Aleph's Discussion of Linden Lab Policies

Linden Lab Policies and Education in Second Life

Discussion of the Linden Lab policies, proceedures and guidelines impacting education in Second Life.

Age Restrictions, Objectionable Material and Private Platform Status

Second Life is Privately Owned (Overview of Aleph's personal opinion of Key Issues)

• Policies and procedures of Linden Labs, owners of SL, apply at all times.
• Second Life, like the internet in general, does contain mature content and each user is responsible to exercise caution to reduce their own chance of exposure to objectionable material.
  
• If you encounter personally objectionable content leave the area. You will never be required to participate or observe objectionable material.
• No one after their 18^th birthday is allowed to enter Teen Second Life
• No one under 18 years old is allowed in Second Life.

Aleph’s Discussion

The Second Life platform can be deceiving; once you become familiar with it and begin to navigate and work in it you can forget that it is private web space and that the rules that govern educational activity on the internet apply. All of the rules and regulations apply, general aspects of your compliance responsibilities are presented here (this does not reduce the importance of overall compliance):

1) Second Life is Private; it is the property of Linden Labs and all of the rules, guidelines, regulations and other instruction Linden Lab dictates apply to all activity in Second Life. Two areas of particular attention that are distinct from the general internet regard minors in SL:

a. Anyone under 18 is specifically excluded from entering Second Life. If you become aware that someone under 18 is present in Second Life you are required to report it immediately and to remove the individual. It is not sufficient to discuss it privately with the student. Linden Labs can and will shut down our campus and ban individuals who do not comply with this provision. While it may seem excessive, Linden Labs has good reason to be concerned and to apply a zero tolerance policy regarding minors in Second Life. Do not risk our campus and your individual privilege to operate within Second Life; enforce this provision rigorously.

b. For those 13 to 17 Linden Labs has created Teen Second Life. If you are 18 or older, do not enter Teen Second Life without proper clearance which can only be granted by Linden Labs. You may receive permission if you have a valid reason to participate in Teen Second Life and after you submit a formal request to Linden Labs to be admitted and you pass a background check. This may seem excessive but Linden Labs has good reason to be concerned and to apply a zero tolerance policy regarding the protection of minors in Teen Second Life. Be aware that once you are granted access to Teen Second Life you will not be able to move your Avatar or inventory between the two platforms. You will want to consider creating a separate Avatar for Teen Second Life. Do not risk our campus and your individual privilege to operate within Second Life; comply with this provision rigorously.