Second Life issues and criticisms
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Due to constant development, and as an open environment accessible by almost anyone with access to the internet,[1] a number of difficult issues have arisen around Second Life. Issues range from the technical (Mac OS X client, Budgeting of server resources), to moral (Pornography), to legal (Legal position of the Linden Dollar, Linden Lab lawsuit). In September 2006, there were also issues with customer security.
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[edit] Content
[edit] Pornography
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Second Life Main Grid regions are rated either "PG" or "Mature". [2] Builds, textures, actions, animations, chat, or businesses that are of an adult nature are regulated by the Second Life Terms of Service [3] to only occur in simulators with a Mature rating. PG rated sims exist as an alternative for residents who do not wish to reside in areas where adult-oriented activities and businesses are permitted.
There have been complaints that sims (areas) marked in SL as "mature" (permitting mature content such as swearing, nudity, etc) are overwhelmed with sex-based "jobs" and entertainment to a greater degree than other "free-form" MMOs, and that new users can find themselves encouraged into escorting. [citation needed]
Some media attention has been given to sexually related activity involving avatars with a child-like appearance [4], although residents on Second Life's Main Grid must be 18 years or older [3], for the most part making the issue one of role-playing between consenting adults.
[edit] Gambling
Gambling is allowed in both PG and Mature regions. The exception is the Teen Grid, where all mature content is disallowed, including gambling.[citation needed] Gambling is most commonly conducted using scripted gambling machines created by residents. There is no central authority verifying the workings of these gambling machines,[citation needed] so it is entirely possible for these machines to "cheat", never allowing a user to win, or to include "backdoors", allowing the programmer of the machine to be certain to "win" money from the host.
[edit] Non-Commercial Content
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Much of the content on Second Life is focused on making money, such as shops, malls, and casinos.[citation needed] Originally, Second Life implemented systems of dwell and developer incentives[citation needed] whereby those areas not actually focused on taking money from customers - such as artworks, vistas, libraries, clubs and other meeting places, and similar - could be rewarded with Linden Dollars newly minted by the system in proportion to the number of people present in the area and the length of time they stayed, and (in the case of the most popular 10% areas), with cash prizes paid by Linden Lab.[citation needed] This money could then be put towards paying the tier fee in order for the area to continue to be hosted on Second Life. However, the reliance on an automated system resulted in exploits being discovered and abused,[citation needed] and the minting of new Linden Dollars created hyperinflation,[citation needed] thus requiring both of these systems to be removed. This has left Second Life in a situation where the builders of such artworks or social areas are left bearing the entire hosting cost themselves while commercial areas are able to recoup them; this has lead to a growth and increase in the number of commercial areas, and a reduction in the size and number of noncommercial areas.[citation needed] Many residents have expressed concern about the consequent focus shift in the world.[citation needed]
[edit] Balance between users' ability to edit the world and their ability to damage or disrupt it
Second Life has been attacked several times by groups of Residents abusing the creation tools to create objects that harass other users or damage the system. This includes grey goo objects which infinitely reproduce, eventually overwhelming the servers; orbiters which throw an avatar so far upwards they cannot get back down in a reasonable timeframe without teleporting; cages which surround avatars, preventing them from moving, and similar. Although combat between users is sanctioned in certain areas of the world, these objects have been used to cause disruption in all areas; attacks on the grid itself, such as Grey Goo, are of course strictly forbidden anywhere on the grid. Recently Linden Lab announced that new plans to combat grey goo attacks are under consideration, including changes to the back end code to minimize damage from attacks, and possible restriction of scripting privileges to trusted or verified accounts. [5]
[edit] Content Theft in Second Life
Theft of Second Life goods became a major concern for SL merchants in November of 2006 with the emergence of CopyBot, based on an open-source tool created by libsecondlife that allows a user to create an exact replica of any SL item or avatar.
[edit] Other
[edit] Customer Security
On September 8, 2006, Linden Lab released a news bulletin that revealed their Second Life database had been compromised and customer information, including encrypted passwords and users' real names, had likely been accessed [6] [7]. However it was later revealed that the hacker had in fact been focused on trying to cheat the in-world money system [8] and their access to personal information was believed incidental, although a full alert was still raised for safety's sake.
[edit] References
- ^ Second Life System Requirements. Linden Lab. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.
- ^ Linden, Torley (June 27, 2006). Community Standards. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ a b Linden Lab. Second Life Terms of Service. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ Terdiman, Daniel (April 12, 2006). Phony kids, virtual sex. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ Linden, Robin (October 9, 2006). Security and Second Life. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ Linden, Robin (September 8, 2006). Urgent Security Announcement. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ Linden Lab (September 8, 2006). Second Life Security Bulletin. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ Linden, Ian (September 22, 2006). Security breach update. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
