NationStates Jolt Archive

WTF? first the rape thing and now this...

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1301804.php/Concern_grows_in_Germany_at_child_porn_on_Second_Life

Some german guy posted pictures and videos of kid porn on Second Life...

WTF is up with these Second Lifers?

Glad I stopped playing this game...

WTF? first the rape thing and now this...

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1301804.php/Concern_grows_in_Germany_at_child_porn_on_Second_Life

Some german guy posted pictures and videos of kid porn on Second Life...

WTF is up with these Second Lifers?

Now, this I can see as a genuine concern. Is there an age requirement to play 2L?

Now, this I can see as a genuine concern. Is there an age requirement to play 2L?

There is no enforceable age requirement for any game.

Far as I'm aware Second Life has heavy user-created content and there's not as strict oversight in more conventional MMORPGs.

The guy ought to be nailed for kiddy porn.

Thats it, just linky me second life and I'll warm up netdisatser. >: )

Thats it, just linky me second life and I'll warm up netdisatser. >: )

Aren't Second Life servers set up as cells?

That game is filled with weirdos and sexual deviants anyway...

Thats it, just linky me second life and I'll warm up netdisatser. >: )

Yeah, let's attack an entire site because of one user's actions. http://forums.randi.org/images/smilies/oldroll.gif

Hm, rape, kiddie porn . . . This SecondLife is actually starting to sound like a pretty interesting place.

SecondLife is certainly a strange place.


http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=213212
Random guy lives out his secret desires to be a hot lesbian women on SecondLife.

Wow... it's turning into "life" with all it's evils included.

I thought people did computer games to escape!

Best outcome: Second Life is shutdown. Worst outcome: Second Life is not shutdown.

Wow... it's turning into "life" with all it's evils included.

I thought people did computer games to escape!

Yeah, that's why I won't play it. :P

You think THIS is bad, you should see the obscenities on Wow....;)

Wow... it's turning into "life" with all it's evils included.

I thought people did computer games to escape!

I guess some people play them to escape the law. xP

Best outcome: Second Life is shutdown. Worst outcome: Second Life is not shutdown.

Let's see how this works shall we?

'Internet used to distribute kiddie porn'. (It happens)

Best outcome: Internet shut down. Worst outcome: Internet not shutdown.

'Cameras used to take kiddie porn pictures' (It happens)

Best outcome: cameras made illegal. Worst outcome: cameras left in peoples hands.

etc. etc.

Or do you have some other reason for wanting Second Life to be shut down?

I have to admit that I was all for Second Life, especially as an education tool. It doesnt really surprise me that this kind of material has been found. It shocks me but doesnt surprise me. Ive stopped using it a while back and after this I rightly put my hands up sya I was wrong and not go there again.

I have to admit that I was all for Second Life, especially as an education tool. It doesnt really surprise me that this kind of material has been found. It shocks me but doesnt surprise me. Ive stopped using it a while back and after this I rightly put my hands up sya I was wrong and not go there again.

You cannot blame a medium for the content people display on it, particularly when the purveyors of that medium are doing all they can to stop those people.

Exactly -- I'm sure that Second Life not only shut down the kiddie porn poster's account, but forwarded his details to the police. Remember, someone could just as easily post a url to kiddie porn in their NationStates account's motto. Think NS should be shut down too?

Thats it, just linky me second life and I'll warm up netdisatser. >: )

j00 1z 1337 h4x0rz!!!!shift-one1 :rolleyes:

Let's see how this works shall we?

'Internet used to distribute kiddie porn'. (It happens)

Best outcome: Internet shut down. Worst outcome: Internet not shutdown.

'Cameras used to take kiddie porn pictures' (It happens)

Best outcome: cameras made illegal. Worst outcome: cameras left in peoples hands.

etc. etc.

Or do you have some other reason for wanting Second Life to be shut down?

Intellectual laziness (associating all SL users with pedophiles) combines with fear/contempt of the unknown.

