Dec 10, 2012 Second Life is the leading 3D virtual world. It's a space where you can be whoever you'd like, build and sell whatever you can imagine, and have fun with others from all over the globe while you explore unique virtual environments, listen to live music performances, play games, shop in the world's largest user-generated virtual goods economy, and much more. Second Life Economy: A vibrant marketplace where virtual goods and services are bought and sold in a three-dimensional gaming world called Second Life. The Second Life Economy simulates a free.
Second Life Terms and Conditions
This agreement (the 'Second Life Policy') describes the terms on which Linden Research, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries ('Linden Lab') offer you access to its 3D virtual world environment entitled Second Life. This offer is conditioned on your agreement to all of the terms and conditions contained in this Second Life Policy, Linden Lab's Terms of Service (the 'Terms of Service'), and Linden Lab's Privacy Policy (the 'Privacy Policy'), including the policies, terms, and dispute resolution procedures linked to or otherwise referenced therein (collectively, the 'Agreements'), all of which are hereby incorporated into this Second Life Policy. If you do not so agree, you should decline this Second Life Policy, in which case you are prohibited from accessing or using Second Life.
In the event of a conflict amongst the Agreements, the Terms of Service shall control except as expressly provided otherwise. All capitalized terms have the meanings set forth in the Terms of Service, unless otherwise stated.
1. Content Licenses and Intellectual Property Rights
1.1. Linden Lab owns Intellectual Property Rights in Second Life.
In addition to Linden Lab's ownership of the Intellectual Property Rights set forth in the Terms of Service, you understand and agree that without a license agreement with Linden Lab, we do not authorize you to make use of the Linden Marks. Use of the Linden Marks in whole or in part, including without limitation 'Second Life,' 'SL,' and the Eye-in-Hand logo, is subject to the guidelines and terms of any applicable license provided in the Second Life Trademark Guidelines and Second Life Brand Center.
With respect to the source code for certain Software that has been released by Linden Lab under an open source license (such as the Second Life Viewer), such software code must be used in accordance with the applicable open source license terms and conditions.
1.2. Linden Lab grants you certain licenses to access and use Second Life while you are in compliance with the Agreements.
Linden Lab is thrilled to support the amazing creativity of the artists who take snapshots and make machinima in Second Life. Subject to compliance with all applicable terms and conditions, Linden Lab grants you certain copyright licenses as provided in the Second Life Snapshot and Machinima Policy.
1.3. You also grant Linden Lab and other users of Second Life a license to use in snapshots and machinima your Content that is displayed in publicly accessible areas of the Second Life.
In addition to the rights granted in Section 2.5 of the Terms of Service, you agree to the restrictions and requirements of our Snapshot and Machinima Policy. The foregoing license is referred to as the 'Snapshot and Machinima Content License.'
1.4. You shall be responsible for restricting access to Content for which you do not wish to grant a User Content License.
You agree that the User Content License set forth in the Terms of Service does not apply to content that is located on an island or region that is not publicly accessible. If you do not wish to grant users of Second Life a User Content License, you agree that it is your obligation to avoid displaying or making available your Content to other users. For example, an island or estate holder may use Virtual Land tools to limit or restrict other users' access to the Virtual Land and thus the Content on the Virtual Land.
1.5. You may grant certain Content licenses to other users through the Second Life permissions system.
Your interactions with Second Life may include use of the Second Life permissions system and the copy, modify, and transfer settings for indicating how other users may use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, or perform your Content in Second Life subject to the Agreements.
1.6. You agree to respect the Intellectual Property Rights of other users, Linden Lab, and third parties.
You agree that you will not copy, transfer, or distribute outside of Second Life any Content that contains any Linden Content, in whole or in part or in modified or unmodified form, except as allowed by the Snapshot and Machinima Policy, or that infringes or violates any Intellectual Property Rights of Linden Lab, other Content Providers, or any third parties.
Second Life Events
Any access to or use of Second Life through a software client other than the Linden Software that logs into the Servers (referred to as a 'Third-Party Viewer') is subject to the Terms of Service, this Second Life Policy, and the terms of the Policy on Third-Party Viewers. The Policy on Third-Party Viewers provides required and prohibited functionality for Third-Party Viewers as well as other terms for those who use, develop, or distribute Third-Party Viewers; however, Linden Lab offers and supports Second Life only as offered by Linden Lab and is not obligated to allow access to or use of Second Life by any software or means not provided by Linden Lab. You understand and agree that Linden Lab is not responsible or liable for any aspect of Second Life that is accessed or experienced using software or other means not provided by Linden Lab.
