FIRST, AN APOLOGY: My work life and my private life have each been somewhat hectic, even chaotic, currently, and I’ve not had a lot time to weblog. Typically I come residence from work, and I simply lie on the couch, completely exhausted. (Generally I escape into my beloved Second Life for an hour or two, as a welcome refuge from the sometimes-overwhelming adjustments happening in my actual life.)
Among the many many adjustments which have taken place, your entire science library the place I work (collections and employees) has been moved to a different library at my college. I nonetheless haven’t even totally unpacked all of the shifting containers in my new workplace house!
And I’m as soon as once more affected by a pinched nerve in my neck, which at its worst results in numbness and tingling operating all alongside my proper arm and hand, which clearly limits the period of time I can spend on the keyboard. I’m at the moment visiting a physiotherapist twice every week to get that mounted!
Thanks in your endurance whereas I navigate yet one more set of adjustments and challenges in my life. I might be again after I can.

Imagine it or not, most SL companies have been working in opposition to the TOS, and sadly, there isn’t any present means for SL to resolve this problem. Moreover, the danger of dropping years of labor in a single day with out warning could be very actual. We not too long ago confronted this risk ourselves and might attest to its seriousness. Please be a part of us in altering this and assist our group guarantee a safer and compliant future.
—Jaimy Hancroft, proprietor of Dying Row Designs
Final Thursday, Jaimy Hancroft, the proprietor and operator of the Second Life residence and backyard decor retailer Dying Row Designs, obtained a really disagreeable shock:
I’m writing to convey up a extreme problem that has not too long ago affected my enterprise, Deathrowdesigns (DRD), which has been operating since 2008 in Second Life… Only recently, Second Life lastly bought round to cracking down on TOS infringement of account sharing and deleted our whole market itemizing – over 2000 listings down the drain. They saved our account on maintain, with none warning or motive. This has put a extreme dent in our operations.
Regardless of stating that Part 4.1 of the TOS mentions the potential for acquiring written permission for sharing an avatar, help has persistently denied us a transparent path or course of to acquire this consent. We’ve obtained messages implying that sharing the account in any capability will lead to termination, which feels significantly focused, particularly contemplating different companies seem to function with out comparable scrutiny.
Though my account is now launched to me and me solely, I can not operate or do enterprise alone. DRD has effectively over 10,000 clients and over 3000 gadgets that we handle. Dealing with all of it single-handedly actually simply isn’t an choice, and supervisor options are simply not there.
It’s simply not potential for me to function DRD by myself. I’ve my precise sister and our superb CSR, Charlotte Bailey, with out whom we wouldn’t have been the success we’re as we speak.
The place Jaimy and his sister have gotten into bother is that they had been sharing a single Second Life avatar/account to run their enterprise, which is a state of affairs that’s not unusual amongst SL shops that develop past a sure level, and make use of a number of folks. Linden Lab has guidelines in opposition to account sharing, however these guidelines can typically make it tough to function a money-making enterprise in Second Life. Jaimy is feeling upset and singled out for punishment by LL, and I can’t say that I blame her. It’s potential that any individual with an axe to grind (maybe a disgruntled buyer or perhaps a enterprise competitor) reported that she was sharing her account along with her sister, merely to get her retailer into bother.
She began a dialogue thread within the official Second Life group boards, which was closed by Tommy Linden, who said:
There appears to be some confusion relating to not solely the Phrases of Service, but in addition our course of for coping with account sharing.
I’m not going to debate the coverage itself, or the method for addressing it. Nonetheless, I wish to level everybody to Part 4.1 https://lindenlab.com/tos and extra particularly, name to consideration this portion of the Phrases of Service.
“You might not promote, switch or assign your Account or its contractual rights, licenses and obligations, to any third occasion (together with, for the avoidance of doubt, allowing one other particular person to entry your Account) with out the prior written consent of Linden Lab. Linden Lab reserves the proper, at its sole discretion, to handle and management the variety of Accounts that you could be set up and keep.”
