
that we should keep quiet on the matter and
name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=116034&postdays=0&po
hope that it goes away, not talking about it
storder=asc&start=0 5.https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?
won’t make it go away—it will just push the
name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=116034&postdays=0&po
matter underground, letting it build and fester into something bigger than it already is.
storder=asc&start=240
✖
13
Freebies: A boost or bane Economics
$$$$$$ ✘ ✘ to merchants?
When I was a child I would accompany my
Second Life resident to purchase other items at
parents to the local grocery store every week. While there, and usually when we would near
their full retail cost. The theory is that if residents have a regular supply of free goods,
the deli section, I would see an employee
there becomes little reason to buy anything
attending a small table upon which they offered
with Linden dollars.
free samples of food. The samples were usually
But what are the pros and cons of freebies?
cheese or some kind of meat—sausage or
On one hand, free merchandise can do
salami—and each small piece was pierced with
several positive things, which will ostensibly
a toothpick for easy grasping by the customer.
benefit not only individual merchants but the
At the time, I was unaware of why the store
Second Life economy as a whole.
my do something such as giving away free
Some merchants use freebies as a tool to
food. Were they getting rid of it? Were they just being nice? As such, I asked my parents.
get their store landmarks to as many residents as possible, as quickly as possible. Some use
The idea, they explained, was to offer
them to establish brand loyalty. Some use
samples of the food in the hopes that people
them in the hopes that they give an idea of
might buy some of it. My parents told me that
overall quality from a particular designer/
it was something called a “promotion.”
builder. Some offer freebies in the hopes that
That was roughly 25 years ago and now that
new residents continue to use Second Life as
it’s 2009, and now that we have a thing called
opposed to growing frustrated with limited
Second Life, I’m again faced with the use of
funds and low-quality clothing.
free items as promotional tools.
On the other side of the coin, some
They’re routinely referred to as “freebies” and they’re given out by merchants who want
merchants have suggested that freebies are the bane of full-price merchandise and will
to get the attention of customers and hopefully
ultimately hurt all merchants in the long run
keep their stores’ names in the minds of those
because they allow for residents to have high-
customers.
quality items which will never wear out, given
For others, however, freebies have become a
that they’re just pixels.
scourge that threatens the potential of a
14
newbie. Discovering freebies along my travels helped to not only keep my interest, but gave me an idea of which stores offered quality items and which didn’t. The argument against freebies can be valid if they’re not used properly. If too many free high-quality items hit the market, the chance exists that overall sales will drop. It’s true that SL clothing doesn’t wear out. One thing to remember, however, is that there will always be people who grow tired of having clothes that hundreds of others have. Those people will quickly look for new items—free or not. A balanced use of free items is key.
✖
Reference for this Article • https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php? name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=117764&post days=0&postorder=asc&start=0
With the exception of my glasses and the watch— which I made myself—this outfit is comprised of freebies. As you can see, the quality really is something to write home about.
Similar to the other ensemble, my canvas shoes, cuffed jeans, layered shirt, and leather messenger bag were all available for free—either found on hunts or discovered on the rack outright.
What’s more is that some merchants have called for a L$5 “storage space” fee for freebies since they still require space on a server. Depending upon how the freebies are used and how widespread they are, both scenarios might be possible. Freebies can be used as an effective tool for promotional purposes. If a resident obtains a free product that is of high-quality, the chance exists that the resident will return to that merchant for more merchandise when he/she has money to spend—money which will go towards a full-priced item. That resident might even recommend that store to other residents, thus increasing sales of full-priced items. Freebies can also help keep new residents interested in coming back to Second Life on a regular basis, whereby they’ll possibly spend more and more. Such was the case for me when I began using Second Life, since I had no money but wanted to look like something other than a
15
Additional Offerings Observations with a touch of editorial.
Politics
been the one to violate the terms-of-service
A New Kind of Child Exploitation
agreement. Users aged 13 to 17 must use the “teen grid”;
Politicians often take advantage of their constituents’ ignorance to situations, especially some laws, and Illinois
adults must use the adult grid.
