SkyBeam Estates

Welcome. In Shakespeare�s Richard II, John of Gaunt expresses his love of England and his worries about the nation�s future with a speech that includes the following lines:

'This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This Earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise ...
This precious stone set in a silver sea'

While these regions are not about England, the spirit of the quote seemed appropriate to the quality and richness of the environment I wish to foster for the building of a warm friendly community.

**********

This document is the Covenant for the SkyBeam Estates Sims and is a binding contract between the Estate Owner and the Residents of SkyBeam Estates. It is, in all ways a two way contract and includes both my responsibilities and commitments to you as well as those provisions you agree to abide by should you choose to reside or open a business here. Purchase/Lease of a parcel or parcels is considered an acknowledgement of and agreement to all provisions contained in this Covenant.

**********

All terms and conditions of service set forth by Linden Lab, in their official Terms of Service (TOS), Community Standards and in all official blog posts, forum posts or other official statements regarding policy, allowed behavior and terms of service must be adhered to first and foremost prior to the application of the covenant set forth below. Under no circumstances does SkyBeam Estates permit any behavior or actions not permitted by the Linden Lab TOS or publicized policy.


Machinima and Snapshot policy: I, Charlene Trudeau, do hereby grant all applicable consent to allow the filming of Machinima and taking of snapshots anywhere on group lands throughout the estate. Further, many resident owned parcels are happy to have you film or photo-shoot on their properties. Please respect the privacy of SkyBeam Estates' residents when they are home, respect any request to leave a particular property, and do not plan to utilize anyone's homes or furnishings without express permission of the owner of the home, objects and property (please no porno shoots in someone's house without their permission, and the like).


Pricing information can be found on each available parcel, from the region�s tier board, or from the SkyBeam Estate�s HeadQuarters on SkyBeam.

- Scepterd Isle is a semi-themed residential region. Italian villas, cozy cottages and mediterranean style architecture is preferred, but not required. The region is rated �Mature� and is a residential region.

- SkyBeam is a commercial region. There is no designated theme for this region, however I do retain the discretionary right to deny any build that is counter to the symmetry and style of the region at large. The sim is rated �Mature� but we ask for PG activity only within the Sandbox.

- Sede di Marte is a commercial region. There is no designated theme for this region, however I do retain the discretionary right to deny any build that is counter to the symmetry and style of the region at large. The region is rated �Mature�.

- SkyBeam Community is a mixed commercial and residential region. There is no designated theme to the region. The region is rated 'Mature'.

- Apparition Wood, SkyBeam Wood, SkyBeam Stillwater and SkyBeam Everglades are residential regions with a forest/woods theme and are strongly suited for tree houses, natural builds and Castles, but other designs may be perfectly acceptable. The region is rated Mature.

- SkyBeam Tradewinds and SkyBeam Tradewaters are mixed use, commercial and residential regions with a lush green, pre-1930's architectural setting. Live where you work, work where you play! The region is rated Mature.

- SkyBeam Pastures is a residential region inspired by the bluegrass regions of Kentucky. The region is specifically themed for the discriminating equestrian enthusiast with white pasture fencing and riding trails. Appropriate architecture will range from converted stables and barns to southern plantation style homes. This is a double prim, Mature region.

- SkyBeam Harbour Cove region is a mixed-use region.

- SkyBeam Phoenix is a single prim residential only region.

- SkyBeam Vistare Manana is a 1.5 bonus prim factor, residential only region.

- SkyBeam Muse is a mixed-use commercial/residential region, normal prim bonus and rated Mature.

- SkyBeam Firstland is a double prim, mixed use region designed for new residents to learn about land ownership and test new business models. This region has its own separate covenant.

- SkyBeam Homestead regions: These regions have their own covenant and are now available for purchase individually. Pricing is 67,000 up front (non-refundable, but you may sell your region at any time) and tier is 9500 for a newly purchased region. Pre-payment of up-front fees is required to place an order. Both �Independent� (not attached to SkyBeam regions) and �Continental� (contiguous to the main estate) Homestead regions are available. Extra fees may apply for remote placement and custom naming. The regions may be set as PG or Mature and be residential or commercial in nature. Homestead regions attached to the estate may have some restrictions (example: the homestead at SkyBeam Trailridge has a large area of open water and our spectacular tourist attraction, Trailridge Bridge). Separate covenant applies, please contact Charlene Trudeau for a copy. There is NO buyback at any time for Homestead regions. From time to time existing homesteads become available for lease and do not require the purchase price. Please let Charlene Trudeau know if you would like to be on a waiting list for one of these rare opportunities.

