Artificial Boy

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Debbie McCormick, et al, of the Behavioral Studies Department, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University is doing a survey about “people’s attitudes toward law and order in Second Life”. Here are my answers to the free-form questions and some of the multiple choice questions. If you know me, you probably already know my answers to the yes/no questions, so I won’t include them here. I have also omitted any questions that pertain to my real life demographic membership.

10. Briefly describe your avatar’s appearance:

8 year old boy.

From now on, we’ll use the term ‘Rules’ to refer to the Terms of Service.
11. What are the most important rules?

4.1 You agree to abide by certain rules of conduct, including the Community Standards and other rules prohibiting illegal and other practices that Linden Lab deems harmful.
x Adult grid restricted to 18+, Teen grid restricted to 13-17. Disclaimers about minors on the adult grid.
x cannot share or transfer accounts
x linden dollar is a limited license product.
x Linden Lab may suspend or terminate your account at any time, without refund or obligation to you.
x The 3rd-party Arbitration clause.

12. Who do you think is responsible for setting the Rules?

Linden Lab

13. Who do you think should be responsible for setting the Rules?

Linden Lab

14. Have you ever broken any of the Rules? (select one)

Sometimes

15. Should the rules be obeyed? (select one)

Residents should decide for themsleves whether they need to obey the Rules

16. Have the Rules changed since you’ve been a resident?

Yes
3rd party arbitration clause added (right to sue is now limited, at least according to this)

17. Have you personally experienced the Rules being broken by residents?

Yes
I have seen numerous violations of the community standards rules, namely, intolerance.

18. What is your attitude to a resident who has broken a Rule?

It depends upon the Rule which has been broken
It is not up to me to enforce LL’s rules, especially not the ones that involve TASTE. I don’t like being placed in the role of making judgment calls about other residents’ tastes. For example, if the rule being violated is the so-called “Broadly Offensive” community standard rule, I simply leave and find somewhere else to play. Problem solved. If the rule being broken is the harassment CS rule, I am much more likely to get upset and take swift action.

19. Is your attitude toward real life law-breakers different to your attitude toward Second Life rule-breakers?

Yes.
Second Life rules are not real-life laws, not even close. Someone who breaks a real-life law is a criminal. Someone who breaks an SL rule is simply risking his account and virtual assets. On the other hand, someone who violates a RL law while in SL, for example by running an elaborate ponzi-scheme, is a real criminal. But that’s not what you asked.

20. Does anyone monitor whether the Rules are broken?

Yes
Residents, followed by Linden Lab employees

23. If you were found to have broken the Rules yourself, would you know what your rights were?

Yes
Unless I want to sue LL in real life, or use their 3rd party arbitration system, I would have almost no rights and no recourse if I am unilaterally deemed guilty of violating a rule.

Apart from the formal rules in the Terms of Service, there are informal rules in Second Life. These informal rules include Standards of Behaviour that are considered acceptable by most residents. An example of a Standard of Behaviour is to be respectful of other avatars.
24. What do you think are the most important Standards of Behaviour that apply whenever you are in Second Life?

Intolerance
Harassment
Disclosure

25. Are you a member of a Second Life community that has Standards of Behaviour that only apply within that community?

Yes
Limit nudity to private, mature land. Turn off group tags. Don’t use the group to make open propositions or spout extreme political viewpoints. No spamming the group communication channels. Generally, act in character.

29. Any other comments

Rules in Second Life are not as important as rules in real life simply because there are very few vectors for personal harm. In SL, you cannot be attacked, raped, killed, etc. The only vectors for harm are: denial of service, loss of virtual property, and the feeling of being offended by someone else’s tastes or imagery.

The survey is open to all Second Life residents. I heard about it at Orient-Lodge.

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