Certain of the fonts in the Meta family of copyrighted typefaces are used in Second Life under license from FSI FontShop International. You acknowledge that you may not copy any Meta font that is included in the Viewer and that you may use any such Meta font solely to the extent necessary to use the Linden Software in Second Life and that you will not use such Meta fonts for any other purpose whatsoever.
2. Eligibility to Use Second Life
2.1. Age Requirements for Use of Areas of Second Life
Over 19 Users. If you are at least nineteen (19) years of age (and the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction, if greater), then you may access certain areas of Second Life, in accordance with our Skill Gaming Policy.
Over 18 Users. If you are at least eighteen (18) years of age (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction, if greater), then you may use any public area of Second Life, in accordance with our Content Guidelines and Maturity Ratings.
Under 18 Users. If you are less than eighteen (18) years of age (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction, if greater) and over sixteen (16) years of age, then you may access the General area of Second Life in accordance with our Content Guidelines and Maturity Ratings.
2.2. Second Life Age and/or Location Verification for Moderate, Adult Only, and Skill Gaming.
In order to access Second Life regions or listings designated as 'Moderate' or 'Adult Only' Content (which Content may be explicitly sexual, intensely violent or otherwise designated as Adult under our Maturity Ratings ('Adult Only Content')), you affirm that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age, or the age of legal majority where you reside if that jurisdiction has an older age of majority. You further agree that as a condition to accessing Moderate and/or Adult Only Second Life, you will submit to account verification as required by Linden, and provide only true and accurate identification documentation to Linden Lab or its third party service providers to verify your age. You further acknowledge that you will comply with our Maturity Ratings, and conduct any activities we have defined as Moderate and/or Adult only within regions designated as Moderate and/or Adult.
In order to access Second Life regions listed as a 'Skill Gaming Region' (which may include Content such as games of skill where users utilize Linden Dollars to participate and receive Linden Dollars in connection with their participation ('Skill Gaming,' as further described in the Skill Gaming Policy)), you affirm that you (i) are at least nineteen (19) years of age, or the age of legal majority where you reside if that jurisdiction has an older age of majority; and (ii) reside in, and are accessing a Skill Gaming Region from, a jurisdiction in which participation in Skill Gaming is legally authorized. You further agree that as a condition to accessing a Skill Gaming Region, you will submit to account verification as required by Linden Lab and provide only true and accurate identification documentation to Linden or its third party service providers to verify age and location. You further acknowledge that you will comply with our Skill Gaming Policy, and conduct any activities we have defined as Skill Gaming only within regions designated as a Skill Gaming Region.
Gaming that qualifies as gambling that is prohibited or requires a governmental license or other approval under any applicable United States or international law is always prohibited under the Agreements.
2.3. Requirements for Sponsoring Organizations.
If you are an organization which sponsors affiliated accounts, you represent that (i) you will keep all content in the area General, as defined in our Maturity Content Guidelines, (ii) you are solely responsible for all content and activities that take place within your estate in Second Life, and (iii) you will comply with such guidelines as Linden Lab may issue from time to time with respect to any affiliated account program.
3. Fee and Billing Policy
3.1. 'Linden Dollars' are virtual tokens that we license. Each Linden Dollar is a virtual token representing contractual permission from Linden Lab to access features of Second Life. Linden Dollars are available for Purchase or distribution at Linden Lab's discretion, and are not redeemable for monetary value from Linden Lab.
Second Life includes a component of virtual tokens ('Linden Dollars' or 'L$'), each of which constitutes a limited license permission to use features of Second Life as set forth below. Linden Lab may or may not charge fees to acquire or use Linden Dollars, and these fees may change at any time.
Each Linden Dollar that you may acquire constitutes a limited license granted to you by Linden Lab to access and use Content, applications, services, and various user-created features in Second Life, and is digitally represented in Second Life as a virtual token that can be traded and/or transferred in Second Life with other users (and/or Linden Lab) in exchange for permission to access and use specific Content, applications, services, and various user-created features, in each case in accordance with this Second Life Policy and the Terms of Service. Linden Dollars are transferable by the holder to any other user, provided that both users comply with these Terms of Service, maintain their Accounts in good standing, and are not delinquent on any Account payment requirements. Except as expressly permitted by this Second Life Policy or otherwise expressly permitted by Linden Lab, Linden Dollars may not be sublicensed, encumbered, conveyed or made subject to any right of survivorship or other disposition by operation of law or otherwise, and you agree that any attempted disposition in violation of these Terms of Service is null and void. Linden Lab may revoke any Linden Dollar at any time without notice, refund or compensation in the event that: (i) the Linden Dollar program is suspended or discontinued; (ii) Linden Lab determines that fraud or other illegal conduct is associated with the holder's Account; (iii) Linden Lab imposes a fixed time period during which the license rights provided by the Linden Dollar may be exercised; (iv) the holder's Account is terminated for violation of these Terms of Service; or (v) the holder becomes delinquent on any of that user's Account payment requirements, ceases to maintain an active Account or terminates any of the Agreements.
