People engage in sexual activity on MUDs, both ICLY and OOCly. Between consenting adults, no problem. But what if the other player happens to be a minor? With a growing amount of attention focused on controlling the endless stream of information children access over the 'net, it's only a matter of time before irate parents take legal action against the game and player who had cybersex with their child. As a gamer, what can you do protect yourself? As an admin?
You can always choose to not have sex with anyone you aren1t seeing face to face. If that's not an option, ask the online prospect their RL age before anything happens. Under 18? Just say no.
The other person might lie. But not always. If they do lie, you've taken all reasonable steps best to avoid the situation by asking. "I didn't know" is not a viable legal defense. Log the question and answer (and yes, /turn the log off/ if you proceed).
What about the MU*'s staff? Most games require that newbies read a disclaimer that states that only those 18 years old+ are allowed to play, then send an email indicating their acknowledgement of the rule. If at any time a player is discovered to have lied about being old enough, @nuke. I'd also post a statement that any form of cybersex between an adult and a minor player is forbidden. The price of breaking that rule? @nuke, with the option of informing the offenders' ISP.
I'm not a lawyer in any shape or form, but it's not hard to see a potential problem in the area of the anonymous MU*ing relationships. Roleplay already takes enough flak; let's use common sense and avoid giving the naysayers more ammo.
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