- Please note that this is a growing mini-continent of regions. There is no guaranteed coastline at this time on any region bordering null/void waters. I will endeavor to work with coastal residents as expansion occurs should they choose to move; further provisions in this document handle the terms under which such moves may take place.

- Seasons, specifically winter, will be observed on SkyBeam Estates. Currently, snow will fall on the day after the USA Thanksgiving holiday and melt sometime in Januray of the following year. Fall might be observed in the future.

- Terraforming is permitted but must retain a natural look and feel. Straight rises or drops must be avoided in all places unless covered with prim and or sculpty rock formations and the like. If you need help smoothing a boundary with group land, please contact me. Owing to issues outside owner control, the limit on terraforming is currently set to plus/minus 20m. Should this prove inadequate for your needs, I can assist with removing the restriction during terraforming.

- Buildings on single prim regions (Scepterd Isle, SkyBeam, Sede di Marte, SkyBeam Muse, SkyBeam Phoenix) should not span a property edge to edge. A minimum of 4m of open space around each building should be provided. Buildings on double prim regions may align to the edge but it is preferred that they not do so on all four sides.

- Buildings should not float above the land unless they are set above 550m and below 3000m. Exclusions to this might apply for something like a zeppelin as part of one�s overall property �look� but must be approved before finalized.

- Buildings should look complete. This does not preclude doing a �ruins� type build where the nature of the build has an open air feel, but may preclude some building designs. Please inquire if you have doubts about your plans.

- Exterior building elements (including plants) should not be set to full bright or utilize the �glow� feature, unless they are clearly and obviously a light source (such as a porch light or garden light) or would obviously be lit from within such as a skylight at night might be, or backlit as a sign might be. There might be exclusions to this restriction for obvious mystical or phosphorescent items (such as glowing crystals) but pre-approval of placement must be obtained. Please be sure to review your parcel now and then with midnight forced to see how your items look from a distance at night.

- At or above 550m and below 3000 meters, you may have any style of structure you desire as a skybox or platform.

- It is preferred that fencing not exceed 1.5m in height for the bulk of the fence. A gate or the fence posts might be taller to give an effect. On the single prim regions, fencing should be inset a meter to allow both sides of adjoining properties to have the fence style they prefer.

- Business signage must be kept to a reasonable size and must be of a design that will not deter from the overall beauty of the region. Definition of �reasonable size� will be at my discretion but with fairness for all in mind. Floating, rotating or other signs in motion, blinking/flashing or similar are prohibited to help with overall lag and general aesthetics.

- Building in place is allowed, but if you think you�ll be under construction with notable plywood longer than a couple of weeks, please consider a skypad above 550m for construction purposes or using the SkyBeam sandbox.

'Restrict gesture and object sounds to this parcel' must be set in the World � Place Profile - About Land - Sound tab (viewer 2.0) or World � About Land � Media (Viewer 1.23). If you use the voice settings, please also set the 'restrict voice to this parcel' as well. This will help maintain the tranquility of the regions for all our neighbors.

- Edit Terrain must not be left checked in the About Land � Options settings. Griefers can and will use this setting to raise your parcel the max allowed (currently only 20m) and this causes returns of any items small enough to 'go offworld' by the raising of the land. SkyBeam Estates is not responsible for any loss of content due to this circumstance.

- There is no specific building height limit, but buildings that exceed a height of 24m should not do so for the entirety of one's parcel (edge to edge). If you have specific questions about a building's suitability, please contact me. This height restriction does not apply to tree houses, especially in the forested regions. With this section I am trying to leave leeway for castles to have turrets that extend beyond the 24m height, while preventing 100m tall tower builds that are big rectangles. Please note that for the commercial regions, a city office building that is taller than 24m may be completely appropriate, so again, please contact me regarding the suitability of your desired building.

- Mega Prims (oversized or huge prims) may be used on SkyBeam Estates as long as all other building guidelines are met and they do not overhang one�s property edge at any height.