You acknowledge that Linden Dollars are not currency or any type of currency substitute or financial instrument, and are not redeemable for any sum of money from Linden Lab at any time. You agree that Linden Lab has the right to manage, regulate, control, and/or modify the license rights underlying such Linden Dollars as it sees fit, and may revalue or make such license rights more or less common, valuable, effective, or functional, and that Linden Lab will have no liability to you based on its exercise of this right. Linden Lab makes no guarantee as to the nature, quality or value of the features of Second Life that will be accessible through the use of Linden Dollars, or the availability or supply of Linden Dollars. As Linden Lab deems necessary, in its sole and absolute discretion, we may limit the total amount of Linden Dollars that may be purchased at any one time, and/or limit the aggregate amount of Linden Dollars that may be held in your Account.
3.2. Second Life may offer a Linden Dollar exchange (the 'LindeX exchange' or 'LindeX'), which shall be subject to the terms and conditions applied by an applicable Payment Service Provider.
Second Life may include a component called the 'LindeX exchange' or the 'LindeX,' which refers to an aspect of Second Life through which Linden Lab permits Linden Dollars to be purchased by a user or exchanged by a user with Linden Lab. You acknowledge that your use of the LindeX is subject to the terms and conditions set forth by an applicable Payment Service Provider. If you do not so agree, you are prohibited from accessing or using the LindeX.
Linden Lab or its Payment Service Provider may halt, suspend, discontinue, or reverse any LindeX exchange transaction (whether proposed, pending or past) in cases of actual or suspected fraud, violations of other laws or regulations, or deliberate disruptions to or interference with Second Life.
3.3. Linden Dollars may not be purchased or sold outside of the LindeX exchange.
Second Life Game
Any purchase or sale of Linden Dollars through any means other than the LindeX is not permitted and is considered a violation of these Terms of Service which may result in suspension or termination of your Account.
3.4. 'Virtual Land' is Virtual Space in Second Life that we license.
Second Life includes a component of Virtual Space that is stored on our Servers and made available in the form of virtual units ('Virtual Land'). Virtual Land is the graphical representation of three-dimensional virtual world space. Linden Lab may or may not charge fees for the right to acquire, transfer or access Virtual Land, and these fees may change at any time.
:format(jpeg)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/1953223/second-life.0.jpeg "Second")
When you acquire Virtual Land, Linden Lab hereby grants you a limited license ('Virtual Land License') to access and use features of Second Life associated with the virtual unit(s) of space corresponding to the identifiers of the Virtual Land within Second Life as designated by Linden Lab, in accordance with this Second Life Policy, the Terms of Service and any other applicable policies, including theSecond Life Mainland Policies as they exist from time to time. The Virtual Land License is transferable by the holder to any other user provided that both users and the proposed transfer comply with the Terms of Service, maintain their accounts in good standing, and are not delinquent on any Account payment requirements. Except as expressly permitted by this Second Life Policy, this Virtual Land License may not otherwise be encumbered, conveyed or made subject to any right of survivorship or other disposition and any attempted disposition in violation of the Agreements is null and void. Linden Lab may revoke the Virtual Land License at any time without notice, refund or compensation in the event that: (i) Linden Lab determines that fraud, illegal conduct or any other violations of the Agreements are associated with the holder's Account or Virtual Land; or (ii) the holder becomes delinquent on any of that user's Account's payment requirements, ceases to maintain an active Account or terminates any of the Agreements.
Second Life Marketplace
You may permit or deny other users to access your Virtual Land on terms determined by you. Any agreement you make with other users relating to use or access to your Virtual Land must be consistent with the Agreements, and no such agreement can abrogate, nullify, void or modify the Agreements.