Now for the difficulty of our course of for coping with account sharing. Termination shouldn’t be step one taken in relation to somebody discovered to be sharing their account. We place a brief maintain on the account for the safety of the account proprietor. As soon as we’ve been involved with the account proprietor, we focus on the above coverage to make sure they perceive earlier than the account is launched.
I perceive enterprise house owners and content material creators have considerations relating to this coverage. The unique poster has created a suggestions put up that everybody can take part in right here: https://suggestions.secondlife.com/feature-requests/p/allow-business-accounts-to-share-access-responsibly. I can’t stress sufficient how that is one of the simplest ways to get help with extra instruments and choices for enterprise house owners to have the ability to higher handle their enterprise, with out placing the safety of their account in danger.
Since we aren’t going to proceed to debate our Phrases of Service, or the method for which we implement it, I’m going to shut this thread, however I do strongly encourage you to take part within the suggestions dialogue on the hyperlink I supplied.
The suggestions put up on LL’s Canny system, titled Permit Enterprise Accounts to Share Entry Responsibly, reads as follows:
As a long-time enterprise proprietor in Second Life, managing operations effectively is essential. Not too long ago, enforcement of the TOS on account sharing led to the deletion of our whole market with over 2000 listings, severely disrupting our enterprise. Dying Row Designs (DRD) serves over 10,000 clients and manages greater than 3,000 gadgets, making single-person administration infeasible. I suggest making a system for acquiring written consent to share enterprise accounts amongst trusted people, particularly for enterprise operations. This could assist companies like ours proceed to thrive with out compromising account safety. Moreover, it might guarantee compliance with the TOS whereas offering a sensible answer for companies that have to share account tasks.
That is now the most-upvoted request in Linden lab’s Function Requests itemizing, and I’d encourage you to learn by means of all of the feedback, each on the Second Life boards and on Canny, then sign up to Canny utilizing your SL account, and add your vote to this request. Thanks!
You possibly can study extra about Dying Row Designs from their web site and their very lively Discord server, and also you must also know that they’re having their annual Summer time Sale, the place you get 50% of your buy value robotically refunded for nearly every little thing you should purchase at their in-world retailer. The sale runs from June fifteenth to thirtieth, 2024.

UPDATE June 18th: I’ve been in contact with Jaimy Hancroft, and she or he tells me that Keira Linden, the Supervisor of Help Operations for Linden Lab, has been in contact along with her, and advised her that she is at the moment working with different departments inside LL to discover a answer.
Under is an excerpt from Jaimy’s response to Keira, which she very kindly shared with me:
To be frank, the TOS [Second Life Terms of Service] is kind of ambiguous, and I imagine you’re conscious of this. The official SL wiki pages are full of references to account sharing for initiatives, equivalent to:
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Managing_business_projects_in_Second_Life “Once more, if an worker leaves, be certain to instantly change passwords of any accounts to which they’ve had entry. And guarantee their account is faraway from all applicable teams and land entry, in order that they haven’t any entry to your small business’ content material and accounts in Second Life.”
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Permitting_Others_to_Access_or_Transferring_Second_Life_Accounts “Do you have to give one other individual entry to your account, you achieve this at your personal danger; that’s, in case you allow somebody to entry your account, you might be liable for what that particular person does whereas utilizing your account.”
Whereas these pages could also be outdated, common customers depend on them for related info. It’s problematic having this data at SL ‘official’ wikis whereas the TOS appears contradictory. If TOS states the necessity for consent in account sharing, mustn’t the best way to grant this consent be supplied within the first place? As expressed by your help, “Help can not present this permission you’ve requested, and there’s not at the moment a technique to acquire this consent.” Which is a whole stone wall.
I do perceive the necessity to shield account safety, however then, there needs to be a balanced strategy the place enterprise operations ought to proceed of their official means. This might contain establishing devoted enterprise accounts with enhanced security measures, making a clear and documented course of for acquiring consent, or implementing a function just like the Bot agent standing, as advised by many on the portal.