First of all, I am writing this as a protector of the under dog. I also strongly believe in the Constitution of the United States of America and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. In that I am speaking out responsibly and properly as a United States Citizen on this issue of age verification within SecondLife and Linden Labs.
Identity Verification in Second Life
The law is simple, "Innocent until proven guilty." I can understand that the Linden Labs has their legal fight to make sure they do not have minors in mature places in SL. Protecting children is an utmost priority. Just the same, holding an account after someone has created one and been in SL for a good period of time is too late to ask for age verification. This should been done at the moment of creating the account, not after.
Freezing an account so Linden Labs can have the user of the account to show proof of age is a blackmail attempt. That is illegal by all statures in the United States of America. SecondLife and Linden Labs is stationed in the United States of America and they are required by all citizens to obey the law of the land. I will say this and very clearly, "If Linden Labs does hold your account from being accessed inworld or otherwise until you given them what they want, talk to your Congressman/woman about this immediately!"
It is not your fault that Linden labs did not ask for this information after your created your account and been inworld of SecondLife for some time. How long is never the issue. Once you cross the gate, you are in. Unless you have done something wrong, against TOS, or some illegal act, you are in the system. That is why police have road blocks, to stop or check someone at that point.
The Age verification is simply a means of making sure that the avatar that you do use inworld is run by a real person that is over 18 years or over. If you talk to a policeman or some legal professional, they might state to you that do not give Linden Labs any private information, period! Rightfully so. The only time someone has the right to ask any personal information from you it is by an legal stature, like filling out for a job, to a doctor, buying things online (with a proper secure web page. If you do not see a https at the beginning of the web page URL, then DO NOT give out any private information.), etc.
Every citizen in the United States of America and countries throughout the free world has the right to privacy!! You can simply tell Linden Lab bye bye, or you can make a stand and fight this injustice. Think about it, does any mature websites ask you for your private information to proof your age before they will allow you entrance? There is one thing putting a road block stating that this is an adult website before going any further. Let's face it. How many do you think has clicked the button to go in even though they are under 18 years of age?
Maybe that is the whole point. Children should not be online to begin with. It does not take long for adults to learn to interact online. You may be surprised how much baby boomers use the Internet. Let's face it. Putting a child on the Internet is liked dropping them off in the middle of New York City or some other large town all by themselves. They can get hurt just as easy online as they can in real live. In some ways even easier.
The issue with age online should be road blocked before they log online. That way Linden Labs would not have to be concerned with any legal issues with under age users. Yes, I can understand Linden Labs end of it all. Just the same, they have not legal right to hold an account until the person behind the account given them what they want. That is simply blackmail, plain and simple.
Until ISPs or whomever does their jobs in protecting children from going online in the first place, Linden Labs needs to have a better and legal means of verifying the age of the user. If anyone from Linden Labs did that to me, I would right then and there write my Congressman about this. If this ends up shutting down SecondLife altogether, then so be it. Do not like the punishment, do not do the crime.
Online Safety
Blessed Be to Isis and you,
Real Name: Brandon Bowers
http://nancib.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/secondlife-begins-adding-age-verification/
2 comments:
I completely agree with you. I had an account with Second Life for about 6 months in which I had invested roughly $600.00 in. Out of the blue they asked my to provide ID by fax. They then stated my ID, a California drivers license was not suitable enough for them. They have closed my account and robbed me of all the money I have put into it. Second Life has gone Nazi on us.
I'd suggest to anyone that before you put any money into Second Life whatsoever that you carefully read the provided TOS. You basically have absolutely no rights according to their TOS. They can pull the plug at any time with no questions asked.
Good riddance Second Life. What a waste of time and money.
It's Linden Labs' site. They own it, they run it as they see fit. Being on SL is a privelege, NOT a right. The users can voice their opinion, but LL has the final say.
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