What problems are we Sellers facing that we can fix?

I think that before we have an agenda we need to define exactly what the problems are.
Going from memory these are the problems I am aware of:

* Texture theft - This seems to be the biggest problem and also the most difficult to fix. I am aware of 4 possible ways textures can be stolen. One method in particular is a natural part of how a PC does 3d graphics and is completely outside of LL's ability to control.

* Theft of other things (sounds, animations, gestures etc) I am only aware of 1 way these things can be stolen. LL I believe can encrypt this is such a away that stealing becomes more difficult. They could change the encryption each release causing set backs for the crackers. Interestingly I am not aware of any way that a script can be stolen since scripts never make it onto your PC unless you have coded it yourself.

* Reproductions - I am not sure how to approach the problem of someone building a reproduction of another persons object. But naming the object in a similar misleading fashion should be able to be reported and resolved.

* Script Legacy - This is *my* main problem which makes me unlike most members of the Guild. Its very important that as SL grows they don't suddenly make a thousands of sold scripts suddenly no longer function. Resulting in days of swapping old for new replacements. When SL becomes hard work less content will be made. (Yes I know about self updating scripts, but thats not the point)

* Reporting of thefts and naming theives - This is a very tricky topic. I am not certain I like this idea at all. There also may be problems naming names. I have not yet read all of the TOS and CS and other laws that might be relevant. I have been copied a few times and I have had one of my own scripts resold endlessly due to confusion I had with the permissions system making that possible. I am aware of who and where but I have taken no actions. Because I am selling scripts, and not art, and scripts cant (at this stage) be stolen this idea has little relevence for me.

Are these the things we are here for?

Did I miss any?

Another question.. what is LL's official policy in a copyright dispute in SL? Will they help us or do they expect us to use real life laws?

I have been looking over the TOS and CS here are a few things of interest:

* LL Copyright Policy:
CS: Buyer Beware
Linden Lab does not exercise editorial control over the content of Second Life, and will make no specific efforts to review the textures, objects, sounds or other content created within Second Life. Additionally, Linden Lab does not certify or endorse the operation of in-world games, vending machines, or retail locations; refunds must be requested from the owners of these objects.

TOS 4.3 You will comply with the processes of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act regarding copyright infringement claims covered under such Act.
Our policy is to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA". Copyright-infringing materials found within the world of Second Life can be identified and removed via Linden Lab's DMCA compliance process listed at http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php, and you agree to comply with such process in the event you are involved in any claim of copyright infringement to which the DMCA may be applicable.

Not really related but mentioned:
TOS: 3.2 You retain copyright and other intellectual property rights with respect to Content you create in Second Life, to the extent that you have such rights under applicable law. However, you must make certain representations and warranties, and provide certain license rights, forbearances and indemnification, to Linden Lab and to other users of Second Life.

* Script Legacy:
TOS 5.2 All data on Linden Lab's servers are subject to deletion, alteration or transfer.

* Disclosure of thieves:
CS 4. Disclosure
Residents are entitled to a reasonable level of privacy with regard to their Second Lives. Sharing personal information about a fellow Resident --including gender, religion, age, marital status, race, sexual preference, and real-world location beyond what is provided by the Resident in the First Life page of their Resident profile is a violation of that Resident's privacy. Remotely monitoring conversations, posting conversation logs, or sharing conversation logs without consent are all prohibited in Second Life and on the Second Life Forums.

* Protesting:
CS 6. Disturbing the Peace
Every Resident has a right to live their Second Life. Disrupting scheduled events, repeated transmission of undesired advertising content, the use of repetitive sounds, following or self-spawning items, or other objects that intentionally slow server performance or inhibit another Resident's ability to enjoy Second Life are examples of Disturbing the Peace.

I can't find any references to talking about exploits being disallowed by LL.
I do see in the Police Blotter that people can be banned.
Anyone know where it is stated that we can't talk about exploits?

Edit: Found it

TOS 4.1
...
v) take any actions or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that contains any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information;

Wow, thats abscure.

Ok I can add a few things:

*Counterfeiting:
This is an increasing problem. Person either buys an original item in a box which is copyable and transferable, and puts either a poor copy of the item, or a completely unrelated item in the box to sell it, thus deceiving the buyer and possibly damaging the reputation of the creator whose box they have used.

OR

Person steals textures by a number of different methods and uses them to make their own version of a creators work, sometimes passing this off as the creator's work and sometimes not.

*Stealing of scripts
Is possible - ask Francis Chung. If we have a permissions problem, scripts can be unlocked just as objects and textures can, by a perms bug. I do not know if there are other ways in which scripts can be stolen, but I have seen copyable versions of scripted objects that are not supposed to be copyable and transferable, and I do not know how the sellers have got hold of them.

*Selling of exploited copies
In my scambusting activities I often comes across people giving away copy/transfer items for free which the creator still has set up for sale.

Sometimes people are selling copyable/transfer items which are not exploited, but which are not supposed to be sold separately, like pose balls from NyteMyst or Craig Atman - mostly people will take them off sale if it is pointed out to them.

*Selling of freebies
There is argument about whether this is a problem or not. The problem could be solved by the introduction of a transfer/no sell category, which has been asked for, all the time I have been in SL.

I would like my freebies to remain free, I don't like people selling them. Lindens tend to act quickly to take down anywhere which sells Linden freebies, but not somewhere selling other creators' stuff.

Cali

What would be nice is if an item cannot be set at a higher price than the original sale. And free items can't ever be set past $0 (or For Sale can't be selected)
This tho would make another entry in the Asset database I can't see them rushing to do it.

Not unlike me. Random, undocumented changes waste my time, break my stuff and test my patience.

There isn't anything we can do to fix that. We can ameliorate transitions with updaters etc, sometimes changes do need to be made to existing functionality, but we need clear and detailed changelogs on EVERY change to how LSL behaves, not the jokes that we have at the moment. When the best documentation available is a user-run wiki you know you're in trouble.

I think what we might do is leave this thread to just adding other issues we need to address. Comments to any particular problems might be best started in a new thread because this thread is going to get too tangled otherwise Hope thats OK everyone

With regards to the theft and reselling of content, you may wish to add the copying and reselling of notecard content against the creator's wishes to your list. Put bluntly, notecards are in an even worse position than textures - in that copy-paste is supported even on notecards with supposedly 'restricted' permissions.

* False Creator:
Adding in the alledged false creator bug/hack mentioned here:
/321/b4/124659/1.html#post1186585