My Letter to M Linden About BuilderBot

Second Inventory is not much (if any) more legitimate than BuilderBot. SI's "full permissions" policy allows blatant violations of copyright. There is no license grant in the ToS allowing you (or anyone, including Linden Labs) to transfer ANY objects out of the SL service without explicit permission of the creator, therefore the fact that an object has "full permissions" within SL is irrelevant to whether you are allowed to download it for use outside the SL service.

For example, you're allowed to transfer Flight Feather to OpenSim because I explicitly grant you that permission in my license. NOT because it's "full perm".

*Sigh* ...

Everybody is nut over this IP thing ... the tools are already out there anyway, this variation if it does anything is actually less convenient for violations and more for sim backup/transport.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, remember that if Rezzable does not release an opensource version, peoples might eventually devellop an opensource version for their own use.

Not completely unrelated, some food for thought about the legitimity of current copyright laws.
http://danny.oz.au/free-software/advocacy/against_IP.html

As an RL- office manager for a tech company I would never bother my boss with a single letter or email, I would glance trough both and say nah (unless in extreme cases). Should I get 10+ snail mail letters about the same thing I would concider dumping them on him, if i got 50+ mails i would print them out, since he really doesnt read his mail (he just skims trough it) ... A stack of paper makes a statement, a bunch of emails to him is spam. Maybe its how my bosses brain works, but paper still does the trick. 200 letters (by snail) makes a much bigger impact than a petition with 5 000 or 10 000 voters. Even 200 emails would, as long as you re-write Carls excellent text (make sure to get his points though). 200 of the same would be cought by the spam filter long before it reached us.


The only thing I would like to add, but I am not sure how to phrase it, is that a lot of us are here because the content makers are bothered to make some really excellent content, and less and less of the truely creative and genious are bothered when their IP-rights are ignored. So we are left with a grid of people releasing more and more of the same stuff, and although it might be good, and sometimes great, many of the truely gifted have given up.

I'm not worried that much, the real artists do not create for money or fame (tho it's always nice in a capitalist world)

As for those threatening to leave, i'm not even waving at them, it only confirm that it's the easy money they where after, not an outlet to express their creativity.

Easy? You've got no clue.

Yeah, you've repeatedly put yourself in the "this is for hobbyists only" camp. Perhaps you could show us your favorite things in SL so we can evaluate what a hobbyist-only world would look like.

Edit: Just a totally self-serving note that this is my 1,000th post to the SL forums




This is unfeasible for any number of reasons, the first one that immediately comes to mind is that LL has absolutely no legal, ethical, or moral ground to tell people what they can or cannot code especially when such code could be used on systems outside of the SL grid.

There's also the fact that it would be unenforceable because whether an object is or isn't a "copybot like device" is a huge gray area and even if it weren't I think very few people would disagree with the statement that LL won't put the extra manpower into that type of thing unless they are legally compelled to.

Look at the DMCA, they are legally required to assign reasonable time and manpower to dealing with DMCA complaints so they can be handled quickly, that's a paraphrase but speed of response by the company is actually in the DMCA text, and LL is asking for a lawsuit because they take too long and don't have enough people working on DMCA complaints and response processing.

That may be true, but it is completely irrelevant to my point.

I can't say how it would look, art is in the eye of the beholder after all.

However creating something one day doesn't entitle you to a lifetime of annuity.
Peoples today expect that because they plopped out some shit deserve to be paid for it.
I tend to prefer hoping nothing of what i do and do what i enjoy doing.

Passed that point quite awhile ago and still haven't figured out if it was a good thing or not

Let's consider the time when copybot came out.

Two effects.

The first was an immediate, instant financial effect ~ some content creators just walked at that time, shuttering stores and abandoning land.

They felt like fools when even the weakest of inworld permissions systems was held with little regard by its own creators. The whole incident cost me, in very, very real dollars. On the order of hundreds (Caledon was much smaller then).

The second is the longer term chilling effect.

Why have permissions at all? The fact that there are permissions, and at least some attempt to uphold their integrity, is fundamental to the economy. Would you invest in dollars or pounds, if either might be worthless tomorrow? It's just paper anyway, right? If the permissions system is held in such little regard, why bring goods to Linden Research consumers?

