This document summarizes key aspects of the Second Life Terms of Service agreement, including data collection and privacy policies, censorship issues, copyright controversies, and the contractual balance of user and platform rights. It finds that while surveillance provides some protections, the loss of privacy and ambiguity around content ownership are concerns users should consider carefully before agreeing to the Terms of Service. The document encourages users to evaluate if the benefits of using Second Life outweigh these risks and restrictions.

1. Disclaimer:
The content of this presentation has been produced as student work for NET303: Internet Politics and Power, as provided through Curtin
University. This presentation has not been commissioned, nor is it endorsed by Second Life ®, Linden Lab ® or Linden Research, Inc ®. While
all efforts have been made to ensure the information in this presentation is accurate, the information is for personal educational use only and
viewers should consult a lawyer for any specific legal advice.
Second Life ®and Linden Lab ® are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc.

2.  What is Second Life?
 Terms of Service
 Data Collection
 Privacy and Surveillance
 Censorship
 Copyright Controversy
 Contractual Balance
 Conclusion

3. (1) http://www.secondlife.com/whatis/

6. So why press the without reading them all?
 The Terms of Service is long: 16,027 words long(1)
 Plus an additional 16 “Related Policies”
 If you don’t press the you can’t log into Second Life
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos

7. So why read the Terms of Service before you press ?
 The Terms of Service is a “legally enforceable contract”(1)
 It sets out the legal rights and obligations for yourself and Linden Lab(2)
 You are responsible for reading, and understanding, the TOS before you
press:
(1) https://www.eff.org/wp/clicks-bind-ways-users-agree-online-terms-service
(2) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos

8. What should you think about before you press ?
 Data Collection
 Privacy and Surveillance
 Censorship
 Copyright and Ownership
 Contractual Balance vs. Benefits of using Second Life

10. Information about you, your location and how you connect to the Internet is
often collected by sites whenever you visit and/or log into and use the service.
The collected data allows the site:
 to identify you as a unique account
 to track your account activity and payments
 to personalise your online experience
 to offer advertising based on your activities
 To detect any illegal actions or breaches of the site’s Terms of Service
Such data collection is permissible by law.

11. Linden Lab collects your information in the following ways:
 Information you supply when you register
 Technology such as cookies, web beacons and pixel tags
 Affiliated or networked third-party companies
 Recording information you supply to other users
 Acquiring (buying) data from other “trusted sources”
Note: These sources are trusted by Linden Lab but may
not be trusted by you.
http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy

12. http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy

13. Information which would directly identify you
 Name
 Address
 Billing and transaction information
 Account usage
 Anything you have posted
 to the forums
 to one-to-one chat
 to group chat
 in any conversations you have had
 on any Linden Lab, or affiliated site
 Any information gathered by third-party sites - trusted source
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy

14. Information which could not “reasonably” be used to identify you
 IP address
 Computer identifier
 Anything you have made public by posting
 on the forums
 in a one-to-one chat
 in group chat
 in other conversations you have had
 Information collected by third-party sites - trusted sources
 Mobile device location
 Mobile device identifier
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy

15. Aggregate data is an additional data set which is created by finding
relationships between information collected from all sources.
Linden Lab does not specify what data is created, nor how it uses this data.
However, aggregated data may be used(1):
 to analyse the service provided in order to improve the user’s experience.
 as a business asset for the service provider which can be sold to anyone.
(1) http://ebusiness.mit.edu/research/papers/106%20smadnick,%20siegel%20information%20aggregation.pdf

16. Linden Lab says it uses this data:
 to improve the Second Life service
 to provide the inworld products and services to users
 to communicate with users
 to provide offers, advertising and promotions to users
 to personalise a user’s experience and content
 to detect, investigate and prevent activities that may violate Second Life
policies or be illegal
 as a business asset
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy

17. Linden Lab does not share Personal Information outside of Linden Lab . . . .
EXCEPT
When you give Linden Lab permission
When other companies perform services for Linden Lab
 In connection with the sale of a business
 To enforce the Terms of Service, or rules
 To protect the users and third parties
 To comply with legal processes
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy

18. If you do not want Linden Lab to collect, use or share your information
you may:
 edit your account registration
 change your selection to receive offers and newsletters
 choose not to share your information with third-party companies
 ask Linden Lab to amend or delete any personal information
 delete your account
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy

20. Linden Lab. Terms of Service: Section 8, paragraph 3

21.  Everything you submit to Linden Lab is treated as
“non-confidential and non-proprietary User Content (1)”
 This could include your name and address on letters
 Linden Lab conforms to the Child Online Privacy Protection Act
Linden Lab reserves the right to use surveillance to:
“Detect, investigate and prevent activities
that may violate our policies or be illegal(2)”
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos - Section 7.4
(2) http://www.lindenlab.com/privacy - Section 3