SL fails at oversight.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/jtkwon/VirtualReuters.jpg

Hm, rape, kiddie porn . . . This SecondLife is actually starting to sound like a pretty interesting place.

next we have drive bys and all out war

Second Life is a fascinating testing ground for people to live out some quite bizarre and often gruesome fantasies. You have people selling their bodies, killing each other (my friend is a designer with a price on her head because of the company she works for), circulating porn, raping...

The kiddie porn is obviously a no-go, but how awful is it really if this world offers some seriously twisted people the opportunity to vent their perversions, rather than carrying out unspeakable actions in the real world? I don't mean to justify the above activites, not by a long straw, but I do wonder if there might be a valuable - if unintended and deeply unsettling - public service here.

Against that, of course, is the possibility that events in SL are desensitising disturbed people to the fantasies they're experiencing, which may lead to them feeling freer to commit such acts in the real world.

Disturbing and confusing, no?

You mean such horrific crap is on the internet? Shocker.

Second Life is a fascinating testing ground for people to live out some quite bizarre and often gruesome fantasies. You have people selling their bodies, killing each other (my friend is a designer with a price on her head because of the company she works for), circulating porn, raping...

The kiddie porn is obviously a no-go, but how awful is it really if this world offers some seriously twisted people the opportunity to vent their perversions, rather than carrying out unspeakable actions in the real world? I don't mean to justify the above activites, not by a long straw, but I do wonder if there might be a valuable - if unintended and deeply unsettling - public service here.

Against that, of course, is the possibility that events in SL are desensitising disturbed people to the fantasies they're experiencing, which may lead to them feeling freer to commit such acts in the real world.

Disturbing and confusing, no?
I think the problem is that Second Life is not advertised as an adult website, but it seems to have certainly turned into one. The way it is developing because of the user content, and the way Linden Labs is allowing it to be developed, is turning it, basically, let's be honest, into an interactive porn site. If that's what people want, fine, but in my opinion, Second Life should not be allowed to continue marketing itself to a general audience. You go to its website to sign up, and you will not see one hint that any of this stuff is going on in the game. There are certainly no keywords in its site that would cause it to be filtered out by parental controls on search engines. So, if you or your children are just looking for online games to check out, Second Life comes up right along with Puzzle Pirates.

If SL wants to be a sex and violence game, it should identify itself as such and give people who don't want to be exposed to that sort of thing a chance to avoid it.

Good points, and I don't necessarily disagree. However, from what my friends has told me, such unpleasantness is still pretty marginal. A lot of people still regard SL as a place to create beautiful things.

Good points, and I don't necessarily disagree. However, from what my friends has told me, such unpleasantness is still pretty marginal. A lot of people still regard SL as a place to create beautiful things.
There's the old saying: One bad apple spoils the bushel.

Regardless of what Linden Labs wants SL to be, regardless of what "a lot of people" think it is, this is the second such sex/illegality issue in SL to hit the media in a week. And from what I hear from people who have played it, i think this stuff is common enough to make many people uncomfortable being in the game. When I was looking for games to play, I was very interested in the user creativity possible in SL, but the unstructured social environment raised red flags for me. It felt too much like being exposed in public, by myself, surrounded by strangers who may or may not be freaks, pervs or dangerous. In other words, it felt too much like real life in the same big cities I've always lived in. I saw no reason why I should have to be SO MUCH on my guard in a game, which is supposed to be recreational.

Games in which danger (of whatever kind) is constant and present everywhere in the game world, say so in their ads and websites. They make it clear what players will be facing when they log on. Games that want to offer safer environments segregate dangerous play into separate areas so players who don't want that can avoid it. SL has to pick what kind of a game it is going to be and say so honestly to people who come there to see if they want to play it. Either it will be a dangerous place where anything -- good or bad -- might happen to you, or it will be a place where danger or adult behavior is possible but only in designated areas. It will either be an unmoderated place where players are on their own, or it will be moderated and there will be rules that will be enforced.

next we have drive bys and all out war
Throw in some organized crime and I'm I'll be all up in that like a horny furry.

That game is filled with weirdos and sexual deviants anyway...
All MMOGs are filled with weirdos and sexual deviants. They're the first groups to move into new social spaces. The BDSM and GLBT communities are huge in MMOGs. There's a grossly disproportionate number of cutters in MMOGs (source: John Galt games).

