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’ SkyBeam FirstLand Region only and is a binding contract between the Estate Owner and the Residents of SkyBeam FirstLand. 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 or rental of a parcel or parcels, or renting space within a parcel, 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, both in their official Terms of Service (TOS) 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.

**********


SETTING:

- SkyBeam Open Space Regions – These are low prim regions with 1874 prims per 65,536m2.

- Open Space Region owners will have full access to the Region/Estate controls. As such, they may:
    * Set the maturity rating for their region.
     * Change the terrain textures, subject to final approval by the Estate Owner.
     * Choose if the region will be commercial or residential or both.

- Open Space regions must adhere to a restriction of no more than 25% land mass and must maintain the landmasses near the original placement to preserve the coastlines of adjoining regions.

- It is requested but not mandated that the open water around the land mass be made available for low prim boating (high prim boats must be worn as attachments only).

- Please note that this is a growing mini-continent of regions. There is no guaranteed coastline at this time on any region. 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 on January 2 of the following year. Fall might be observed in the future. Open Space Region owners may elect to observe the snow season or not at their own discretion.

- Exterior building elements (including plants) should not be set to full bright 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.

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

- Fencing should be limited to the island land mass and not be constructed along region borders.

- 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 or the like are prohibited to help with overall lag and general aesthetics.

- Writing on roofs or in the sky to show your business name or other such details on the map are prohibited. Any existing elements of this nature as of January 16, 2008, are permitted to remain until further notice.

- 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 Spatialized sound to this parcel' must be set in the World - About Land - Media tab. This will help maintain the tranquility of the regions for all our neighbors.

- There is no specific building height limit on Open Space Regions, but an effort to maintain attractive appeal from neighboring regions is required. 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. 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.

- Huge Prims 20x20x0.5 prims may be used on SkyBeam Estates.

- 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.

- Security systems are allowed. They must give at least a 15 second warning to vacate before ejecting a person or teleporting them home. 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.


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.

- No ‘live’ sex acts are 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 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 includes such ‘friendly’ games as Greedy Greedy and the freebie distribution or sales of such equipment. 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.

- 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.

- Camping chairs, dance pads and other similar devices are not permitted. Live models may be permitted provided the live models are responsive at most times to visitors and their questions. Other devices including but not exclusive to 'Lucky Chairs' and prize balls are not specifically excluded by covenant, but may not be used in such a manner as to simulate camping. Residents may be asked to curtail or eliminate said devices upon request. Such requests will be made at my discretion and upon my judgment as to the effect their presence is having on a region’s resources, including but not exclusive to, the number of avatars that can be effectively present in a given region.

- 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).

- 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 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.

- There will be no hot spot, flashing light, dance floor laggy clubs with or without pole dancers.

- It is preferred that slaves wear at least basic silks in mature public areas as a courtesy to those who do not share the lifestyle. No nudity will be tolerated on the PG sims.

- 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.

- 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 regionss. 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/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

- Two weeks of tier payment (first and last week) are due as soon as you purchase into SkyBeam Estates. A tier board is located on each sim within the estate, generally near the center of the region or near the telehub icon on the map.

- 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 must immediately pay first and last week’s tier.

- 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 (This does not apply to rental only sims such as SkyBeam FirstLand) as long as your tier payments are current.

- 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.

- Parcels may be repurchased by SkyBeam Estates, at my sole discretion as cash flow permits, for 80% of the original purchase price paid to SkyBeam Estates for the parcel. If you purchased your parcel from another resident, the price will be 80% of the price paid by the person who originally purchased the parcel from SkyBeam Estates. The 20% ‘restocking fee’ is to cover the tier that will be missed during the time it takes me to resell the parcel. Remember that you might spend as much waiting for a sale at a higher price before thinking too unkindly of this policy.


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 Pwner 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 the regions at any time, all effort will be made to make an equity settlement on the residents of the regions. In other words, your purchase into the region enables me to have the regions and provide the level of support, quality of lifestyle and so forth present here and it is only fair, should the twists of fate compel me to abandon my responsibilities to you, that I share in whatever monies I receive back from selling the regions so that you recoup some or all of your investment in our community. I cannot promise every Linden of your original purchase price back to you, but I will repay each resident on an equal per meter basis, up to the original buy in price, *before* I take a single linden from the sale for myself. Please note that by extension, in the event of total default, wherein I cannot sell the regions because there is no resale value to obtain, there will be no equity settlement possible.


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 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

Estate Owner references are available upon request.
Other holdings include Pando Square Mall and SkyBeam Architecture.