This has been long overdue.
Nudism, especially at so-called family nude beaches in Second Life, has been a very controversial topic over the years.
(I wrote about this years ago)
What is The Issue?
What happens at “family-friendly nude beaches”?
What you might have in mind is this picture:
There are a few very liberal nudist (maybe hippie) families playing with their kids on the beach. You see Mum and Dad overlooking everything while the kids play games.
Nope.
A “family-friendly nude beach in Second Life looks like this:
A bunch of kids and teens standing around or laying on sunbeds, exposing their naked bodies, and some adult single men standing around somewhere looking at them.
A bit cringe.
The region owners and admins do their best to ensure that sexual activity does not occur at such places. This is firmly manifested in the location’s rules.
However, what happens in I.M. (private messaging) is beyond their control and probably their interest.
There are two problems with this:
- Yes, those places become pick-up places for age-play involving child avatars.
- Owning or making pictures depicting nude children is illegal in many countries.
This violates Second Life’s Terms of Service (T.O.S.), full stop. However, it is not against the law in the U.S.A., as long as both players behind the avatars are adults.
This is why a small minority of Second Life residents (most likely pedophiles in real life) insist on their “right” to “roleplay” sex with minors.
Most Second Life residents are against such practices, and some groups are trying to fight ageplay.
In Germany and other E.U. member states, owning or distributing images of virtual sex involving child avatars is a criminal offense.
This is why those locations prohibit taking pictures at their locations, but one must be very naive to think that such region rules do stop people from taking pictures of nude child avatars.
Linden Lab Introduced New Policy on Nude Child Avatars
Here is the most significant change:
Child avatars are prohibited in A-rated regions and locations where nudity is allowed, encouraged, or to be expected.
As a result, children roaming around Second Life nude beaches or any other locations are not complying with the Second Life T.O.S.. They might be subject to getting their accounts deactivated.
Do The Regions Comply With The New Policy on Nude Child Avatars?
There are two well-known locations in this area. Those are the ones who get most of the relevant traffic.
- FSNB (Family Save Nude Beach)
- The Golden Sun
I checked them out using my teen girl Sheraka (one must stick to the theme, after all). Both changed their rules to comply with the new policy.
FSNB even downgraded its ranking from A to M (mature) and put up huge signs telling everybody that nudity is not allowed anymore.
Update June 2024: The location FSNB – Family Save Nude Beach has been closed on 12th June
To my surprise, the guests complied with the new rules (one wasn’t aware of this, but he put on swimwear when I pointed it out to him).
Will this policy change the behavior of players?
Just a little. They undress later in their private skyboxes after having picked up their prey. Yes, it’s not allowed there either. But does Linden Lab have the resources to enforce this?
I don’t think so.
Sex play with child avatars has always been happening “behind closed doors” and will continue to happen.
But:
The End of Nude Child Avatars in Second Life?
This brings me to another important, for some dramatic change in Linden Labs policies.
Child avatars are not allowed to be fully naked, and child mesh bodies must have a modesty layer.
That means that every designer of child bodies must include a non-removable layer hiding the nipple and genitalia of child avatars.
A game-changer.
The designers in question will likely lose business. They may even go out of business or move to other places, such as the open grid.
Eventually, seeing nude children in Second Life will be a thing of the past.
What do you think how this will impact Second Life? Please feel free to comment.
Linden Lab published an FAQ page for questions related to the new policy
Caroline
