Governance User Group Meetings Have Ended

 
For some time, Linden Lab held monthly Governance User Group meetings, with Tommy and Kristin Linden as their representatives. There, residents could discuss "issues involving Governance such as in-world abuse, Abuse Reports, Forum Reports, Marketplace Reports, etc." But they are no longer happening. In a forum thread, it was asked if they were removed from Public User Group Meetings, and Tommy Linden confirmed it.

At this time there is no scheduled user groups for Governance, the majority of questions asked at the user group meetings are questions that we are just not going to be able to answer. Such as information regarding action taken, DMCA, or other Resident specific information that we will not discuss due to privacy policy, or it being outside the scope of the Governance team.

However myself, and others will always remain available to answer questions in how to file Abuse Reports, and you don't have to wait for a meeting to do that, you can message me your question and the next time I log in, I will always respond. If you wish to bring a specific incident of abuse to our attention however, as always the answer will be to file an Abuse Report.

He would later say, "Yes, at this time the user group has ended. I am exploring other options to better share useful information with all of you."

A few residents expressed their displeasure, "I'm sorry to see this.  These groups were an ideal forum for people to bring up ideas, and to get an idea of how many people were experiencing the same issues." "I went to Governance every few months, for the same reason I'd go to a city council meeting once a year or so. It's good to keep an eye on the people who think they're in charge. ... Governance was boring. That meant things were working." Someone summed it up, "... it sounds like the Users seen it as possibly usefull, but LL doesn't. And just again a step backwards in direct LL - User contacts."

Blogger Daniel Voyager would be among those who felt the meetings should have continued, "It’s a shame they are no longer happening."

To read the forum thread, Click Here.

Hat Tip: Daniel Voyager

Bixyl Shuftan
 

"I Said NO" Fundraising Event

 

Going on since July 17, and ending on August 15, the "I Said NO" fundraising event is taking place high above the Fedoseev sim at (38/144/3006). The event is to raise funds for RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network). 

At the place are statistics of sexual abuse, and information about what to do to help. There are also a number of items up for sale, with money going to the organization. The final part of the event is a closing party in Sunday Aug 15 from Noon to 2PM.
 
RAINN's mission includes "programs to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice." More information can be read on the event website at https://isaidnoeventsl.wordpress.com/, and RAINN's website at https://www.rainn.org/ .

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fedoseev/38/144/3006 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Serious Request

Wesley Regenbogen came across an event in a Dutch club that got his attention, "Serious Request." In real life, the event has taken place every year since 2003, raising money for the Red Cross. This year, it's also taking place at the Glass House club. The objective of the event is to bring attention to the issue of women and girls being sexually assaulted in certain war zones, such as Boko Haram's kidnappings for sex slaves in Nigeria. Wesley gives  his review of the Second Life event.

Read Wesley's story in Events.

Direct Messages for Second Life Web Profiles Disabled

In October 2011, Linden Lab added a feature to residents' profiles on the Internet on https://my.secondlife.com . Already able to make public posts on them, they could then also send private "Direct Messages." This feature allowed users to privately communicate with one another without logging on. At least they could until December 2013, when residents began noticing this option was disabled. This was traced to some profile maintenance on December 12.

Inara Pey managed to get in contact with Linden Lab's communications director, Pete Linden. Pete told her that indeed the feature was no longer available.

On this inquiry, I can confirm that yes, as a result of a rise in abuse of the system, we have turned off the direct message function on My.SecondLife.com profiles.

This isn't the first time Linden Lab has given misuse of a feature as a reason for discontinuing it. Some third-party viewers had the ability to tell their users what viewer everyone else was using. But in February 2012, Linden Lab ordered that this feature be removed. Team Firestorm leader Jessica Lyon stated that the Lab had been asking her for several months about removing this feature saying there were reports of "bullying" because of it. It was a reason some residents found hard to believe was the Lab's main concern.

Checking my own profile, there were a couple spam messages. Not everyone on my feed had these, however, "Um, I don't see any ads."

While a few people seem to be in favor of the Lab's decision to remove direct messaged, "Yay! I found them annoying." The majority are not, "It's ridiculous for it to be shut off just because some people can't be bothered to use the tools already there to manage their privacy; it's not that hard to avoid getting spam or any PMs at all if one doesn't like the feature. Typical overkill to take it away from all of us who *did* use and enjoy it!" Loki Eliot joked, "OK so its not a good idea to tell Linden Lab of any bugs that can lead to service abuse in case LL can't fix it and decide to remove the service."

So it seems the feature is gone because of some spammers, "one rotten apple does spoil the bunch."

Sources: Daniel Voyager, Inara Pey, Ciaran Laval

Bixyl Shuftan

Ask DrFran: DrFran’s Soapbox

Today's column from DrFran Babcock hits on some sensitive issues. Her latest letter comes from the person behind a child avatar, for whom Second Life allowed the happy childhood that was never available in reality. Recently however, something happened that has cast a dark shadow over the once pleasant time here.

Read DrFran's column in People.