TOS Time Bombs

Linden Labs, like any online entity has an extensive user Terms of Service, which includes an extensive list of thou shalt nots. One broad category includes  a thou shalt not do or say anything to cause any other user any kind of emotional distress or engage in any harassing or hateful behavour.

I used to post in the LL forums, which are covered by the same TOS. I'm a rather passionate poster, and quite un-PC. I received several warnings, and forum suspensions,the third one included a 3 day suspension from logging into Second life as well as a forum suspension.

After that, I swore I would play nice, and I did. But, one post I made, I copied and pasted a persons RL tab info. In it she used a 3 letter short form of the "N" word to describe her race. For that gross violation of human rights and promotion of hatred, I was rewarded with a 5 day forum suspension AND I was banned from logging into Second Life for 5 Days as well.

I always thought it was unfair to be banned from logging inworld, for a forum violation, but hey, their service their rules. I swore off the forums for ever, since I didn't want to do anything on the forums that would jeopardize my account, and my second life.

I did use the five day break to return to inworldz. It was the same wasteland as it was the last time I visited, but at least they have mesh bodies now. I bought one and some mesh hair and was all set.

I also bought some fairy wings and antenae since I didn't plan on spending money on clothes. I must say, I looked pretty good.

BilliJo Aldrin in inworldz

Mikey also signed up, to keep me company in my banishment.

I ran out my 5 day suspension and resumed my second life, secure in the knowledge that I'd never say something in the forums to get myself suspended again.

NOT......

I tried logging I yesterday, only to get the message that my account was blocked for 7 days, and I could log back in on the 16th. I was totally pissed, and finding the notice in my spam folder made me madder still. I was informed that my log in was suspended for 7 days because of an inappropriate post I made in the forums. Since I hadn't posted in the forums since my last suspension in January, I assumed someone had been reading one of my 1200 posts that made it to the top of the list in a resurrected necro thread.

I submitted a support ticket, but quickly realized it would be a total waste of time. All they would say was that they investigated, that I violated the TOS and the suspension would stand.

I logged into the forums and discovered that I hadn't been suspended there (go figure) so I went to the answers section, posted what happened and asked if there was any way to delete old posts to prevent this from happening again.

I had also decided that since I could again be suspended for things I wrote months or even years ago, the only sensible thing to do was abandon all my mainland when I was able to get back in on the 16th, then revert to basic before my renewal date of the 17th. I didn't see the point of spending any more money on a platform where I could get banned from at any time.

Fortunately for me Tommy Linden saw my question and posted that he would investigate my suspension.

Before I saw his post I also started a new thread in the general discussion section, partly to warn other users of what could happen to them too.

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TOS Time Bombs

Some of you might remember me as an active poster. I was rather passionate and sometimes un-PC. I left the forums for good after my 4th TOS violation in here got me banned from logging into Second Life for 5 days this past January.

I decided that the penalty for forum violation was not worth risking being suspended from logging inworld.

Imagine my surprise today when I tried to log in and found out my account was banned from logging in for 7 days, ending on the 16th.

I found the e-mail notification and was informed that I was suspended for violating the LL TOS for a forum post. Keep in mind, I learned my lesson after the 4th Violation resulted in my suspension, I left and never posted again.

Ironically, I wasn't suspended from posting in the forums this time.

Now it seems that necro posts can be reported for TOS violations, the result being that I'll never know when I will yet again be suspended from SL, or even worse, perma banned.

If there is a good side to this, I can log back into second life on the 16th, and abandon all my mainland properties and lower my membership to basic before my premium membership is due on the 17th.

In view of this, there's no reason for me to ever spend even one cent on Second life ever again, since my account could end up deleted at any time.

I suppose making this post was a mistake, since any enemy can now browse my old posts and pick something suitable to report me for, resulting in yet again another suspension.

Gotta love Second Life Moderators.

Is there anyway to go through and delete all my old posts, since that seems to be the only way to keep myself safe.

BJ

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I must say people were very supportive when the heard what had happened, even sending me IMs. One guy who I had a dispute with before that resulted in us both being suspended from the forums started a thread saying how unfair it was to be banned from SL for a forum violation.

I am so grateful to Tommy Linden for investigating the matter and canceling my suspension. 

Of course now I'm not longer planning on reverting to basic and giving up my land.

Oh, it turns out that after 24 hours, you can't delete any posts you make. 

I can only hope that any moderators finding an old old post that they think violates the TOS will simply delete the post, and not subject me to further punishments, since I learned my lesson in January and now don't post in the forums any more.

BJ