With the recent SecondLife ToS change how old does a child have to be to access a General rated sim?

[ScentualLust]

The new ToS is confusing a few people. It does not specifically say there is a minimum required age to join SecondLife.

So, can someone who is, hypothetically ten years old, create an avatar and go to a General rated sim??

[Marigold Devin]

New ToS  http://lindenlab.com/tos

Very clearly states what age is allowed where and what the minimum age is.

 

3. ELIGIBILITY TO USE THE SERVICE

 

3.1 Age Requirements for the Service.

By accepting this Agreement, you represent that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age and you have the legal authority to enter into this Agreement. If you are at least thirteen (13) years of age and less than eighteen (18) years of age, then your parent or legal guardian must read and accept this Agreement, your use of the Service, participating in the Service, and providing any personal information in connection with the Service on your behalf. 

 

3.2 Age Requirements for Use of Areas of the Service.

Over 18 Users. If you are at least eighteen (18) years of age (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction, if greater), then you may use any public area of the Service and, with respect to Second Life, in accordance with our Maturity Ratings.

Under 18 Users. If you are less than eighteen (18) years of age (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction, if greater), then you may access the General area of the Service in accordance with our Maturity Guidelines.

Under 13 Users. Certain limited aspects of the Service (for instance, Linden Lab’s Blocksworld application) may be directed toward children under the age of thirteen (13) (or such age as determined by local law; in the following, the age thirteen (13) is used for ease of reference). When a child under the age of thirteen (13) contacts Linden Lab, for example to participate in a contest or to ask a question, we may collect that child's email address and the e-mail address of the child's parent or guardian. We will use the child's e-mail address only for the purpose for which it was collected, and we will use the e-mail address of the parent(s) or guardian(s) only to provide notification about the child's contact with us, and to provide notification of the types and uses of personal data collected, if and as required by law.

 

****

Hypothetically any child who can work their way around a computer can create an account, create an avatar, steal their Mom and Dad's credit card, upload videos of their private parts to youtube, if they were so inclined.

This is the Answers section, but if you had written your enquiry on General Discussions sub-forum I would be saying that at this point, parental supervision comes into play. Linden Lab cannot prevent nor provide for what might occur if minors are not correctly supervised by their guardians.

[Lindal Kidd]

---

ScentualLust wrote:

The new ToS is confusing a few people. It does not specifically say there is a minimum required age to join SecondLife.

So, can someone who is, hypothetically ten years old, create an avatar and go to a General rated sim??

---

No, not legally.  And if a child does that, they will almost certainly be caught.  In that case, Linden Lab will bar that computer, and everyone using it, from Second Life.

If you are 18 or older, you can access all of Second Life.  If you are 16-17, you can have an account, but can only access General regions and content.  If you are 13-15, you may be able to access a "fenced off" region, under the supervision of an approved sponsoring organization, such as your school, church, youth group, etc.  If you are under 13, and try to access SL, LL will notify your parents.

 

[steph Arnott]

Unfortunately legal age does not represent mental age.