Grappling With Adult Content In Virtual Worlds

FindLaw

By Eric Sinrod

Virtual worlds have been created in Cyberspace where people through their Avatars can live alternative lives and even pursue their fantasies. Issues have cropped up relating to adult virtual activities.

Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, perhaps the most well known virtual world, is trying to deal head on with adult activities within its domain.

On the one hand, Linden Lab wants to continue to promote the creativity and openness that has been a hallmark of Second Life. On the other hand, Linden Lab wants to enable all of the Second Life residents to be able to enjoy the virtual world without being offended.

Accordingly, Linden Lab over the next few months is rolling out some changes to give Second Life residents more control over their virtual experiences. Linden Lab also is open to comments on its changes. The new system will have three primary features.

First, it will allow for the geographic separation of adult content and activities to a specific part of the "mainland" for accommodation.

Second, it will filter search results. As such, people who do not want to view adult results can choose not to view them.

And third, people who do want to access adult virtual content will have their accounts verified to make sure that they are of real world adult age.

These appear to be steps in the right direction. Obviously, this will not be a perfect science. For example, defining what is adult content, while in certain situations will be clear cut, still in others may be difficult to parse. Nevertheless, giving residents more choice and control is a good thing. Power to the Avatars!

Eric Sinrod is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris LLP (http://www.duanemorris.com) where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology and intellectual property disputes. His Web site is http://www.sinrodlaw.com and he can be reached at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com. To receive a weekly email link to Mr. Sinrod's columns, please send an email to him with Subscribe in the Subject line.

This column is prepared and published for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's law firm or its individual partners.

Networking and Storage