* * * * *

Ideas and principles matter. If the permissions system is so easily circumvented with a wink and a nudge, it will screw up this platform. Not kill it off perhaps, but you'll see more abandonments, less population, less vibrancy in the market and the whole thing stalling out.

Seems that the property rights of gamers playing with 50 or 100 USD virtual swords in Warcraft are upheld far more diligently than those of us doing business valued over a thousand times that on this grid.

I have no opposition to carefully constructed tools designed to uphold what little is left of the Second Life permissions system. But when I see tools designed to defeat everything, easily, given a free pass it sends a loud, clear message. Yes, this includes all tools that exist already.

There's plenty of room for artists and open licences within the permissions system we have. You *can* release fully permissioned stuff, and that's fine. I've done it myself, and I've benefited from it myself. There's certainly a time and place for that.

But it's not for everyone, all the time. There's no need to tear down *all* the content creators that dare to wish for a little compensation for all their hard efforts. Are the permissions going to be supported, or not?

If there has been content theft to another grid, screw jurisdiction concerns and *at least* punish the thieves here, whenever they can be identified. It's common sense, and more often than not it's easy to identify the thieves, especially when they brag about it. And those instigating trouble should get the same treatment.

There's a huge difference between offering a responsible backup tool to serious content creators, and passing out like a hacker's rip tool via opensource code to every script kiddie that wants it.

* * * * *

Last point: if one does not defend one's ideas, either by copyright infringement claim, marque infringement claim or patent claim, the works rapidly fall to public domain.

Something to think about.

Good luck with your efforts, Carl.

Well-said, Desi.

How so? SI is a "copybot-like tool".

I'm thinking of writing my own letter to M, which covers my take on the subject. Something to the effect of:

"Dear M,

Regarding CopyBots, Builder's Bot, and all other third-party clients, scripts, and tools which allow content creators to legally back up, transfer, and/or copy their own content to which they have full rights or license, please consider reiterating your public stance that such tools are and will continue to be allowed to be used on the Second Life grid. In addition, all infringing use of any tool to copy/distribute content not owned or appropriately licensed by the infringer will be dealt with in a swift and severe manner, consistent with the Second Life Terms of Service (specifically section 4.2).

In addition, please make a commitment to support your content creators by acting swiftly and decisively to their properly and legally-executed DMCA claims, quickly taking down infringing content, and banning the perpetrators before they can make off with any significant proceeds from their illegal and underhanded efforts.

Lastly, please make copyright / ownership / source identification changes to the asset system as discussed here and here a top priority to help your content creators more easily uncover those infringing their legally-owned content.

In short:
1) Reiterate your public stance on the issue.
2) Make the process for content creators to have infringement removed from the grid significantly more expedient and effective.
3) Provide the tools and information necessary for content creators (and everyone in general) to quickly and easily uncover infringement.

I believe these steps are in accordance with the best interests of both Linden Lab and content creators in general.

Thank you for your time,
Talarus Luan"

Short, sweet, to the point.

Yes let's consider that time very carefully. Some did leave at that point. Top creators were all screaming that this was going to be the end. The ones that were not foolish and stuck around are now making more money then they ever did. The loss of money came from the hysteria, not the tool itself.

I am not a proponent of theft but someone needs to rise above the hysteria and point out that the majority were wrong then and they are wrong now. You and others may not take the challenge that I have proposed repeatedly to show just how simple and fast it is to copy your own items using Greenlife. I am not proposing that any give it a try with one of the tools that do not recognize permissions but take my word for it that it is just as easy. I do know because I believe in the mantra "Know thine enemy" and I tried the various tools.

So please take a moment and ask yourselves why it is that we are still here, shops are still open and people continue to sell their goods and wares. Yes there is content theft here, but it is not widespread and the majority of people are good people that do not steal, nor do the do business with people that do. The real life analogy is the TV industry when VCRs and DVD players were released. Heck of a lot of people in the industry preached that this was the end. The same can be said about the film and music industries. Yes people do pirate music and movies. But why is it that movies keep setting new box office records? Why is it that the music industry had a banner year last year??????

