Faced with rumors of a Second Life ban by Australian government authorities, publisher Linden Lab issued a statement last night to reassure SL users Down Under that no such action has taken place. At least, not yet.
Here's what Linden said on the issue:
Linden Lab has received no indications from the Australian government that it plans to block Second Life and will keep our community apprised of any developments on that front. In the meantime, we want to assure Australian Residents that Second Life remains accessible and functioning in your region.
Australia has and will continue to be an important market for Linden Lab, and we’re committed to providing the best possible Second Life experience for the users... Some of the most exciting uses of Second Life have come out of Australia, a diverse community of Residents that includes major universities, large enterprises and many thousands of consumers, who spend hundreds of thousands of hours inworld each month.
The Second Life rumors surfaced after the Australian government said that it planned to block Internet access to games which would not meet the MA-15+ content rating standard.
Meanwhile, New World Notes reminds us that the community of Australian SL users is a rich one, indeed:
There's a number of Australian organizations, including several universities, with an official presence in Second Life, there's been several SL-based fundraisers to benefit various Australian non-profit causes... and coming soon, a feature film starring several of Australia's top actors which depicts Second Life in a positive/neutral manner...
Comments
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
THIS and many more reasons why we need an R18+ rating for Videogames in Australia.
But no matter what, Michael Atkinson is still an old man who does not understand anything about Videogames.
And also Stephen Conroy does not understand ANYTHING about the internet and Freedom of Speech and Expression.
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
Still Alive huh? Will there be cake?
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
This is a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
Why wouldn't SL still be active in Australia?
The Mandatory Filters are still being privately trialed - draft legislation for their implementation hasn't even been put on the table yet or officially presented to parliament, we are a long way off from actually having the filters up and running. Day by day it's looking more and more likely that the plan will be dropped anyway.
As of now there are no legal provisions which would allow Second Life to be blocked. There are no mandatory ISP filters to filter webpages or anything else. In AU the Internet is still 100% unfiltered. People seriously need to stop with the sensationlistic crap. In the mean time us Australians are doing our best to ensure the plan doesn't go ahead, but as of right now there are NO filters.
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
Would anyone care if it was?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
That's what I want to know.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
Good to hear sl is still alive in the land down under.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
http://www.killatia.com/
Re: Second Life: We're Still Alive in Australia
The Second Life rumors surfaced after the Australian government said that it planned to block Internet access to games which would not meet the MA-15+ content rating standard.
I'm guessing this is a case of the government not thinking through all the implications before they started making plans.
-Gray17