Republican Mark Kirk is
campaign of misinformation, he has adopted—
no different. In fact, he
and essentially pandered to those who agree with
based a huge aspect of
—the idea that neither children nor their parents
his platform on the
are responsible for what those children do online.
hopes that his voters
For Kirk and his ilk, family values have become
wouldn’t have a clue as
another catch-phrase that is based on
to what Second Life was.
corporations and the government looking to save us from ourselves.
What’s upsetting is that throughout Kirk’s
He was also hoping that they would be willing to support his dislike of it.
While Kirk’s videos were apparently recorded in 2008, given some of the references and given
Under the guise of
that his bill to “save” children from Second Life is
“protecting children,” Kirk made one of his
no longer listed as an active bill, the fact that
platform items a hardline stance against Second
these videos were
Life, insisting that Second Life was and is a
recently uploaded to
Website designed to allow children to interact
YouTube suggest
with pedophiles without any restrictions.
that he still stands
In recently uploaded YouTube videos, Kirk told
firmly behind his view that Second
his constituents that Linden Labs “won’t protect children from obviously inappropriate content” and that “[the government] should.” He went on
Life is an evil that
to say that in Second Life, “children can commit
dealt with by
must be harshly
suicide, go to rape rooms, sex clubs, participate
politicians such as himself—in the name of
in Satanic worship, hold other avatars captive,
safety.
visit bondage stores, purchase assault weapons,
If you’d like to see Kirk’s lies firsthand, go to
and simulate human sacrifice.” He also said that
the links listed below. Just be aware that he has
Linden Labs doesn’t “properly screen for
the comments disabled as to disallow anyone
children.”
from informing viewers of the misinformation.
Kirk conveniently lied to his voters on two fronts: (1.) Linden Labs does require user agreements by which account holders have
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kzwp9nWsFs • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPvqWUsb-Sg
verified that they’re 18 years-of-age or older, and
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWf0_8iy5n8
(2.) if a child is on the adult grid, the child has
16
Billy-Clubbed?
The Nude Beach Cover-Up
A few weeks after I joined Second Life, I
I occasionally visit some of Second Life’s nude beaches, and what thing that I’m noticing at many of them is that the vast majority of visitors
attempted to visit a club with a female friend. Upon entering the club, I quickly found myself
are not daring to go bare. In fact, in many
showing up on another part of the region. I
cases, they’re wearing clothing from head to toe
had never experienced anything like it before
and rarely don anything swim-related.
that, so I instantly thought that it was a computer glitch. When I returned to the club area, however, I received a message saying that I had been banned. Shocked, I sent an IM to my female companion to see if she, too, had experienced the same thing; she had not. When I sent my camera into the club, I instantly noticed that the club owner was the only male avatar present—the others were all female. My female companion didn’t stay, but this
Only a few visitors to these nude beaches were wearing swimwear. Even fewer were nude. Can this be attributed to residents viewing each place as nothing more than a hangout spot, or is it an extension of their real-life modesty?
had been my first taste of club owner powertrips. Sadly, it wasn’t the last. Throughout my time in Second Life, I’ve come across similar stories—not only from personal experiences but from stories relayed to me from others. Some stories detail accounts of club owners banning people for wearing clothing that the owner didn’t like; others have stories of being banned for appearing naked due to slow rez time in highlag areas. Keeping with the lag issue, some club owners have taken it upon themselves to blame their visitors for any and all lag that
The possibility of modesty might very well
might occur at the club.
be the case. From personal experience, during one visit to a nude beach—and while I was
Unfortunately, these same club owners seem to be unaware that most of their lag
naked—I had another resident act shocked
comes not only their end, but also from
when I was, indeed, naked.
having visitors at their club in the first place.
Does this lend itself to the argument that
They blame visitors for having prim hair
Second Life is simply an extension of our real
and added attachments and causing lag, but
lives? It very well may.
