Active Worlds supports the concept of World Ratings. This is a mechanism that allows world owners to give an indication to their visitors of the type of content they can expect to encounter in their world. There are four rating levels available:

• G - This world is suitable for all ages; children are welcome.
• PG - This world is generally suitable for all ages; however, parents may want to supervise children while visiting this world.
• R - This world is generally unsuitable for children. Adult topics may be presented and discussed. In addition, material may be present that some adults may find objectionable.
• X - This is an adults-only world which contains material of a pornographic or other potentially offensive nature.

World caretakers can adjust the rating for their world under the World Attributes dialog box.

As a user of Active Worlds, you can pre-set the maximum world rating that you want to be able to view. If you attempt to enter a world with a rating higher than your preferred maximum, you will not be let in. This allows you to avoid accidentally entering a world that contains content which you might find objectionable. You can set your maximum rating preference under the General Settings dialog.

Important Notes about World Ratings

Always keep in mind that the World Rating serves only as a guideline. Due to the dynamic, multi-user nature of Active Worlds and the Internet in general, offensive material may be encountered in any world at any time. Only you can be responsible for avoiding material that you may find objectionable. In particular, the responsibility to keep children from accessing inappropriate material lies ultimately with parents. The world rating concept in Active worlds is not a parental "lock out" feature and should not be treated as such! Technology alone simply cannot guarantee that no one will ever be exposed to offensive content.

In particular, while we reserve the right to do so, Activeworlds Corp. is not responsible for locating and removing offensive material from anywhere within the Active Worlds Universe. Furthermore, while we reserve the right to require world owners to modify the rating level of worlds running within the Active Worlds Universe, Activeworlds Corp. is not responsible for ensuring that world owners have selected a world rating level that is appropriate for their worlds.