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Scylla Rhiadra

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Everything posted by Scylla Rhiadra

  1. Scylla Rhiadra
    This seems an entirely sensible and reasonable request. Can I suggest that you send it more directly to LL somehow or another? IMing a Linden, for instance? There is a good chance that no Lindens are going to read this far into this thread.
  2. Scylla Rhiadra
    This is probably a good workaround! Thanks, Persephone!
  3. Scylla Rhiadra
    I don't think "forgiveness" often figures into my own responses, because I see this as a personal thing. If someone insults me personally, then, yes, depending upon circumstances, I might choose to "forgive" them. But I am not going to "forgive" someone by proxy for being racist, say, or homophobic or transphobic. In part, because I'm white and cishet, so I'm not qualified to usurp the function of "forgiveness" from people who are the actual targets. And in part because the issue isn't the mere fact of transgression: it is instead the toxicity of the views expressed, that need to be addressed and countered.
  4. Scylla Rhiadra
    There. I was about to make this point (AND CREDIT YOU FOR IT, I PROMISE!). It's an excellent one. Incentives aside, history offers a wide range of cultures in which what I've euphemistically called "community policing" has led to the worst kinds of oppression. It was barely necessary, for instance, to have laws against "s*domy" on the books for much of the 20th century, as the social stigma and the informal cultural penalties associated with being gay were so enormously effective and nasty. So, does the "AR" -- here, or in-world -- resemble better a community working together, where a heavy-handed "police force" is unnecessary because consensus rules . . . or is it like snitching on your neighbours?
  5. Scylla Rhiadra
    Well, I have very mixed feelings about it, Luna, as I say elsewhere in this now admittedly quite long thread. To cut to the chase, though, I like the idea of "community policing" -- of a community establishing collectively and by consensus its own sense of what is appropriate, rather than a top-down model -- but I also see the absolute peril of abuse that comes with that. Like you, I only report really obvious infractions -- spam, mostly, and occasionally really hateful stuff (outright racist insults personally directed at someone, for instance). Where I run across something that is "hateful," but not so "personal", or that represents a reasonably common, if abhorrent perspective, I prefer to let it stand for a great many reasons. I'm generally anti-censorship, for instance, and I think people should be allowed to condemn themselves out of their own mouths. If someone is a racist, I don't think it's a bad idea to let that remain . . . public information. It's complicated, though, and I have another point along these lines I want to make shortly.
  6. Scylla Rhiadra
    No, as I said, I don't mind it wandering a bit if it's along the same general road -- how we take our "responsibility" as members of the community for policing content. And with that in mind, here's an interesting thing. I've discovered that there appears to be no way to "report" content for a violation of the ToS or CS on the Marketplace. You can flag it as misleading, or wrongly rated, but that's pretty much it. So, I'm not sure how one would go about reporting, for instance, a Nazi flag on the MP.
  7. Scylla Rhiadra
    Sure, fine. Go ahead, blame the OP. I actually didn't object to the discussion branching out to treat also ARs in-world. And there really isn't an appropriate term other than the very generic "report" for the forum. So there.
  8. Scylla Rhiadra
    Ahh. The notorious "They." Yes indeed. The Knight Templars are very active on social media these days.
  9. Scylla Rhiadra
    Well I don't much like rich food. 🙃
  10. Scylla Rhiadra
    You know . . . she's not wrong.
  11. Scylla Rhiadra
    Ageism rears its ugly head again . . . 😏
  12. Scylla Rhiadra
    Don't imagine I am unaware of the irony!
  13. Scylla Rhiadra
    Welcome to the world of unregulated free market capitalism.
  14. Scylla Rhiadra
    In SL terms, maybe not. We're a very small pond in real terms. But Rosedale has gone on a fair bit elsewhere about "governance" in virtual worlds, and the implication has often been that SL has gotten it more or less "right." I think I'd beg to differ. The real dollar amount of scams and shady dealings in SL is, in a global sense, pretty small potatoes, but translate that into the terms of a really extensive metaverse, and we could be talking about many millions of dollars, a crisis of confidence in the system, and so forth. I don't think that some simple regulations would require that extra time and effort. How about an addition to the ToS that, for instance, no more than one week's worth of rent can be forfeited upon breaking of a land covenant or rental agreement? And maybe even a very simple web page with a database backend into which landlords would enter a few pertinent details upon seizing that one week's worth of rent? It need only include the date of termination of the "contract," the weekly rent charged, and the amount forfeited. No live staff need be involved at all unless there was an AR or ticket alleging the breaking of that portion of the ToS: the database would provide the information governance would need to almost immediately settle the issue.
