Comments on: Second Life as Temporary Autonomous Zone

By: Verena Vuckovic

Verena Vuckovic — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 04:44:45 +0000

It is already way too late to ban many of the naughtier activities on SL. Sure, sites that publicly promote such activities may be closed, but much of the necessary equipment ( e.g for Dolcett ) is already privately owned by many SL residents, having been available for years in various shops.

It is impossible to prevent people who are interested in such activities from finding and meeting each other, and simply doing their stuff in private….out of sight of the thought police. I would say that this private activity is already the case anyway for a lot of BDSM type stuff, and that the public sites are really only the tip of the iceberg. So if we are to talk about any TAZ, it is something that already exists rather than something that may or may not come about in the event of any ‘ban’.

Thus, as is invariably the case even in RL, a ‘ban’ on an activity only really serves to make those in power feel that they are doing something….while the activity simply carries on regardless.

By: Onder Skall

Onder Skall — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:09:13 +0000

Thank you Uri.

By the way, I always did like that book.

Yeah, it is a TAZ. Heavy on the T. I expect the new TAZ will be up and rolling within the next year the way things are going.

By: Maria Leveaux

Maria Leveaux — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:31:26 +0000

The thing that has always made me smile is the idea that this sort of thing can be Stamped out. It exists in SL because it exists in RL, But SL is the fantasy world where any particular kink that turns one on can be acted out. If you Really want to Know who these people are, look around your neighborhood. That’s where we come from, and the fact of the matter is, you will Never know what your neighbors are In To Unless you get in to it yourself. The Idea that there is a Normal way of Life really is a fallacy. “Normal” is the mask people wear to Hide what goes on Behind their eyes, and in the privacy of their bedrooms, and dens. Take a simple thing like Surfing Nudie sites on the net. Only a Small percentage of those doing it will openly admit to it. Then you have to open the Question of What Sort of Nudie sites are they Viewing.
I remember how Shocked one of my dear On line Friends was when she Discovered that her Mother was a Slave in a D/s community (Unfortunately, she Discovered us After her mother had passed away). It never occurred to her that her mother had sexual thoughts, let alone ones that ran to those tastes. In a way it Saddened her, because She herself had similar fantasies, But was never able to Share them with her Mother for fear of Disapproval.
When you talk about Living the Various kinks and Alternative Lifestyles in RL, The percentages of people doing so Seem low (10, 15, 20% depending upon which one you look at) but the numbers of people who Fantasizes about them are Much Much larger.
SL is Your World, Your Imagination, IF there seems to be a Very large proportion of people who Live Very sexual Second lives, it’s because That IS their Imagination. Might even be Yours if you could overcome your fears, and admit to your fantasies, Instead of Burying them. Everybody fantasizes, it’s Nothing to be Ashamed of.

Angel.

By: SqueezeOne Pow

SqueezeOne Pow — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:22:40 +0000

Good article!!!

I would have to say that I’ve seen this many times within SL. I think SL has gotten too big to be considered one community because these days. There are people in the Gorean corner of SL that will never talk to the SL “Businessman” and people in the furry corner that will never talk to the Christians in SL (indeed there are many!).

At this point I think there are multiple communities within SL that form around specific sims and/or people in the way you speak of above. LL might ban sexual ageplay but how long was it before they even noticed? And how much did that ban actually affect people like me with no sexual interest in SL whatsoever? I never saw it happen and the only way the ban has affected me has been in the fact that I hear about it more now than back when it was legal!

My point is that I think this TAZ thing can’t be applied to SL as a whole because it’s already gotten to be a sort of mini-continent unto itself. It’s more realistic to say there will be, are and have been many TAZs in SL.

…and I love it!

By: Nacon

Nacon — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 16:25:58 +0000

So bunch of idiots and sex-life-hopeless people gather up in one place under TAZ can be “legalized?”

….sure, I think I can sit back and let it roll. Not that I support or against it, it’s just retarded enough that it’s going to fail on itself. Like Prok for one.

OH and uhh…. nice knowing you, Urizenus, AKA “the-brand-new-loser-breed”.

By: Reg Baxter

Reg Baxter — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 10:21:13 +0000

Corona you say “( and they have far more than just that to do im sure)”

I’m not so sure about that, they are fixing a few bugs on SL but as was show before have only assigned 1% of all bug reports to anybody.

Those they have working on second light crapola are probably indeed taking courses in how pry and spy to make sure that LL is free of any possible legal action.

They are running scared and even though I own land on here I consider it a lost investment, (just for gaming now)cause at some point they will be closing the doors for sure. Remember even enron & others were talking about future developments and moving forward on all sorts of things right up till the moment they collapsed. Philip probably already has his place picked out in Bermuda for quick get away once he sells out out and slams the door on the whole fiasco that SL has become.

Sorry for going off topic but whether SL is or becomes a TAZ is irrelevant once it is gone.

By: Second Lulz Vigilante

Second Lulz Vigilante — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 09:53:15 +0000

Another problem internet subcultures face is losing their exclusivity and having people who don’t “get it” flooding in and fagging up the whole scene. The chans have had to deal with “newfags”. SL has had to deal with the horny noobs. The trolling culture has had to worry about it’s own pretenders. The Party Viking vigilante clique I’m part of on SL is starting to have a small problem with this as well(we kicked a new guy out because he always wanted us to go on “patrols” and “stakeouts” with him).

Sooner or later everything jumps the shark.

By: dandellion Kimban

dandellion Kimban — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 08:21:22 +0000

Second life is not a TAZ for a long time now, if it has ever been.
We can speak about SL as a TAZ if we speak about independent, open-sourced sims http://metaverse.acidzen.org/2007/benefits-of-the-opensim . Even then, we’ll have to move our tents every now and then. And more important, even then we’ll have problems organizing our money and inventory assets http://metaverse.acidzen.org/2007/problems-of-the-opensim . It will be hard to be autonomus if somebody is regulating the money flow.

By: Nicholaz Beresford

Nicholaz Beresford — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 05:29:31 +0000

I think SL was such a crack, as are many forums or spaces on the internet which you don’t hear politicians talk about. When I arrived at SL it was this “oh what sweet freedom” feeling, like I never had it before (it was before governance and ageplay/gaming ban).

The odd thing with SL was that it was not squashed by the state but it killed (or is about to kill) itself in some act of preemptive obedience because it (turning from a cult to a company) wants to last.

On the other hand, I am sure that inside SL those TAZes already exist. Gambling places who stay up until they are found, places like those you recently found (bukkake, dolcett, whatever) who just escape public attention and who are lasting or will last as long as someone stomps them out and will then spring up somewhere else (in SL or in another medium).

And with privately held sim servers (running outside the Linden Lab farms) I believe there will be ample opportunity to create social spaces below the radar of the public.

By: mootykips

mootykips — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:44:25 +0000

I don’t think people are going to run out of places to have sex on the internet any time soon.