22.  In the case of DMCA infringement notices (1)
 To lodge an infringement notice:
 Linden Lab requires that you include:
 your full name
 physical address
 telephone number
 e-mail address
 This DMCA Notice is then given to the person you claim has
infringed copyright.
 Only if that person decides to submit a DMCA Counter-Notification
to Linden Lab will the original claimant be sent their identifying
information.
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos - Section 7.1 and 7.2

23. By:
 Linden Lab
 other users
 You

25. Linden Lab may terminate your account if you:
 are under 13 years old
 breach any of the Terms of Service and related policies
 are a registered sex offender
 are using Second Life for illegal activities
or:
 take action deemed to be “an unacceptable risk” to the service by Linden Lab

26. Linden Lab may limit your access if you:
 are not a Premium member
 have not provided:
 age verification
 proof of identity
 proof of ownership of user content
or:
 take action deemed to be “an unacceptable risk” to the service by Linden Lab

27. Other Users may restrict your participation in Second Life by:
 restricting permissions on objects they create
 using inworld scripts to limit who can enter virtual areas they ‘own’
 lodging a DMCA Infringement Notice with Linden Lab
 lodging an Abuse Report
 blocking you

28. You may restrict your own participation in Second Life by:
 not lodging reports due to loss of privacy concerns
 limiting your actions due to surveillance concerns
 refusing to be ‘age verified’
 breaching the Terms of Service
 choosing not to enter specific areas
 choosing not to pay for a Premium Account
 blocking other users or objects

29. While surveillance may lead to loss of privacy and censorship, there are benefits
 Protection:
 from illegal activities which may harm you
 from abusive behaviours
 from sights/actions which you deem inappropriate
 of children
 of your Intellectual Property rights

31. (1) http://secondlife.com/whatis/

32. So if “people just like you” build every place in Second Life, who owns what?
Like most businesses, Linden Lab owns all Intellectual Property rights and
copyright for things related to providing its platform - Second Life, including:
 Second Life software
 Linden Lab:
 servers
 websites
 content
 trademarks
 logos
Users need to use these to access Second Life, so Linden Lab grants users a
limited license to use Linden Lab’s property - without transferring any of the
ownership.
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos - Sections 2

33. Linden Lab encourages users to build and create the 3D world that is Second Life.
This is called, User Content.
 Users need to own the IP rights, copyright and/or licenses for user content.
 They need to own these so they are able to legally pass those rights onto Linden
Lab.
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos - Sections 2

34. In the 2013 TOS, users granted Linden Lab non-exclusive rights to their user
content. Non-exclusivity enables users to retain their own IP and copyrights while
they grant others the same rights.
However, unlike the limited rights granted by Linden Lab, the user granted Linden
Lab “unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual
and cost-free right and license(1)” to their content.
Content which Linden Lab could then “use, copy, record, distribute, reproduce,
disclose, modify, display, publicly perform, transmit, publish, broadcast,
translate, make derivative works of, and sell, re-sell or sublicense(1).”
Linden Lab also removed the phrase “solely for the purpose of providing and
promoting the Service” (2) .
(1) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos - Sections 2
(2) http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Terms_of_Service_Archive/Through_6_May_2013

35. This caused some controversy among creators (Korolov, 2013) which led to Linden
Labs including the phrase “inworld or otherwise on the Service.(1)” The Linden
Blog hopes that this will “assuage some of the concerns” had by creators.
However, the ownership and subsequent use of user content remains ambiguous
and some texture sites, such as CGTextures(2), expressly forbid the uploading of
their textures, even if modified, to Second Life or used in any way connected
with Linden Research Inc.
(1) http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Featured-News/Updates-to-Section-2-3-of-the-Terms-of-Service/ba-p/2777874
(2) http://www.cgtextures.com/

37. Standard contracts, such as Linden Lab’s TOS, are also called Contracts of
Adhesion(1).
The TOS contract and policies(2):
 are offered as is, with no room for negotiation
 give users the choice of either signing or going without the service
 restrict legal action to being submitted to a San Francisco courtroom
 restrict the ability to bring class actions against Linden Lab
 give Linden Lab control over the service and content
 provide that users waive all moral rights and statutory rights
 negate Linden Lab’s responsibilities but places the onus on users
 enable Linden Lab to terminate access to content
 deny users the ability to terminate licenses and rights to content
It is important to read and understand the Terms of Service so that you know how
the rights, controls and obligations are balanced or biased.
(1) http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4016&context=lalrev
(2) http://www.lindenlab.com/tos

38. We are all individuals and as such, we have different needs and
expectations when accessing a platform such as Second Life.
After you have read and understood the Terms of Service, and the related
policies, you need to ask yourself:
 Are you satisfied with the Terms of Service?
 Are the benefits you gain greater than the rights you waiver?
 Is the loss of privacy balanced by the protection of your freedoms?
 Is your lack of control balanced by your enjoyment of Second Life?
 Do you want to press the ?

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http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2013/09/outrage-grows-over-new-second-life-terms/
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http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Filing-an-abuse-report/ta-p/700065
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Linden Lab. (2014). Terms of Service. Retrieved from http://www.lindenlab.com/tos
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