[Opensim-users] Abuse protection, especially children

[Ryan Tanay]

I wouldn't go so far as to call it trollbait.  I do however agree that  
it is not the responsibility of the OpenSim Devs to make OpenSim  
"safe" for children.  There is no such thing.  Even if you could  
somehow magically limit your OpenSim install to be accessible only by  
children, there's no guarantee that a child won't say something  
horribly offensive of sexually suggestive to another child.

Ultimately the responsibility falls on the parents/guardians of the  
child in question, both in helping their child avoid exploitation and/ 
or abuse, but more importantly teaching them how to react/respond when  
(not if) it does happen.


On Jul 8, 2009, at 3:38 PM, James Stallings II wrote:

> The original poster is either woefully naive or is pushing  
> trollbait. Apache can be used to produce websites that exploit  
> children (or anyone else for that matter), yet I dont see people  
> approaching the makers of apache software and asking them what they  
> are doing to protect children.
>
> This is a classic case of someone trying to make a machine and  
> software responible for that which they should undertake  
> responsibility for themselves; or, as suggested initially, just  
> trollbait.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 2:33 PM, Jonathan Greenlee <jonathangreenlee at yahoo.com 
> > wrote:
>
> The ONLY appropriate approach is that Children are NEVER allowed in  
> virtual worlds.
> Afterall, the Internet is intended for ADULTS ONLY, meaning "well- 
> behaved and serious and knowledge oriented" rather than "sex or  
> violence oriented".
>
> --- On Wed, 7/8/09, Mark Dubin <mark at 3demb.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Mark Dubin <mark at 3demb.com>
> > Subject: [Opensim-users] Abuse protection, especially children
> > To: opensim-users at lists.berlios.de
> > Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 1:57 PM
> > This is more a philosophical
> > question, than technical, but there may
> > be technical approaches to it. A public OpenSim grid allows
> > access to
> > people of any age, adult or child. Then, the availability
> > of both
> > chat and IM makes the site the equivalent of a public
> > chat-room with
> > a private back-channel. This presents a situation in which
> > adult
> > predators can approach children, with the attendant
> > dangers. How can
> > this concern be approached? Any kind of "public" OpenSim is
> > prone to
> > this issue, which will thus need a long-term, broad-based
> > approach. A
> > specific example could be a museum.
> >
> > A significant advantage of having a public museum on an
> > OpenSim grid,
> > open to all, is that museums typically are valuable
> > learning assets
> > for children. Allowing chat/IM enhances the experience by
> > fostering
> > sharing of insights and questions. Thus, totally blocking
> > chat and/or
> > IM limits the value of the site. Another approach could be
> > to require
> > prior approval for each avatar that has access to the site.
> > However,
> > this is impractical in terms of resources needed to
> > accomplish it
> > (and difficulty in proving the nature of the requester),
> > except in
> > very limited (essentially non-public) situations.
> > Monitoring of all
> > the communication on a site is not practical (or even
> > possible).
> > Further, attempts by the site owner to monitor or otherwise
> > provide
> > security can leave one open to litigation.
> >
> > A typical, hands-off approach is to provide warnings and do
> > nothing
> > more. In the case of children, parents should know what
> > their kids
> > are doing and teach them safe internet practices. It is
> > essentially
> > analogous to going to a real, bricks-and-mortar museum, or
> > store, or
> > public place. Realistically, this may be the best that can
> > be done.
> > Or is it? I am interested in hearing ideas from others,
> > either via
> > this list or by e-mail to me at <mark at 3demb.com>.
> > If there is
> > significant e-mail exchange, I will summarize and post that
> > summary
> > here.
> >
> > Thanks, Mark
> > _______________________________________________
> > Opensim-users mailing list
> > Opensim-users at lists.berlios.de
> > https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-users
> >
>
>
>
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>
> -- 
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