You acknowledge that Virtual Land is a limited license right and is not a real property right or actual real estate, and it is not redeemable for any sum of money from Linden Lab. You acknowledge that the use of the words 'Buy,' 'Sell' and similar terms carry the same meaning of referring to the transfer of the Virtual Land License as they do with respect to the Linden Dollar License. You agree that Linden Lab has the right to manage, regulate, control, modify and/or eliminate such Virtual Land as it sees fit and that Linden Lab shall have no liability to you based on its exercise of such right. Linden Lab makes no guarantee as to the nature of the features of Second Life that will be accessible through the use of Virtual Land, or the availability or supply of Virtual Land.
4. Conduct by Users of Second Life
In addition to the rules of conduct set forth in the Terms of Service, you agree that you will not:
(i) Use robots or other automated means to increase traffic to any Virtual Land;
(ii) Operate or profit from a 'game of chance'. For more information please see our Policy Regarding Wagering in Second Life;
(iii) Operate or profit from a virtual 'bank' In Second Life. For more information please see our Banking Policy;
(iv) Post, display or transmit any Content that is explicitly sexual, intensely violent or otherwise designated as Adult under our Maturity ratings, except as set forth in those ratings.
(v) Violate our Second Life Mainland Policies, each of which is incorporated into this Second Life Policy;
(vi) Violate our Maturity Content Guidelines. A region designated General is not allowed to advertise or make available content or activity that is sexually explicit, violent, or depicts nudity;
(vii) If you are an adult, impersonate a minor for the purpose of interacting with a minor using Second Life, or stalk, harass, or engage in any sexual, suggestive, lewd, lascivious, or otherwise inappropriate conduct with minors on Second Life, or attempt to contact or meet with such minor outside Second Life, including without limitation electronically or physically, if you have reason to know or Second Life concludes that you should have known you were interacting with a minor on Second Life, or otherwise engage in any conduct that violates our Teen Safety Guidelines;
(viii) Post, display or transmit any material, object or text that encourages, represents, or facilitates sexual 'age play,' i.e., using child-like avatars in a sexualized manner. This activity is grounds for immediate termination. You may review our full Age Play Policy here. You understand and agree that we may report any and all such incidents -- and any and all of your corresponding personal information -- to any authorities we deem appropriate, whether or not it in and of itself violates the law of your (or any) jurisdiction; or
(ix) Use '[slgaming]' as a prefix in the root object name field of any Content, unless otherwise approved by Linden Lab.
5. Second Life Intellectual Property Policy
Linden Lab encourages the creation of original content in Second Life. You should not use copyrighted, trademarked, or celebrity material in Second Life. The Second Life Intellectual Property Policy describes how Linden Lab treats trademark, copyright, and celebrity issues in Second Life. We operate an intellectual property complaint process for complaints that User Content infringes another's Intellectual Property Rights, the details of which are described in the Intellectual Property Infringement Notification Policy.
6. Privacy and Your Personal Information
Your privacy is important to us. Our Privacy Policy sets forth the conditions under which you provide personal and other information to us. You understand and agree that through your use of Second Life you consent to the collection and use of your information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review our Privacy Policy, which describes our use and disclosure of information we collect on Second Life.
If you object to your information being used or disclosed as described therein, please do not use Second Life.
7. Related Policies
The following related policies are incorporated by reference in and made part of this Second Life Policy, and provide additional terms, conditions and guidelines regarding Second Life.
Effective: July 31, 2017
About a year ago in my first visit to Second Life, the popular online virtual world, I spent half an hour trying to make my avatar, or online character, look like a hotter version of myself — which isn't easy when you don't know how to use the tools. When I finally made it onto Money Island to mingle, a stranger approached me and said, 'Hello there, Devon.' I froze. Then I tried to run. I was desperately searching for the teleport tool when my sister walked into the room, peered over my shoulder at the computer screen and said, 'Why'd you make your avatar ugly?' I logged off.
I didn't realize how instructive my sister's question was until recently, when I discovered research being done at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL). Jeremy Bailenson, head of the lab and an assistant professor of communication at Stanford, studies the way self-perception affects behavior. No surprise that what we think about ourselves affects the confidence with which we approach the world. What is a surprise is that this applies in the virtual world too. With my plain=Jane avatar and my inexperience in Second Life, I did what most people would want to do in an uncomfortable social situation: run away.
What's more, Bailenson's research suggests that the qualities you acquire online — whether it's confidence or insecurity — can spill over and change your conduct in the real world, often without your awareness. Bailenson has found that even 90 seconds spent chatting it up with avatars is enough to elicit behavioral changes offline — at least in the short term. 'When we cloak ourselves in avatars, it subtly alters the manner in which we behave,' says Bailenson. 'It's about self-perception and self-confidence.' But researchers are still trying to figure out the psychological mechanisms at work, and which way the effect flows: 'Do you consciously wear your power suit to feel confident, or is it that you're in this suit and you're feeling up, but you're unaware of the reason?' says Bailenson.