- Respect your neighbors� privacy. We all know that privacy is largely an illusion in SL, but I would like to think we all have better things to do than camera around to find out what our neighbors are doing in their bedrooms, basements or skyboxes. Be certain any additional informational tools you might desire to utilize with a range that extends beyond your own border are within TOS and Community Standard guidelines and that you keep the information private and confidential.

- The use of a security system is allowed The system must give a minimum 30 second warning to vacate before ejecting a person. Public paths and waterways must remain free of the effects of the system and the system�s range height must be set to no higher than 20m above your roofline (to allow easy flight overhead without permitting someone to hover in chat range). The Estate Owner and designated estate manager(s) must be excluded from the security system defenses so that we may always be able to assist in times of griefer attacks or other harassment situations. Please request a list of these persons. NO BAN LINES, please.

- Respectful use of scripted items is requested. Please know that many innocent seeming items can be very resource intensive if not well scripted; this includes, but is not limited to: anything that scans the surroundings (visitor detectors, sim radar, security orbs, etc) and pets/animals with random movement. Sion chickens are limited. Please contact Charlene Trudeau directly if these are desired for the parameters under which you *may* be allowed to have any. Please note that many of our own attachments, including re-size scripted or texture changing hair, clothing and so on, can be very costly in terms of script times. Please chat with me if you have any questions. Script limits per region, per parcel, and per avatar are coming!

- Use discretion with texture sizes. It is rare that anything larger than 512 pixels x 512 pixels is required. 1024 pixel sized textures should be avoided in almost all situations. 256 or lower textures suffice in many instances.

- No regions within SkyBeam Estates are currently zoned 'Adult'. Please understand that no business may utilize adult advertising keywords and must comply with TOS. See beginning clause. NOTE: This does not preclude private sexual activities within your own home or the owning or rezzing of adult items. You may not, however, advertise the use of these items (or yourself!) by the public. Please see the Linden published TOS and Community Standards for more information.


THE NO-NO�S

The things not allowed in the region are designed to provide everyone in the region with the best possible atmosphere in which to make a home or business or to visit. Telling people what they cannot do is *not* my favorite past time. There are things, however, that I personally do not want in the regions I spend the most time in. These things make life unpleasant, laggy or just plain ugly. I have tried to keep this section really short but still cover things that I hope everyone will be happy to leave behind from whence they came.

- �Live� sex acts and streaming media portrayals of sexual acts are not permitted in any area considered to be publicly accessible. What you do in the privacy of your residential building or up in a private skybox is entirely up to you so long as it conforms to Linden Lab TOS and publicized policy. Commercial areas, open land areas, and so forth, where routine public traffic can be expected, must remain free of sexual activity. (Note: rental of skyboxes for sexual activity and viewing streaming media would be considered �commercial� as would acts of prostitution however much fun they might be.)

- Bigotry, intolerance, griefing, harassment, and the like will not be tolerated, neither by residents or visitors. The excuses of �I was only role-playing� or �my brother took over the computer� will not prevent either a resident or a visitor from being warned and/or temporarily or permanently banned, as circumstance dictates. If you must roleplay these types of scenarios, do so off SkyBeam Esatates, or understand this is not the estate for you and select another estate to be your home.

- Theft/scamming will not be tolerated. Please respect the creative and intellectual property rights of others. This is one rule that will result in immediate eviction/banning if proven, regardless of where the actual offense took place. In other words, if a resident is proven to be running a scam, selling items not intended for resale by them, or the like elsewhere in SL, they will not be welcome to reside in SkyBeam Estates. NOTE: This includes selling other people�s (including Linden) freebie items for more than $1 per item or boxed collection.

- There will be no gambling machines or casinos allowed. THIS IS NOW A TOS VIOLATION AND ANY ATTEMPT TO GET AWAY WITH THIS ON MY ESTATES PLACES THE ESTATES AT RISK AND IS THEREFORE SUBJECT TO AN IMMEDIATE ABUSE REPORT, ESTATE LEVEL BAN, THE RETURN OF ALL ITEMS AND NO COMPENSATION FOR LAND OR PREPAID TIER WILL BE MADE. I do not police these games, but Linde Lab does. Please be careful in your selection of gaming items to pass the time or enhance your business.

