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Wonderland creator promoting new grid
Lalinda Lovell, the person behind the Wonderland site that was the focus of the Sky News virtual child sex scandal is apparently promoting a new grid, called litesim. The server software apparently is under development and due to be released under GPL Free Software licenses at some future date, so it isn't exactly clear if the code is based on Open Simulator or some other backend. The system sports three tiers of users: Free, Basic and Premium, the latter two both having a monthly fee and cashout options. Lovell's advertising for this grid emphasizes "Freedom and privacy guaranteed" however the litesim terms of service specifically state that a number of things (like child pornography, and anything that violates either US or UK laws - that would include simulations of underage sexuality) are not permitted.
Linden Lab responds to Sky News, holds the line
Linden Lab has responded to the recent Sky News/Five News report on sexual ageplay between adults in Second Life with a formal statement. In it, Linden Lab continues to hold a strong position against such content -- although, we think the statement itself would carry far weight if it were not almost word-for-word the same statement issued in response to Farrell's Wonderland scandal some several months ago.
Sky News targets sexual ageplay in Second Life again
Sky's Five News reporter Jason Farrell who broke the Wonderland Scandal last year, has been back in Second Life with a young girl avatar, and hooked up with an adult avatar for sex at another site created by the creators of the now-removed Wonderland. Second Life users had previously complained about the Wonderland site in Second Life for some time, particularly those users who had avatars that were either juvenile in appearance or diminutive, but virtual world operator Linden Lab took no action against Wonderland, claiming there was "no firm evidence of wrongdoing" -- nevertheless, the Wonderland site disappeared, apparently due to Linden Lab intervention sometime after the whole mess hit the mainstream media.
Peering inside - looking back at 2007 [UPDATED]
It's been no less a tumultuous year for Second Life in 2007 this year than any previous year, frankly. There are a few standout items though. This isn't the list that anyone else might make - We might completely skip over one of the things you see as standing out as a huge impact, based solely on that we don't actually think it was that big a deal in the scheme of things.
Kindly State University - School is back in session
The Kindly High School students have graduated and entered college this fall. After closing down the high school, amidst pressure from anti-ageplay groups in Second Life, Redd Columbia immediately began working on the new campus, which opened last month. With a grown-up look and feel, school is officially back in session. In order to prevent griefing, you must apply for admission to their closed-access group, which charges a 200L tuition fee to join. There are many perks to joining the group, though, such as clothing, picture frame HUDs, and posters of the school mascot, the Kodiak. You can find the official rules for admission and event notices on the Kindly State website.Read on to find out more about KSU after the jump ... %Gallery-10548%
Second Life "Wonderland" scandal hits mainstream media
UK media outlets are blowing up with stories of "Wonderland", a virtual playground in Second Life where Ageplay is the go. Sister-site Second Life Insider has been following the various stages of this story over the last day, including its growing coverage by mainstream press and the reply from SL developers Linden Lab.For those who need a little background, Ageplay is when an adult roleplays a child. This need not be for sexual purposes, but to use the quote from SL Insider of Sky News reporter Jason Farrell, "Wonderland is a virtual children's playground where paedophiles cruise and kids are solicited." Even though there probably aren't real children controlling the characters, it is still an offensive community for others within SL, and a Kid Avs community representative has already spoken out about it. It is also something that SL fans wouldn't want to be mistakenly associated with -- now that it has hit the mainstream, it may be one of the first things that people remember about Second Life, akin to "Oh, wasn't that the computer game for pedophiles?".The response Linden Lab provided to SL Insider essentially says that they have found no wrongdoing after investigating the Wonderland community. I'm not sure how well the rest of the media will take this answer. Provided below is a link to SL Insider's on-going coverage of this story as it develops.
Cybersex is child's play: virtual world morals
We've already heard recently about the sexy side of Second Life, a virtual world in which the players' imaginations are more or less the limits. This article, however, shows just what can -- and does -- happen in an 18 environment where players are given free rein. Although Second Life is no stranger to kinks and perversions, some fetishes provoke far stronger opposition than others.The case in point here is age play, a pastime in which adults put on kiddy avatars and act out scenes which would, in the real world, be considered paedophilic. Thanks to Second Life's strict separation of minors and adults, everyone taking part is of age, which makes for an interesting moral debate. Is this activity virtual paedophilia, an offensive type of sexual play that should be banned lest it lead to real crime? Or is it simply an extension of the fantasy world, a harmless activity carried out in private?Sex-based virtual world Rapture Online, mentioned in the article, is playing it safe from the outset by not letting adults look like children. In SL, however, some official decisions may eventually have to be made on this front -- the simple existence of this sort of activity is enough to get some people riled up, but by infringing on users' freedoms to fantasise about whatever they want in private, the world loses some of its strength.[Thanks, Ken. Image shows items available from some of SL's kid-themed shops.]
