Parallelnormal is yours to copy (with attribution), under a 
Hard finding a home in Second Life
Posted on April 6, 2008 by Mark Baard
At least, it is hard finding a home where you feel free.
I thought Second Life New England (SLNE) might offer more freedoms for individuals than the real-world original.
I was wrong.
Yard signs are pulled-up, guns are banned. The uses of waterways are restricted. The oceans in this simulated world are off-limits.
In SLNE, my landlady’s husband is a cop. I hope he didn’t see the machine gun behind the living room couch.
Reams of bylaws, a high cost of land ownership, and taxes that never end (called “tiers” in SL).
Still, they come.
Filed under: Big Brother, Gaming, Government, Internet, Psyops, Second Life, Sex | Tagged: addiction, entertainment, guns, Metaverses, Psyops, Second Life, Sex, Virtual reality, virtual world
I read back in the postings a bit here after seeing how drastically you misread your sources about the WoW conference and the Extropia sims, and you seem to do the same thing in many places where Second Life is involved.
There are *lots* of different places you can own land in Second Life, and the restrictions that apply to them vary greatly. You bought land in a place that doesn’t allow yard-signs or guns or various uses of waterways, and then you complain that hey it doesn’t allow yard-signs or guns or various uses of waterways! What a shock!
And then you seem to suggest that you think that that particular covenant applies to all of Second Life, when you write “The oceans in this simulated world are off-limits.”.
The oceans in Second Life are by no means off-limits; I’ve had great fun boating around the waterways and oceans of a large number of different sims.
There are whole groups in SL that spend most of their time designing and racing ocean-going boats, or just cruising around taking nice pictures.
There are places where you can buy land where lawn-signs are in no way discouraged, and gunplay is frequent.
Most of the mainland is that way, in fact; no covenant beyond the Terms of Service. The islands have a wider variety of covenants, from the restrictive suburban as you encountered, to those that positively encourage (for instance) violent shoot-em-up roleplaying.
You really need to do a little more research before posting stuff like this…
Dale is correct. Read before you sign. Private estates have lots of rules to ensure a consistent experience for all. SLNE, like hundreds of other private estates is not a free for all but planned and policed. If you look, you will find what you want on the Mainland and even on several private islands.