Monday, June 2, 2008

Abuse Reports and Mentors

When dealing with Abuse reporting there is one certain fact, Mentors abuse report the same as everyone else. There is but one exception to this, when you are on an OI, HI or WA. Reports flagged from those areas are prompted to the top of the queue.

Often in the Mentor Chat, Q&A or just speaking with other Mentors I get the feeling that the newer Mentors feel we have some special ability to have people "banned" or "pull strings".
This just is not true. A Mentor may not cause people to be banned, or "pull strings" to get anyone banned. All abuse reports are sent to a Gteam member who checks the report to see what part of the TOS/CS it violates, if the report has merit it is acted upon.

What happens once you send an abuse report is then unknown. You can look on the police blotter aka Community Incident Report page http://secondlife.com/support/incidentreport.php is there for you to check what has generically happened to people who have not stayed within guidelines and/or have violated TOS/CS.
Reading this page can be frustrating because it often seems that you get a brief overview of the violation and see many different sentences for the same crime so to speak.
I understand what he is saying. Linden Lab policy is not to ever divulge what happens after you abuse report, so don't ask and don't worry since you have no recourse and you will never find out.

I am going to tell you once again to take about 15 minutes and read the TOS/CS so you will know what is reportable and what is not. http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php
http://secondlife.com/corporate/cs.php

I often feel bad when I report something and my AR is "weak".
Why do you feel that way Doc?
Because someone on the Gteam has to spend their time investigating a "weak" report that may have little to no merit. They cannot flag it as actual abuse and it is cleared as such. The offender goes free and the time it took for me to report it and for it to be reviewed was not a means to an end.

When you are filing abuse reports make your report thorough.
Include all the information required.
Who? When? Where? What was the breach of TOS/CS? Include a pic, include text.
Double check your work before you hit the send button.
Suppose my AR doesn't fit in one box? Then use 2 or more, just make sure you note in the subsequent one this is part 2 and so on.

Copying text is for AR reports only!!!! You should only ever copy text if your reporting it for TOS/CS purposes or to the Vteam to explain something to them via notecard. To do so otherwise is a breach of TOS. You may find yourself being ARed.

I also find that there is way too much discussion of AR/TOS/CS in the Mentor Chat and Q&A.
If you need a sounding board for these kind of issues you should find a Mentor Buddy by using the Buddy Hut on SLVEC or by going to SL Mentor group and looking for Role "Buddy" and finding one online and ask them in IM about it.

Also Gteam has office hours and they would be glad to speak to you on When to AR, How to AR, What constitutes an AR, Matters of TOS/CS and all that jazz.

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