- No device that includes a feature that is against TOS will be allowed, even if that feature is not used by the resident as there is no way to track the actual settings/usage. This includes, but is not exclusive to, security systems with the ability to monitor chat remotely. Disclosed remote chat devices, with proper signage that must be consciously activated by the person who would be listened to remotely, may be used with approval.

- No ban lines are permitted. This includes setting land to group access only or denying access by payment status. Ban lines are ugly to visitors and neighbors and impede the right of way of flight and, in some instances, traversing public paths. You may, as previously stated, ban specific individuals as necessary, save the sim owner and estate manager(s), and you may have a security system.

- These are not combat regions and no weapons shall be wielded unsheathed upon the common grounds in any region and especially on the sandbox. Further, it is not permitted to use griefing tools to defend oneself against griefers. If you need help with a griefing situation, please use the group IM to ask for assistance from an Estate Manager. Exclusions to this for roleplay purposes on Open Space regions or private parcels clearly designated for such use (such as in parcel name or description) is permitted.

- Temp-rezzers will not be permitted due to the heavy scripting and resource drain placed on the regions.

- Camping and other traffic driving devices are now prohibited or severely curtailed in allowed usage by TOS. Please make sure you understand the limitations and comply with the Linden Terms of Service.

- Objects or persons that �shout� and create �spam� within a range so as to annoy one�s neighbors are not permitted. Well-known examples would be the anti-copybot measures or prize balls (when set to shout or certain radios with dj style controls). Also, please be cautious when shouting yourself especially when very excited in the 'heat of the moment'. Your neighbors might find your obvious extra-curricular activities annoying and embarrassing.

- Residential parcels on SkyBeam Estates may not be sublet, rented or leased in any manner, in whole or in part, nor may land be reserved or purchased merely to �speculate� and resell.

- Commercially zoned regions and/or Homesteads on SkyBeam Estates may include some rental situations. These will be approved on a case by case basis and PRE-approval is required. This includes pre-approval of the layout, design and quality of building to be used and it must be understood that should you choose to enter SkyBeam Estates without prior approval of your design and business model which includes renting out space/prims to others, there will be cost incurred in terms of time and money if the concept or design is denied.

- Clubs may permitted on commercial regions with pre-approval of theme, design and intent. Please inquire before acquiring land for such a purpose..

- SkyBeam Estates are 'Earth' regions. While we have any number of Goreans and those enjoying the D/s lifestyle living in our midst, they respect that they are visitors to Earth and keep their lifestyle secluded to private areas. Please understand that slaves should not kneel in our realm and must be decently covered when abroad on the estate as we consider all peoples equal.

- No nudity will be tolerated on PG regions.

- Personal disputes between residents are by definition 'personal', and neither I nor my Estate Mangers will involve themselves in the resolution of such disputes. In the case of groups disbanding or partners splitting up, the person who is registered with the payment board is considered the resident of record and will retain the rights to the property.

- Any dispute, action or reaction which disrupts the community at large may result in warnings, temporary bans, or permanent bans. Again, this is at my sole discretion.

- Parcels have the standard linden prim allotment, except where noted on double prim or 1.5 bonus prim regions. In either case, failure to adhere to your parcel�s prim allowance is not permitted.

DISCRETIONARY POWERS

I reserve the right to return to owner any object(s) in violation of Linden Lab TOS, Community Standards or otherwise publicized policy or the SkyBeam Estates Covenant or that I deem offensive or intrusive. I will not, however, ever return things without what I deem due cause and will always attempt to seek out the owner prior to taking this action if possible.

I reserve the right to refuse sale to any person or persons. I further reserve the right to buy out and remove any resident without prejudice should unforeseen circumstances arise that threaten the peace and prosperity of the region after due consideration and consultations with experienced peers.

I reserve the right to veto the placement of any building or landscaping (residential or commercial) that is not in keeping with the overall aesthetics of any area on the estate.

TIER PAYMENTS

- The 'purchase price' paid to purchase of a parcel or open space region on SkyBeam Estates is the first two weekly tier payments for the parcel unless otherwise noted. A tier board is located on each region (except Open Space regions) within the estate, generally near the center of the region or near the telehub icon on the map. Please contact Charlene Trudeau or Nevar Lobo if your payment box is not updated to reflect the two weeks paid to purchase the land in a timelly fashion.

