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Age Verification and Use of the **@BIRTHDAY** Program
While most of Furscape is open to the public and is subject to rules similar to those governing real life and behavior in public space, there are areas of the MUCK that are 'adult-only' (18+) due to content. Entry to those areas is restricted to players who have used the @BIRTHDAY program to state their legal, real-life birthday for the record. Upon successful completion, a flag is permanently attached to the player's avatar object.
Here is a sample of what you will see when executing **@BIRTHDAY**:
@Birthday 1.20 - Zobeid@Furscape - 22 Nov 2001
In order to preserve the theme and atmosphere of the MUCKs public areas,
access to some areas is restricted against minors. Therefore, we request
that you tell us your date of birth. You will only have to do this once,
then you will no longer see this annoying message. We are sorry for the
inconvenience.
Enter the year of your birth (for example, 1968 or just 68):
<birth year goes here>
Enter the month that you were born (1=Jan, 2=Feb, 3=Mar, 4=Apr, 5=May,
6=Jun, 7=Jul, 8=Aug, 9=Sep, 10=Oct, 11=Nov, 12=Dec):
<birth month goes here>
Enter the day of month that you were born:
<birth day goes here>
You say you were born on <day month year>.
That would mean you are about <age> years old, give or take a couple days.
You hereby certify that the above is your 'real life' legal date of birth
by signing your email address here. Responsibility rests on you or your
guardian(s) if you have entered false information. If the above is /not/
correct, please enter 'no' here, and you will be asked for the correct
information. If it is correct, please sign with your current email address:
<email address goes here if you agree, otherwise enter 'no' to restart>
Thank you for your information. You will not be asked for it again, barring
some sort of database loss. Except as noted above (the programs which will
let others lock under 18 people out), this is treated as private information
that will not be given to other players.
Summary
While we realize that this is not an ironclad proof of age, we also believe that an ambitious player could forge proof of identity and submit altered documents to us, just as they can in real life (fake ID cards for underage drinking, for example). So, we'll take your word for it until you give us reason to believe otherwise. Between use of the @BIRTHDAY program and the 'Adult Themes' rules that are intended to prevent exploitation of minors (real-life or otherwise), we believe that Furscape is a safe place to interact with others.