February 18, 2013
There has been a lot of controversy across the Metaverse, gridlings, centered around decisions and actions taken by the main grid of the OpenSim Metaverse, OSGrid. A controversy that continues still, though not as heatedly. I still see people posting about child avatars, the blocking of HyperGrid access, legalities and more. I see people divided, some calling the others haters and trolls while others call for reason and resolution. I see respect for each other lost and friendships broken.
Whatever your position is, whatever you think the issues are, I’m moving forward. I will still talk about those issues, but those issues will come to a resolution in their own time. I am not going to let them hold me back from working towards my own goals.
Yet those same issues have had their own influence on my goals.
Excelsior Station will have a Bill of Avatar Rights, in some form, as part of its Terms of Service. It will be written in plain English so that it is easy to understand. It will detail everyone’s rights and obligations.
This is not a new idea. Vanish Firecaster at TGIB recently posted about some work he’s done at http://v.tgib.co.uk/?p=13240 and there’s been some discussion in the OpenSim Virtual Community on G+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/116284417302234467612?cfem=1 .
I expect there are those who will declare that its not feasible. To them I ask, have you ever tried? Some will laugh out right. Well, let them laugh. There are others who will point out that grids are inherently feudal in how they are governed. I agree, they are, but why can’t a kingdom ensure that its citizens are protected from abuse and injustice?
I had thought to start by posting what Vanish has published, adding those things that were talked about in the conversation at OpenSim Virtual, and to work from there. But this isn’t the time. This is only the very start of it, the very first few steps.
I’ve had the goal of making Excelsior Station a place to showcase what AuroraSim is capable of. To make Excelsior Station a place where people can have fun and to explore their creativity. That has not changed. What has changed is that those goals have expanded. They have been added to.
Excelsior Station will not only showcase what AuroraSim can do, it will showcase what people can do.
Grids may be feudal, but that's no argument against drafting a Magne Carte :)
There's no harm in incorporating the "avatar bill of rights" into a TOS, but imo that's not it's strongest use. As I've said on G+, I would like to see a document that is a set of guidelines, written in simple language that outlines some basic expectations of things that people can expect from grids they join. It should be written simply (as opposed to legalese) so that it can be referenced against in specific cases (eg "does GridX allow diverse avatars? Yes. Do they respect user privacy? No. That's why I say that GridX is not fully 'bill of rights' compliant")
Well, one thing that has to be taken into account is that when the Magna Carta was created, the people couldn't leave England. Quite a different situation for grids.
I do agree with plain language usage. That was going to be included in this article, but it got lost with the major rewrite I made. As for guidelines versus strict rules, there will be both. That is due to RL laws that must be complied with. But those will be set in specific sections so that everyone is aware of and understand them. < chuckles as a phrase pops into his head "As decreed by Arel, God of Complications" >
Overall, this could be a very good way of showing people that there IS a different way of doing things.
Sarge
I thought I would stop by and see what your blog was up to. Great piece of writing. In fact I think it isnt just specific to OSGrid. I have been hearing complaints about a few grids this appears to be happening on. While I hate pointing to Linden Labs due to their troubles they appear to enjoy inflicting on themselves a set of expectations for your grid's community is always a good idea. Linden Labs has a set of standards known as their Community Standards. This would also be a good policy to look at. The biggest problem that any business will have is the criticisms for their actions if they are not transparent. This means the business as I had commented prior should have clear, concise, and transparent policies. The policies should not be made on the fly or made up as you go as I have noticed a couple of grids doing during my personal research.
It is very important for a business owner to understand and know that just like any business a grid must be open minded and willing to change. This is the only way any business will succeed is if they are open minded, willing to listen, willing to allow their customers to have a say, etc. At the same time the grid owner like any business owner must be careful not to discharge threats of any kind whether it is accusatory or not. It is bad public relations and will make a business owner look like a fool in court should an issue rise to that level.
However I also think this can also be attributed to the unwillingness of the developers of opensim to be open minded to as some of them are also in leadership roles at OSGrid from what I understand. A good rule of thumb is where the problem exists the cause is usually close by which in this case I think it is a bigger cause then is realized by many and what your seeing on some of the grids is the unfortunate effect.
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