Linden introduces zoning to Second Life mainland
By Eric Reuters
SECOND LIFE, August 5 (Reuters) - In a departure from its traditional laissez-faire approach to the Second Life Grid, Linden Lab announced on Tuesday it will introduce zoning to the mainland to curb excessive advertising.
“We need to professionalize all aspects of advertising inworld,” Jack Linden wrote on the company’s official blog. “Current policy allows adverts which ruin the view and depress land values for nearby Residents which is just not acceptable.”
“We plan to create different areas with different covenants in place that are actively enforced by Linden Lab; basically this means Zoning,” Jack continued. “We hope to be talking more about how this will happen towards the end of the quarter.”
Advertising and garish billboards have long been a complaint of Second Life landowners. In February, Linden Lab banned “ad farms,” plots of virtual land with spinning and garish signs intended to extort neighboring landowners.
Early comments by residents in the Second Life forums (registration required) were largely positive. “The ‘hands off’ policies of the past have led to a lawless anarchy in many areas of the grid, that have caused many residents to avoid much of the Mainland,” wrote Ceera Murakami.
Linden’s move towards a more regimented mainland comes in the face of a rapidly evolving virtual worlds industry. Last week Linden announced limited interoperability between Second Life and OpenSim in beta, increasing land options for avatars. Google is widely expected to extend its advertising network into Lively soon.