Second Life lag comes not from prim
As long as the residents are happy and the
attachments but from draw distance, user-side
beach owners are happy, the bottom line is
video capabilities, the overall number of
that everything is working the way that it
visitors to an area—especially an area where
should be.
avatars are in the same area for long
17
durations of time, like clubs.
Perhaps this particular club owner can file
One of the more amusing owners hands out a notecard
a lawsuit in-world in a Second Life virtual court and see where
upon arriving at
it gets him.
his club, which
All humor aside, this
informs visitors
illustrates that there
that he doesn’t
are club owners who
“give
have seemingly
permission” to
taken to running a
use chat
Second Life
histories of his
establishment in an
escorts, nor does he “give
effort to either extend a level of
permission” for
power and control
critiques of his escorts. He also claims that he forbids snapshots of his club unless the snapshots are for personal use, and that if you disobey him, he’ll file a lawsuit against you.
that they might have in real-
Some club owners have attempted to invent laws in an effort to control others. The actions of some club owners can cast a negative pall over other, decent owners.
This is quite amusing,
life, or as a way to compensate for a lack of that real-life power. At the same time, many club owners are not this way. Many are decent people who are in Second Life to meet new people, have a good time, and maybe
given that legally he has
earn a few extra dollars by doing
absolutely no ownership over
so.
any of these things. We don’t “own”
Hopefully they’re the ones who will see
our conversations, nor can we “own” an
continued success with their business
employee to the point where we can disallow
endeavors.
discussion of them. Even if he somehow copyrighted the chat histories, their use for reference purposes would easily fall under the fair-use clause of the United States copyright law. As for snapshots, no law currently exists governing the use of virtual photos within these parameters (i.e., otherwise legal activity being carried out at an establishment open to the public). Even if this were a real-life club, it would be open to the public and as such real-life photographs would be permissible under current laws pertaining to such images.
18
✖
File → Quit
This Issue: “Police” in Second Life
Final Thoughts on Second Life Topics Before I even get to the meat of this section, I’ll
This might be symptomatic of the inherent
get something out of the way immediately: There is no official law-enforcement agency in Second Life
problem with this role: the desire for power and control above all else.
other than Linden Labs themselves, and no matter what kind of uniform someone might wear or what
After this occurred, I did some research on the topic on the Internet and discovered similar
that person might say, they’re no more a “police
complaints. On a YouTube video showing “police”
officer” than I am. With that out of the way, my topic for this issue
dealing with griefers, one person described an incident in which he banned a Second Life “police
deals with so-called police officers and so-called police departments that have popped up throughout
officer” from his land and in turn was “ordered” by the “cop” to un-ban him, otherwise the “cop” would
the grid, most likely in an effort to wield as much
ban the land owner from his own land.¹
power as possible under the guise of helping the residents of Second Life.
This might be an absurd example, in which the desire for power is mixed with stupidity, but other
I was recently exploring different areas of the grid and came across a Second Life “police” station, which, while I was actually impressed with the creativity behind it, made me wonder how far some Second Life residents might go in an effort to enforce powers that they don’t actually have. While at that “police”
incidents are quite serious. On iReport.com, one resident
One resident reported that on one occasion, an SLPF “officer” tried to “arrest” participants in a role-play combat situation by caging them. On another occasion, an SLPF “officer” demanded that he be given eject/ban privileges to a members-only sim. He became verbally abusive when his demands were ignored.
station I encountered a
reported that several members of the “SLPF” caused her more grief than anyone else. She said that on one occasion, an SLPF “officer” attempted to “arrest” participants in a role-playing combat simulation by using cagers on them. In another incident, an SLPF “officer”
“police officer” who was cordial enough, but I didn’t
demanded that he be given access to and eject/ban
have time to chat because I wanted to check out the other “police departments,” too.
privileges to a members-only Harry Potter simulation. His reason for such a demand? Simply
Upon teleporting to the second “station” on my
because he was an SLPF “officer.” When his demand
search list, I was greeted quite rudely by an “officer” who informed me that his “station” was private
was not met, explained the resident, the “officer” became “verbally abusive and attempted to orbit
property and that I must leave immediately. I thought that this was odd, because if this
[her].” She also reported that another so-called police
“police officer” was here to help others, why would
force “acted like mafia” and “threatened to grief
he greet me by telling me to get lost instead of asking if I had a problem?
