Linden Lab Official:Suggesting a policy change

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Revision as of 12:15, 29 March 2010 by Torley Linden (talk | contribs)
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We love listening to our Residents' feedback. But "feedback" covers a huge amount of stuff, so let's be specific: what if you disagree with Linden Lab policy — like what's shown on the Policies & Guidelines page — and want to suggest a change?

On occasion, we bring up an issue for discussion on the Second Life Blogs, where we'll provide an open discussion thread. This mainly applies to new policies, as well as policies we'll consider changing because they may not make sense over time. For example, what we've enacted on Land cutting. Subscribe to the blogs to be apprised of updates.

As-needed, we may use different communication venues to discuss policy, like inworld office hours that may have text and voice chat. These are also announced on the blogs. For example, the 3rd-party viewer brown bags. Regular office hours are also hosted by various Lindens who are experts in different fields.

Some Residents use the Issue Tracker to informally suggest policies. However, since the Issue Tracker is primarily focused on technical issues like bugs, Linden Lab employees in general don't watch there for policy discussions, and your concern may be replied to by other Residents, but it's unlikely for a Linden to ever see it. It's worth noting that "policy" in this case can also expand to such things as software licensing legalities due to open source contributions.

Before suggesting a policy change, it's essential that you become deeply familiar with the material involved. For example, on the topic of intellectual property, you can't understand it without being knowledgeable about copyright and trademark mechanics. This in turn helps discussions you're involved in be more productive for others present. Do thorough research on how a particular policy came to be; issues that seem simple on the surface often have dependencies and good reasons why they weren't done.

We're unable to change a number of things for practical reasons. For example, "All land should be free!" and "Don't ban anyone" are both unworkable and inactionable.

When legal advice is needed, specifics are essential. We can't provide a blanket answer for "all policies and situations" as each is different, and we recommend you consult an attorney.

In addition, some topics which are related to "service" or "policy" can be found as specific ticket types in the Support Portal, so when submitting a ticket, have a look.