People who feel excluded by normal society seek out new societies online. That's probably why usenet was so popular with child pornographers back in the day (alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.pre-teen).

It actually IS marketed as an adult game...they have a teen grid, where all residents must be under 18, unless it is used for education, then the adult needs to be background checked, age verified by drivers license or national id number, and they are restricted to a specific area.

Linden Labs is implementing age verification for all users using a "3rd party" though I wonder if it will go through, due to some country's strict privacy laws. I know I'm not giving my real name, birthday and last 4 of my social to a company I don't know from adam.

At the moment all you need to do is make up a name, say you are over 18, and give a valid email...I have a throw away one I use when signing up for anything.

All MMOGs are filled with weirdos and sexual deviants. They're the first groups to move into new social spaces. The BDSM and GLBT communities are huge in MMOGs. There's a grossly disproportionate number of cutters in MMOGs (source: John Galt games).

People who feel excluded by normal society seek out new societies online. That's probably why usenet was so popular with child pornographers back in the day (alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.pre-teen).

I mean this one especially.

Most online rpgs have some draw that makes them fun, you can hunt monsters and level up, be a wizard like in fantasy books, fight other players, but second life is pared down to "come up with a mundane new identity."

I think that this means it draws a disproportionate number of genuine weirdos and deviant kooks.

So second life is turning into...I dunno...reality? I mean, second life, that's what they're trying to approximate right?

So second life is turning into...I dunno...reality? I mean, second life, that's what they're trying to approximate right?

Soon they can call it "Boring, Unnecessary Copy of What You're Doing Anyway, With All the Same Old Losers, So Why Bother Logging On Life".

I mean this one especially.

Most online rpgs have some draw that makes them fun, you can hunt monsters and level up, be a wizard like in fantasy books, fight other players, but second life is pared down to "come up with a mundane new identity."

I think that this means it draws a disproportionate number of genuine weirdos and deviant kooks.
Definitely. When I looked at SL's site and it was all "Come and make friends!! And live!! And do stuff!! And chat!!", I immediately thought, "Or I could leave my house and do all that."

As I'm about to do right now. :)

What I saw in SL was a cool idea for interactive creativity that was realized as little more than a playground for bores and pervs.

Maybe they should require psycholigical screening for second lifers? I have met a couple of them that are convinced they are Kitsune, or dragons/ what have you...

Maybe they should require psycholigical screening for second lifers? I have met a couple of them that are convinced they are Kitsune, or dragons/ what have you...

Which invariably causes one to consider psychological screening for life.

*birth*
Hmm...sorry kiddo, we're picking up signs of psychopathy, back up ya go! *schloop*

All MMOGs are filled with weirdos and sexual deviants. They're the first groups to move into new social spaces. The BDSM and GLBT communities are huge in MMOGs. There's a grossly disproportionate number of cutters in MMOGs (source: John Galt games).

People who feel excluded by normal society seek out new societies online. That's probably why usenet was so popular with child pornographers back in the day (alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.pre-teen).

GLBT is hardly a sexual deviance; I also did not find any mention of this statistic on the John Galt games website (though the fact that they seem to worship Ayn Rand makes me doubt their objectivity. Hows that for irony?).

..And why do you know a child porn usenet group off by heart?

Maybe they should require psycholigical screening for second lifers? I have met a couple of them that are convinced they are Kitsune, or dragons/ what have you...

Ah, yes, the otherkin; something of an offshoot of therianthropes.

Not that there's anything wrong with therianthropy..

GLBT is hardly a sexual deviance
If they're not the norm, they deviate from the norm. They are deviant.

Deviant is a value-neutral term.
I also did not find any mention of this statistic on the John Galt games website (though the fact that they seem to worship Ayn Rand makes me doubt their objectivity. Hows that for irony?).
I attended a lecture given by their founder. As an MMOG developer, they have an interest in learning the demographics of their likely customers.

With a name like John Galt Games, are you surprised they worship Ayn Rand?
And why do you know a child porn usenet group off by heart?
Because anyone who spent any time in that general section of usenet was bound to spot the name in the directory. alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.* was pretty popular.