  15. Scylla Rhiadra
    Yes, definitely. There are a number of separate issues that are being discussed here. 1) Does the landlord have the "right" (in practical terms, the absolute power) to do what they apparently did here? We're all in agreement that, yes, they do. 2) Does the tenant have any kind of recourse? Again, we're all in agreement here: almost certainly not, although they can try such things as ARs or tickets. 3) Was it ethical -- i.e., morally "right" to pocket L$19000 of pre-paid rent upon eviction? Well, I've seen a few people tentatively suggest that they think it is, but I find that position ethically indefensible myself. 4) Does the current system suck? Well, that's my position. It's a crappy, system that was broken from the moment they set it up, and it affords endless opportunities for graft and generally s****y behaviour. There's a sort of side issue, which is the implication that we don't have all the facts here, and with that I agree. We're not in any position to judge this particular, individual case. Which is, again, why there should be some sort of simple mechanism in place to do so.
  16. Scylla Rhiadra
    Fabian, do not do this. It's a clear violation of the ToS, and there's every chance you'll get disciplined for it.
  17. Scylla Rhiadra
    I'm far from convinced this would make a difference, as people get ripped off on the MP all the time, and very seldom have any sort of recourse. But it would at least produce a clearer paper trail.
  18. Scylla Rhiadra
    In pragmatic terms you are of course absolutely correct -- as I think nearly everyone has said here. What interests me are the broader implications of this. Whether or not the OP is telling the truth is, in that sense, truly irrelevant, as you suggest: this could happen, under the current system, just exactly as they are describing it. And I'll guarantee that it does happen. The system sucks.
  19. Scylla Rhiadra
    That is entirely possible. But I refuse to take as my default position the assumption that someone is lying, unless there is clear evidence -- and there is none here -- that they are doing so. Not even a Trump supporter. What a crappy way to go through life that would be. [Redacted, as the name of the estate has been removed, and this is no longer relevant.]
  20. Scylla Rhiadra
    This. The current system sucks. Consumers not only have no protections, they are denied even the kinds of tools that, at both a theoretical and practical level, are supposed to counterbalance the arbitrary and absolute power granted to sellers / landlords.
  21. Scylla Rhiadra
    Are you good with pocketing L$19000 in pre-paid rent as a penalty for violating the rental agreement or land covenant?
  22. Scylla Rhiadra
    Shocked as I am to find myself agreeing with Chaser, this is an important point. I'd say the "system is broken," but actually it's never worked as it should. I thought about mentioning to the OP the "name and shame" rule here near the beginning of this thread, but decided not to because the system as it currently stands is terribly unbalanced. The "free market" approach to this kind of dispute only works, even by the standards of those who support it (of which I am emphatically not one) if the power of the seller / landlord is balanced against the power of the consumer to let "word of mouth" govern the marketplace. The theory is that if "bad players" are bad enough frequently enough, they will go out of business as "word of mouth" gets around about their behaviour. But if you disable the ability to spread that word, then frankly you are robbing the consumer of the one lever they should have at their disposal. More to the point, you are creating a structural, systemic imbalance in the system that ensures that it cannot, and never will, function as it is supposed to. Now, I'm not of the opinion that anyone should be able to come here and simply name anyone they feel has done them wrong. That would turn this place into a chaotic hell hole. So . . . my conclusion is that we need some form of top-down regulation for this kind of thing.
  23. Scylla Rhiadra
    I asked this question also, above. We have nothing to go on but what we've been told. If the OP is lying, of course this is inapplicable. But we're now discussing the principles, function, and ethics of the system. And I'm not simply going to assume that the OP isn't being straight here. I'm honestly surprised to hear this from you. The landlord has the power to pocket whatever remains of the rent. In fact, given the lack of regulation in SL, the landlord could do that without even requiring a justification. But having the power or even "the right" to simply walk off with L$19000 (or L$1000, for that matter) does not equal having the moral justification to do so. If the landlord did this, it is horribly unethical behaviour.
  24. Scylla Rhiadra
    Yes, but to the tune of L$19000? The issue here is not the eviction, I think.
  25. Scylla Rhiadra
    If they told you that, they are frankly fibbing.
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