[her] islands continually unless [she] paid them Lindens monthly for them to ‘protect’ it.” They were subsequently banned and the resident submitted the proper abuse report.²
19
Second Life residents aren’t the only ones who
Or is that where the next issue is found? Could
want in on the world of law-enforcement, though. In 2007, the real-life Vancouver Police Department
situations like this be the first step for governments to get involved in virtual worlds and seemingly take
attempted to use Second Life for a recruiting drive, whereby they had hoped to find SL residents who
them over, regulating them for the “betterment” of those virtual societies?
might be real-life job candidates.³ While that might
Obviously that’s an extreme situation, but a
be a legitimate move, a comment made by Inspector Kevin McQuiggin makes one wonder how far he’s
more realistic concern is that of the concept of “law enforcement” in a virtual world, since—as I’ve
willing to push the limits of real-life police jurisdiction in a privately-owned virtual world.
discussed in other articles in this issue—human beings, who are in the real-world, are behind the
McQuiggin said: “It’s going to be interesting
avatars in Second Life. As such, any real-life crime
when we start to receive crime reports—you know, harassment cases or things like that—in the virtual
(e.g., hacking, identity theft, etc.) that might be perpetrated in-world would immediately fall under
world. How are we going to deal with them?” When asked about jurisdictional issues—given
the jurisdiction of real-life law-enforcement agencies. There would be no need to further extend
that Second Life is a self-enclosed, privately-run
jurisdiction into a virtual world. That jurisdiction is
virtual world with users from around the globe that would then be overtaken by a Canadian police
already being controlled by those in charge of the existence of the virtual world in question—this
force—McQuiggin remarked, “There are jurisdictional issues. Where does the crime occur? Where is the suspect? Where is the victim? We want accountability but if it’s spread all over the world like that, it makes it very difficult for us.” If I were in McQuiggin’s position, I’d think that a bigger difficulty is the fact that Linden Labs already has
one being Second Life. Linden Labs are the police, regardless of whether or not
Even real-life police want to patrol SL—but Linden Labs is already its own law-enforcement agency for inworld issues.
guidelines in place for basic in-world harassment and none of these require an outside
you like their ability to act as such. The second immediate issue that we’re faced with is that of some SL “police” forces that have resorted to threats of extortion, as was illustrated in the iReport.com incident, and other various forms of intimidation simply because they have a uniform and
badge. Ironically, they become griefers themselves who
real-life police force to get involved. If anything,
are ultimately reported for abuse.
having another agency getting involved would only add yet more bureaucracy to the process because as
It should be mentioned that not all “police” have negatives attached to them. In fact, it was reported
of now, the process is this: residents send an abuse report to Linden Labs and Linden Labs will (in
that one “police” force helped to raise almost L $300,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.⁴ That is
theory) take care of the matter. If we add a third
quite commendable, to say the least.
party to the process, we then have residents notifying the outside police force, who would
With that said, the cliché of “one bad apple spoils the bunch” might come into play. There have been
(hopefully) notify Linden Labs of the harassment, who would then (hopefully) do something about it.
several cases of abuse and harassment, and those cases have been rather severe.
Now, if we have residents—both griefers and
References for this Article
victims—from different countries, how many more police departments would get involved? And what
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4LxPMkxJWU 2. http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-19803 3. http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?
would the purpose be since Linden Labs are the final arbiters of the problem anyway?
id=0c37d98d-c54f-44d3-9e72-0c19cf828565 4. http://pixelscoop.net/tag/police-roleplay/
20
✖
Munro E-Publishing
A Virtual World Division of RGN Digital Media Š 2009 All rights reserved.