Urban Dead is shutting down (urbandead.com)

I forgot about it so long ago and now that I’m aware of it again, it’s because it shut down… damn. This OSA has been so destructive to early web communities :/

Yeah. I remember I kept repairing the generator in a house next door and when I went back some guy had always broken it again. It took me a while to realise those guys were the human alts of zombie players.

At least people noticed my efforts and someone made a comment about it. I felt so proud.

My character is still asleep in the house next to the one with the generator. I even remember their name. I might go in one last time, for old time sake.

:shakes fist at dumb legislators:

Although probably intended to target large platforms, the OSA is worded in such a way as to apply to nearly everyone who provides any kind of service that allows user-to-user interaction. It is (rightly) ostensibly intended to prevent abuse, terrorism, grooming, and similar activities, but it requires a full risk assessment against around 10 different possible interactions, and the paperwork is potentially onerous.

But worse, the fines are potentially in the tens of millions of pounds, and even inadvertent non-compliance can result in extensive prison time.

Of course, the government says they won't go after the small organisations, but if the wind changes, the legislation is there. Even if the risk is extremely small, the penalties are life-destroying.

As a result, many are deciding it's simply not worth the risk.

Also explained here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43152178

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43152154

This comment is especially useful:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43152930

    Liability is unlimited and there's no provision in law
    for being a single person or small group of volunteers.
    You'll be held to the same standards as a behemoth with
    full time lawyers.

OSA is a censorship law that pushes the cost of monitoring and compliance onto website operators.

This means that unless you are a gigantic corporation with deep pockets and can afford all the hundreds of hours of lawyers, developers, and moderators needed to comply with the law then you really can't afford to operate websites that other people can use.

It is effectively handing over the keys of WWW to mega corporations in the UK.

If you are operating a personal website it doesn't impact you, but if you are doing forums or anything were more then a handful of users use then you'll need a pretty significant budget to keep it running without the fear of the government cracking down on you.

Often, that's intentional. Like with OpenAI and other big players begging for regulation

It’s easier to control speech if you have just a few companies to lean on.

Utopia is one of the oldest ones I think, it was really fun too, like a browser-based MMO Crusader Kings: https://utopia-game.com/shared/

The tie in with deadset(TV show) was neat as well.

Just off the top of my head:

* Verify the ages of people using the site;

* Verify that there is no CSAM;

* Verify that there is no child-grooming;

* Verify that there is no terrorism;

... and more.

Anyone running a site that has user-to-user interactions has to provide risk-assessments for each of:

* CSAM;

* Grooming;

* Terrorism;

* Under-age access to porn;

* Modern slavery;

... and more.

For each of the above there must be written policies about how the limitations are enforced, and the procedures taken for each of the risks identified.

I've download some, but not all, of the explanatory and guidance documentation and it amounts to around 1100 pages of legalese so far.