It's a little lukewarm, but it's a much more inviting response than the one I received from Twitch late last week:

Two weeks ago I reported on popular game streaming site Twitch allegedly suspending users simply for streaming Second Life with their service. I contacted both Twitch and Hitbox (one of their top competitors) for comment. Initially only Hitbox responded, saying that they are "more than happy to allow broadcasters to stream Second Life on hitbox granted they are responsible about the content being presented to the viewers."

Second Life is not permitted for streaming and those accounts reported for doing so will be suspended. Content in this game is unrated and often sexually explicity, which is content we do not allow on our services. We also do not permit Adults-Only rated games and games where nudity is the core focus, feature, or goal. Please read our Rules of Conduct regarding sexually explicit acts or content for more information:

http://www.twitch.tv/user/legal?page=rules-of-conduct

Am I surprised? Not at all.

In my original post I theorized that based on the ongoing popularity of Second Life trolling videos on Youtube, the vast majority of SL streams that Twitch site moderators have likely come across probably haven't been a constructive or accurate representation of what the virtual world is capable of, or how most people use it. Between that and lingering prejudices about Second Life, no part of their response is a surprise. Nevertheless it's disappointing to hear that Twitch isn't even attempting to make the easy distinction between constructive and the trollish uses of SL.

So long story short, if you're hoping to livestream a tour of beautiful virtual builds, a shopping trip to The Arcade, a virtual scuba session or even a Quidditch match with friends, it's best to stick to Hitbox.

Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart on Twitter, Iris Ophelia in Second Life) has been writing about virtual worlds and video games for nearly a decade, and has had her work featured on Paste, Kotaku, Jezebel and The Mary Sue.