Bailenson's findings have a lot more real-world meaning than you'd think, if only because so many people are spending so much time in the unreal world. Some 13 million people have visited Second Life at least once, with about 450,000 residents online in a given week. Even more popular is the online game World of Warcraft, which has 10 million active subscribers who pay to participate. People spend on average about 20 hours a week in alternate worlds like these, and at VHIL, whose high-tech virtual world is entered by way of a $24,000 helmet, Bailenson and his Ph.D. students are trying to figure out how these increasingly common virtual experiences bleed into reality. 'I've been doing this for years and people have been laughing at me,' says Bailenson. 'All of a sudden, I have people calling and asking about what I do.'
In one experiment, published in Human Communication Research last year, researchers assessed how an avatar's attractiveness affected human behavior, both online and off. Thirty-two volunteers were randomly assigned an attractive or unattractive avatar (attractiveness was rated by undergrads in a survey beforehand) and instructed to look at them in a virtual mirror for 90 seconds. Then they were asked to interact with other avatars, controlled by the experimenters, in a classroom-like setting. Overall, subjects using good-looking avatars tended to display more confidence, friendliness and extroversion, just as in the real world: they approached avatar strangers within three feet, and in conversations tended to disclose more personal details. Ugly-duckling avatars, meanwhile, stayed five and a half feet away from strangers and were more tight-lipped.
Lead researcher Nick Yee, a former Stanford graduate student who now works for the nearby Palo Alto Research Center, replicated his study, then appended a second part: an hour after their forays online, the same volunteers were told they were participating in an unrelated study about online romance. They were instructed to pick two potential dates out of nine photos in an online-dating pool. People who had used attractive avatars seemed to hang on to some of the self-assurance that came from being handsome, choosing better-looking dates than those who had homely avatars. 'They thought they had a shot,' says Bailenson.
If feeling pretty builds confidence, what does height do for you? To find out, Yee recruited 50 volunteers, randomly assigned them to short or tall avatars, then instructed them to divide a virtual pool of $100 with another participant — one player would suggest how to split the pot, and the other could accept or reject the offer, with each person getting nothing if offers were rejected. People with tall avatars (three or four inches taller than the stranger avatar) negotiated more aggressively than the short ones, while short avatars were twice as likely as the tall ones to accept an unfair split — $25 versus $75.
Again, the behavior held up in real life. When Yee had the subjects shed their avatars and negotiate face-to-face, sitting down, people who had inhabited tall avatars bargained more aggressively, suggesting unfair splits more often. And participants who had had short avatars accepted less-than-even money more often than the tall ones. How tall the people were themselves became less important, if only temporarily, than the height of their online alter egos.
Virtual behavior may even affect real-world health. Stanford graduate student Jesse Fox randomly assigned avatars to 75 volunteers and divided them into three groups: one group watched their look-alike avatars run on treadmills for about five and a half minutes; another group saw their virtual counterparts lounge around; and a third watched avatars who did not look like them, but were of the same age and sex, run on treadmills. A day later, Fox found that participants who watched avatars of their own likeness exercising had themselves exercised an hour more in the intervening 24-hour period than people in the other two groups. (It's worth noting that the volunteers were all Stanford undergraduates, who were likely more active and fitter to start than the average adult.) 'What I'm hoping to find out by picking apart these mechanisms is what motivates people and why this works,' says Fox. 'If you are energized by seeing yourself run, maybe you can put an avatar on the bottom of your computer screen for five minutes and it would persuade you to go to the gym.'
The possibilities are — virtually — endless. Inhabit buffed-up versions of yourself to lose weight, cuter versions of yourself to gain confidence, or older versions to start putting money away for the future (that last one is being studied at Stanford now). 'The most stunning part is how subtle the manipulations are and how difficult they are to detect,' says Bailenson, 'but how much it affects real life later on.'
Of course, the effect could potentially work both ways — for good or for bad. 'In a therapy setting, we could use these virtual environments to get people to become more confident,' says Yee. 'But they can also be used in advertising and as propaganda.'
Before I entered Second Life again I upgraded my avatar to much cuter dimensions. This time I found myself conversing with people instead of logging off. I was more outgoing. Next, I'm considering giving my avatar a cottage by the sea and a job doing charitable work. Maybe some of the positive vibes will rub off into my real life. I'll let you know how it works out.