Is Sony censoring Little Big Planet user-generated content?

21.11.2008
One of the most popular features of the Sony PS3 game Little Big Planet is the ability to create and publish your own levels for the game. But some gamers are getting angry over the company's heavy-handed policies surrounding user-submitted levels.

As of November 13, an estimated and shared in the game. But there are limits on what can be submitted. Sony has provided users the following guidelines for publishing levels:

-- "Ensure that the content you share with other users is suitable for all ages - everybody has access to your level if you publish it.

-- Please respect other people's intellectual property rights. For example, don't use images, brands or logos that you're not entitled to use.

-- If you come across any content that you feel the need to report, then please do it responsibly. Hoax reports will be considered inappropriate behaviour."

As any site policing user-generated content has learned, it's not so easy to monitor all of the submissions. that Sony is not only deleting levels that contain obvious trademark or copyright infringements, but is also wiping out levels that are apparently abiding by the guidelines. Two popular levels cited in the article are The Azure Palace and World of Colour; both were deleted without explanation. A gameplay video of the full The Azure Palace level seems to indicate nothing that violates the guidelines.