Linden Lab Official:Alt account policies

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What is an alt account?

An alternate account (or alt account) is an account you use for something other than your usual activity or to do things in privacy (such as building or scripting).

There are many reasons for having more than one account in Second Life. One of the ways Linden Lab protects legitimate alt accounts is by limiting the creation and use of illegitimate alt accounts, primarily by fraudsters and people bent on disruptive behaviors.

How to create an alt account

You can create an alt account the same way as you create your first Second Life account. Simply go to join.secondlife.com, choose an avatar and enter the other required information.

Your email address and other details may be the same as your first account, but of course, your Second Life username] is different.

Cost

Your first basic account is free, and so are a few alternate accounts. However, if you create an army of alts, Linden Lab may charge a small fee of US$9.95 for the creation of each additional basic account as a way to recoup some of the cost. This is explained further in section 1 of the Second Life Billing Policies, linked to from our Terms of Service. Note that in the billing policies, "Access Account" means basic account and a "Subscription Account" means a premium account.

Restrictions

Currently, you can create:

  • Up to five accounts per household.
  • No more than two accounts in a single 24-hour period.

Alt accounts must adhere to all Second Life policies. For example, by agreeing to the Terms of Service (TOS) you agree to provide truthful and accurate information about yourself when you register for accounts; that includes not only your contact information and real name but also whether this is your first free basic account or a new alt (see TOS section 2.1). People who do not provide truthful information risk losing their accounts.

What if I have a premium account already?

Your first account, paid or not, counts as your free basic account. The free basic account is meant as an incentive to new Residents to try Second Life with no associated charges. If you have many accounts already, additional accounts may incur an associated cost for maintenance.

How are these policies enforced?

Linden Lab has various means of detecting illegitimate accounts and enforcing necessary limits to prevent fraud and other disruptive uses of Second Life and LindeX services. For security reasons, Linden Lab does not reveal exactly how fraud detection processes operate.

What are the consequences of creating or using illegitimate alts?

Accounts that have not been paid for and are found to be in violation of our policies, Linden Lab may, at our discretion and in alignment with our Terms of Service, take any or all of the following actions:

  • Prevent the user from creating additional accounts
  • Close some or all of the user's accounts until payment is made
  • Close all of the user's accounts permanently

No system is perfect. If you have legitimate reasons for creating multiple accounts but have been unable to do so:

  • If you have a basic account, go to Help Island and talk to someone there.
  • If you have a premium account, submit a support ticket.