- Thereafter the payment board will accept up to twelve weeks of payments at a time. It is preferred that you do not exceed 12 weeks of prepaid tier at any time. I am happy to explain why upon request.

- The payment board will accrue back due tier and I reserve the right to penalize late payments by adding additional past due days at a rate not to exceed 25% (1 day additional for every four late). It is strongly suggested that you keep a buffer of 3-4 weeks on the tier board in case of emergency such as a broken computer, family emergency, health issues, etc.

- Residents choosing to leave (not evicted or banned) without selling their land and before the tier paid in advance has been used up, will be refunded the prepaid tier upon request. Residents who sell their land before tier paid has expired may choose whether to include the prepaid tier with the parcel or have it refunded upon request. The new resident must understand that they must immediately pay first and last week�s tier. There is no requirement to sell the land, however, as it is truly leased. You may request a refund from the tier payment board at any time if you choose to leave early.

- Excessive or repetitive late payments will result in a conversation in which I will ask the tenant to leave voluntarily. If this fails, forced eviction will always be a last resort, but may be done at my discretion, with no refund of original purchase price. I will not put the community in jeopardy by not being able to make tier payments because I have not received payment from one or more tenants.


LAND SALES

- You have the right to resell your land as long as your tier payments are current. Please note that at present, land for sale throughout the estate are, in reality, being leased for the first two weekly tier payments. As such, it is impossible to compete with 'the house' for resale. Please consider simply abandoning your land as an alternative.

- Land resold by a resident is conditional on the new resident�s acceptance and adherence to the covenant and immediate payment of any due tier fees. Under no circumstances is SkyBeam Estates liable for any payments made to a resident (current or former) or any avatar other than Charlene Trudeau, should the new resident find that the covenant is unacceptable, does not understand the tier fees associated with the land or any other circumstance. Please be certain that your buyer understands the terms and conditions. Boxes with a copy of the covenant and tier information should be placed on the parcel you are selling. Please contact me, Charlene Trudeau, to place one for you.



EVICTION OR BANNING OF RESIDENTS

Should I be forced to make the decision to permanently evict and/or ban a resident, for failure to pay, repeated infractions, or severe Linden Lab TOS violations, termination will be immediate and with no refund of any prepaid tier monies or monies paid for the land up front. There will be no exceptions to this rule.

Residents may be temporarily banned for failure to comply with requests to conform to covenant. For example, if a resident puts up ban lines and fails to remove them in a timely manner upon request, they may be subject to a temporary banning in the general range of three days. Residents banned on a temporary basis for violations will receive no refund or credit of tier paid for days of �lost use� during the ban period.

VOLUNTARY TERMINATION BY RESIDENT

Any resident may choose to relinquish their land at any time. If they do so without selling or transferring their land to a third party, the land will be reclaimed by the Sim Owner with no refund of the original land purchase price. Prepaid tier, however, will be refunded upon request.

TERMINATION BY SIM OWNER

One of the biggest issues that most people have with purchasing into a private region is the potential for that Estate Owner to sell off the region and leave the residents of the region with nothing to show from their buy in price. I agree that this is a valid concern and one I will hereby address as one of my promises to you should you choose to make your home with me in SkyBeam Estates.

In the unforeseen event that I, Charlene Trudeau, the Estate Owner, elect to shut down one or more regions at any time, all possible notice will be given, all prepaid tier will be refunded, and effort will be made to move each resident to a satisfactory location within the estate will be made.

REVISION OF COVENANT

Should need arise, I retain the right to revise the contents of this Covenant at any time. Ten days notice will be given for acceptance and compliance changes by residents as needed unless Linden Lab TOS, Community Standards and/or publicized policy forces an immediate change outside the realm of my control. Should any resident choose to not accept the revised covenant, or be unable to do so based on Linden Lab changes to terms of service or publicized policy, the rules above regarding Voluntary Termination by Resident apply.

FINAL NOTE

I will endeavor always to be fair with all residents and guests, however, please remember final decisions on all issues within the SkyBeam Estates regions rests on my shoulders.

Charlene Trudeau
SkyBeam Estates