Items in G rated stores

[Perrie Juran]

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Marybeth Jarvinen wrote:

Thanks for all the discussion and comments.

I understand that at 13 my son can get onto certain kid areas of SL through a "sponsoring organization". Is this safe for kids? How do I find such an organization? All this is assuming that he is interested in trying it out.

Mary

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The sponsering organizations (really, the people doing this) have to provide verifiable RL information to LInden Lab.  These are generally educational institutions and educators.  I don't know if there is a public list of these. My google-fu is failing me right now.  These locations are ALWAYS private estates with controlled access.

There is this list of locations in the destination guide of locations maintained by Non Profits and Educational Institutions.  Perhaps some supervised exploration of some of these locations could be nice.  For instance, I have walked in Neil Armstrong's foot steps on the Moon in NASA's virtual representation of this.  (I think that is still active).

http://secondlife.com/destinations/learning/1

 

ETA, The Non Profit Commons may be a good place for you to look.  http://secondlife.com/destination/359

[RobertThorp]

"Now a question:

I understand that at 13 my son can get onto certain kid areas of SL through a "sponsoring organization". Is this safe for kids? How do I find such an organization? All this is assuming that he is interested in trying it out."

See Sec. 2.2(i), Age Requirement for Use of Areas of the Service, Users 13 to 15

https://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php#tos2

I don't know about it.. You might want to check with your son's school or any other groups (scouts, church, etc.) or ask Linden Labs. It is probably up to a school or some other group to verify the age and RL status of the person, and to carefully monitor the "location".

Years ago, pre-internet in the days of dial up bulletin boards, there was a discussion board specifically for children. To get access, a child and parents had to apply. The user name (did not include last name) and initial password was sent to the school, who would verify the child as a student and give the information to the teacher to pass to the student. The site was heavily monitored by adults.

Prodigy (pre internet bulletin board) had sections for children of different ages, all posts were moderated, that is, reviewed, by an adult before posting.

As I pointed out on another discussion on this board, there is an internet based discussion board for lawyers. To become a member an applicant is verified by the local bar association and then a user name (full real name + a number) and the initial password is sent to the law firm of the proposed member.

So, unless hackers have figured out a way in, it can be done. The key thing is off line verification of members and intense adult monitoring

Bob

[Parhelion Palou]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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Marybeth Jarvinen wrote:

Thanks for all the discussion and comments.

I understand that at 13 my son can get onto certain kid areas of SL through a "sponsoring organization". Is this safe for kids? How do I find such an organization? All this is assuming that he is interested in trying it out.

Mary

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The sponsering organizations (really, the people doing this) have to provide verifiable RL information to LInden Lab.  These are generally educational institutions and educators.  I don't know if there is a public list of these. My google-fu is failing me right now.  These locations are ALWAYS private estates with controlled access.

There is this list of locations in the destination guide of locations maintained by Non Profits and Educational Institutions.  Perhaps some supervised exploration of some of these locations could be nice.  For instance, I have walked in Neil Armstrong's foot steps on the Moon in NASA's virtual representation of this.  (I think that is still active).

http://secondlife.com/destinations/learning/1

 

ETA, The Non Profit Commons may be a good place for you to look. 

http://secondlife.com/destination/359

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Nonprofit Commons is completely G-rated, but it is not an organization that sponsors 13-15 year olds. I haven't heard of any groups that do sponsor that age range.

Any group that sponsors 13-15s has to have a private estate (1 or more regions). There would be very limited access to that region from anyone in SL -- they'd have to be approved by the sponsoring organization and added to the access list. The kids who register through the organization are restricted to the estate. They cannot go into the rest of SL or into the Marketplace.

 

 

 

 

[Perrie Juran]

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Parhelion Palou wrote:

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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Marybeth Jarvinen wrote:

Thanks for all the discussion and comments.

I understand that at 13 my son can get onto certain kid areas of SL through a "sponsoring organization". Is this safe for kids? How do I find such an organization? All this is assuming that he is interested in trying it out.

Mary

---

The sponsering organizations (really, the people doing this) have to provide verifiable RL information to LInden Lab.  These are generally educational institutions and educators.  I don't know if there is a public list of these. My google-fu is failing me right now.  These locations are ALWAYS private estates with controlled access.

There is this list of locations in the destination guide of locations maintained by Non Profits and Educational Institutions.  Perhaps some supervised exploration of some of these locations could be nice.  For instance, I have walked in Neil Armstrong's foot steps on the Moon in NASA's virtual representation of this.  (I think that is still active).

http://secondlife.com/destinations/learning/1

 

ETA, The Non Profit Commons may be a good place for you to look. 

http://secondlife.com/destination/359

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Nonprofit Commons is completely G-rated, but it is not an organization that sponsors 13-15 year olds. I haven't heard of any groups that do sponsor that age range.

Any group that sponsors 13-15s has to have a private estate (1 or more regions). There would be very limited access to that region from anyone in SL -- they'd have to be approved by the sponsoring organization and added to the access list. The kids who register through the organization are restricted to the estate. They cannot go into the rest of SL or into the Marketplace.

 

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Which is why I suggested it for a place to find things to do under her supervision.

There is nothing in the TOS that forbids you from allowing another person to use your account.  That is a common misunderstanding.  What the TOS says is it is recommended not to do this and that  you are responsible for any actions initiated with your account.

