"joined today" - adult safe hubs

[Kooky Scientist]

Seems to me the current system for age verification is inadequately implemented. For example an underage user can create an account and supply a false date of birth at registration which enables them to visit Adult safe hubs without any checks and measures to hinder.

Is there a specific reason govenor Linden owned Adult safe hubs are wide open to non age verified accounts?

Blocking non age verified accounts entering Adult safe hubs would also greatly reduce the amount of perma banned griefers with their "joined today" alts.

 

[Syo Emerald]

You have some things mixed up here. First of all: There is no age verification anymore behond enterin your date of birth at account creation. It has been like this for years. This is technically not different from all the websites out there, were you just click a button saying you are over the age of 18.

If your provided date of birth makes you 18 or older, you can visit ANY adult sim, not just adult safe hubs. I don't know why you would take so much concern about them in particular. Its also not true, that accounts who do not meet that criteria can enter adult info hubs.

You seem to believe that griefing at info hubs comes from underage users. You would be suprised to find out, that annoying and trolling others isn't a behavior tied to being underage. You can't assume that all the people there are underage, just because they behave badly. I would advice to seak out better places, instead of hanging around at info hubs.

[Callum Meriman]

33 minutes ago, Kooky Scientist said:

Blocking non age verified accounts entering Adult safe hubs would also greatly reduce the amount of perma banned griefers with their "joined today" alts.

What makes you think most griefers are RL children? In my experience they are normally well over the age of majority.

As far as adult verification - it was tried in what 2008 or 2010 or so? and it failed. 

[Alwin Alcott]

1 hour ago, Kooky Scientist said:

reduce the amount of perma banned ..."joined today"

what if LL would have done that at 20-11-2009 ?  (11-20-2009)
(OP's rezzday)

 

[Nalates Urriah]

When we see things that make no sense to us, it is a good idea to examine them and look into the history that lead to them. Once we cure our ignorance we understand the why of the senselessness. It may still be senseless, but the why so of its existence will make sense.

As Syo wrote, for a number of years the Lab used a commercial third-party age verification service, as did many other web-provided games and services including commercial adult websites. These days the huge majority of sites have given up and just ask.

The nature of children is such they will figure out how to get what they are denied. Over the years age verification technology has provided to be only a minor impediment to children. The result has been simply asking for one's age works as well or better than more convoluted processes. 

I find it interesting you think you can tell one's age by what you see or hear them doing in the Adult Hub regions. There are people in their 20' to 40's, and possibly older that are horribly immature. That throws off our kid-detector senses. 

We know there are kids slipping through. When we have good evidence we rat them out.

[Lindal Kidd]

1 hour ago, Nalates Urriah said:

We know there are kids slipping through. When we have good evidence we rat them out.

This.  This actually works a lot better than the "age verification" process that was used a few years ago.  I saw this in action just yesterday at the Firestorm newcomer area.  Some new avatars arrived and started asking for sex.  The helper on duty was polite but firm.  She told them it was a General region and sex wasn't allowed.  She told them that SL offered a lot more than just sex, but also gave them some landmarks to Adult places.  Then the newcomers switched to Voice...and thereby revealed themselves to be pre-pubescent children.  The helper inquired about that, and the newcomers admitted their ages IN TEXT (!!)  They got reported immediately.

It's very true that a lot of griefers and trolls are legal adults, despite their immature behavior.  It's also true that actual kids have behaviors and styles that betray their age to adults...or they will often out themselves explicitly, as in the above incident.  Linden Lab acts very quickly on these reports of underage users.  I have seen a kid vanish before my very eyes, minutes after submitting a report on him.

KIDS:  Don't lie about your age.  You will be caught, and you'll be banned from Second Life forever.  Your whole computer might be perma-banned too, which could be very embarrassing for you, if your parents use Second Life.  There are other virtual worlds you can legitimately play in...check out IMVU.