Laws and Justice in Second Life

In Second Life, there are very few rules which govern this virtual world. The program informs the user that there are 6 basic rules which must be adhered to while logged into the program. These rules are commonly referred to the Big 6. These rules address issues about:

1) Intolerance of other groups in terms of derogatory language, demeaning language, cannot belittle people or groups in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, etc...

2) Harassment of other users which includes behavior which is deemed threatening including sexual advances which is classified as annoying.

3) Assault of other users in the form of shoving other avatars, pushing, or shooting in safe areas

4) Disclosure of information which forbids the sharing of personal information with other users especially on blogs and public Interent pages.

5) Indecency in the form of obscenity and profanity and the restriction of strong sexual conduct and strong violence in non-mature areas.

6) Disturbing the peace in the form of disrupting scheduled events and interfering with server performance and speed as the creators of Second Life want to create an environment where all users feel comfortable with using the program and entering the virtual world.

Second Life produces a police blotter which indicates violations of the Big 6. These violations carry sentences which range from warnings to being suspended for various periods of time. Users can be suspended from 3 days-14 days according to the current police blotter, but a website on the Internet indicates that some users can be suspended for longer period of times such as being suspended for life for violations of the law.

There is also an area in Second Life called Democracy Island where people can discuss the future of democracy and how it relates to virtual worlds. The idea of justice is discussed in this area as well, so users can transport to this area and discuss the importance of democracy and how it relates to democracy.

In terms of actual police avatars and virtual jails, it does not appear like there are many of these entities which exist in the virtual world of Second Life. The only place that houses violators of the basic community standards is the Temporary Banishment Cornfield which holds people for several different amonts of time.

After exploring Democracy Island, it is apparent that jails, as they appear in the real world do not exist, but it is clear, through the police blotter that people can be virtually suspended as Linden Lab employees can deem user actions to be against the rule and issue warnings and suspensions, and make this public to the general Second Life audience. The police blotter does adhere to the privacy policy however on the police blotter, as unlike in the real world where the perpetrator's name is provided, the police blotter in Second Life does not include the real or virtual identity of the user.