[Melita Magic]

Would you quote that section of TOS, please? I could swear it said do not allow someone else to use your account.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

3.2 At the time your Account is opened, you must select a password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and are responsible for any harm resulting from your disclosure, or authorization of the disclosure of your password or from any person's use of your password to gain access to your Account or Account Name. At no time should you respond to an online request for a password other than in connection with the log-on process to the Service. Your disclosure of your password to any other person is at your own risk.

https://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php?lang=en-US#tos3

[Melita Magic]

Thanks. Wasn't there another part that talked about that, too? The Tos is so long, with so many links in it. And then there is also Community Guidelines.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

Well there is the prohibition against assigning accounts (13.2). I suppose if LL wanted to, they could argue that even a temporary assignment would be in violation. Other than that, I dunno.

[Melita Magic]

Yes I thought we were not allowed to give away our accounts without LL's permission. I would include any length of time in that, but I guess it could be up for debate, with LL the final judge of course. 

Sometimes the TOS is a bit murky.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

There are islands in SL that are owned by organizations that sponsor young teens,.  However, to my knowledge there is not a  list of organizations that sponsor kids under 16 available, probably for security reasons.  Generally however they are educators, schools, youth clubs or other organization that serve this age group. 

Young teens that come into second life this way must create a special account through the sponsoring organization's website.  Further the organization must establish a group or groups and make the avatar a member of the group. The account's avatar is restricted to the estate of the organization.  They physically cannot leave it and are completely cut off from the rest of the grid.  They can't IM someone who is not a member of the group, leave the estate, shop on marketplace, use search or send and receive things except within their group.  The account created through this program can never leave the estate it is registered to.  If upon turning 16 they want to log into regular SL, they will need to create a new account.

Your son would need to be a member of the organization sponsoring the young teens. There is a group called the Boy Scouts of Second Life that has in their group charter that the group is for 11-17 year olds.  The group is closed enrollment, but you could contact the group owner or an officer for information to see if your son could join.  You can use search to see if there are other groups.

As suggested you could also ask around your local community to see if a school church or youth group has an island for the under 16 set.  If you can't find anyone, perhaps an organization your child belongs to would sponsor one. The organization will need to have a private island to do this. Since the kids are restricted to the island and can't shop anywhere or receive anything from people out side the group, they will probably want to have some things available on the island that the kids can use to customize their avatars as well as any building supplies the kids will need if they will be creating things.  The organization can arrange to hire an official Solution Provider to assist them in all of this if needed.  Use search to find a company that is an official Solution Provider if one is needed..

Here is the information about the program and the technical aspects.

Registgration API - the technical information and how it works

Registration API Application Form.

Registration API Terms of Use.

[Perrie Juran]

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Melita Magic wrote:

Yes I thought we were not allowed to give away our accounts without LL's permission. I would include any length of time in that, but I guess it could be up for debate, with LL the final judge of course. 

Sometimes the TOS is a bit murky.

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Assigning and authorizing are two different things which do have legal definitions. 

Regardless, there is no question that you are responsible for any actions someone may take with your account.  I don't think there is any murkiness about that point.

Somewhere I seem to remember reading that you could leave your account to someone else in your will should you die, but that the proper papers would need to be supplied to LL.  My google-fu is failing me on this right now.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

Somewhere I seem to remember reading that you could leave your account to someone else in your will should you die, but that the proper papers would need to be supplied to LL.  My google-fu is failing me on this right now.

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I think that's one of the few instances where LL will agree to assignment of accounts.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Death_and_other_worries_outside_Second_Life

[Perrie Juran]

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Griffin Ceawlin wrote:

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Perrie Juran wrote:

Somewhere I seem to remember reading that you could leave your account to someone else in your will should you die, but that the proper papers would need to be supplied to LL.  My google-fu is failing me on this right now.

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I think that's one of the few instances where LL will agree to assignment of accounts.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Death_and_other_worries_outside_Second_Life

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Thanks.

/me laughs

Have we wandered way off topic here?

[Griffin Ceawlin]

From underwear to "end of life" issues? Just a bit. :smileyvery-happy:

[Marybeth Cooperstone]

Years ago I was in wills and estates, so I know how complicated things tend to get, and at a time the executor doesn't need to face more complexity. The Linden instructions for bequeathing an account  seems to be a lot of work, and probably some expense. I think that, unless the assets within SL are large, it would be simpler for the beneficiary to open an account under her own name.

As for notification of SL friends, I know of someone who had an RL friend who was also on SL. My friend has given her friend a list of certain people on SL (by user name) to notify upon her death or incapacity (e.g. serious stroke). This is not a legal document but some simple instructions, including some notifications of RL (non SL) people who would need to know.

I don't know if such violates the TOS, I don't think they would. But it doesn't matter. What are they going to do to you if you are dead.

BTW. My friend is still alive and in good health, so the above has never been tested.

 

[Perrie Juran]

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Griffin Ceawlin wrote:

From underwear to "end of life" issues? Just a bit. :smileyvery-happy:

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Well I guess the last thing some people do in life is soil their underwear. 

 

Reminds me of the old joke.

What was the last thing the Redneck said?

"Hey Bubba, watch this."