Human nature is the part of the equation that people keep overlooking. Anyone can go out and get a set of lock pick tools. They are legal to buy and, take only a minute to learn how to use and yet the majority do not own a set or have ever broken into a house or stolen a car. You do not stop a thief by outlawing the sale of lock pick kits or jimmy tools. Do not know about anyone here but on a couple of occasions I have helped somone at the mall by pulling a coat hanger out of my car and helping them get their car door open when they had accidently locked their keys in it. You stop theft by the threat of punishment and prosecuting the crime when it happens.

If what I have said is not true then can anyone explain why there are texture stores in Second Life? OpenGL was around before SL was and even a grade schooler can use it.

That's dangerously logical.

It has always been so easily circumvented, and you must understand that no technical solution is possible. Your proper recourse is through the legal system, against the person who did the unauthorized copying.

My views on all that are below the part you quoted.
I guess you wouldn't mind if your car keys, house keys, bank account and internet passwords were freely available, then?

This philosophy simply doesn't work for everything, and it most especially does not work in this case.

So let me get this straight

One side of this argument (argument 1) is
We cant have this uber-Copybot, because people will use it to steal everyone's stuff. Its especially important because LL doesn't give a shit about DMCAs.

The Other side (argument 2) is
Well people should be allowed to use it to copy their own stuff. Linden Labs should enforce the DMCAs swiftly.


========================

Is anyone really saying Linden Lab handles DMCA takedown notices and Trademark enforcement in a timely and reliable manner?

If not, how does Argument 2 work?

The "total security is impossible, so let's have none" argument isn't a very good one.

Why have a permissions system at all, then?

Actually I have posted here before that I have not locked my van, which is parked on the street in front of my house for over two years. I never, ever locked my house when I lived in Youngstown, OH. Never saw the point in locking the door when all anyone had to do was tap the glass on the door, reach in and turn the knob and then walk in.

Expensive cars with high tech security systems get stolen all of the time. The reason mine has not is not because of illusionary security but threat of punishment.

Now, more to the point. Did you believe like a great deal of people that when Copy Bot was released that it would be the end of content creation in SL or that stores would never be able to make money again? At that time did you believe that the top content creator stores would ever be able to continue making as much money as they did then and forget about making even more? If you did then you should have learned from your mistake. You stated that you lost money, but as I stated before, Do you dispute that the money you lost was because of the hysteria and not because of the tool itself?

I don't think anyone has ever made that argument. In fact, I am very much for the permissions system providing some measure of protection but, more importantly, DOCUMENTING the intent of the creator. If there were no permissions system, it could be argued that everything was "free", because most people wouldn't bother documenting their licenses to others. I have no illusions that the SL permissions system actually does anything more than that to prevent or "secure" content from being infringed. It's simply not a reasonable expectation.

What is being asked for here isn't "security", but "policy". A "policy" isn't going to make anything more "secure"; indeed, anyone who wants to make illegal copies of content will be able to obtain whatever tools are necessary with ease, no matter the policy proscribing such tools, rendering any such policy a waste of time, and pursuing it a waste of energy better spent elsewhere. Not only that, but the vast majority of tools have significant non-infringing uses (such as intended with Builder's Bot) that would be harmed by such policies. In my mind, that's inexcusable. If it is MY content, I should be able to use whatever tools I want with it.

Instead, I would prefer such energy spent towards better ways of documenting the specific licenses and terms of use for content, as well as better ways of detecting infringement and mitigating it swiftly and effectively. Such things will have a MUCH more dramatic impact on infringement than any policy banning tools will ever have.

ETA: With respect to the "house/car lock" analogy -- I don't expect those "security" mechanisms to offer much in the way of security. Indeed, it takes very little effort to bypass them. What I expect as their main function is to "document" or, at most, reinforce my intentions that I don't want people coming/getting inside. For real security, I have several weapons to keep myself and my family safe.

And I will reply to this same statement because everyone keeps ignoring the challenge I posted so I will make it easier. Here is the url for a legal download that respects permissions.

http://modularsystems.sl/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=1:installer-win&download=66:greenlife-emerald-1.23.4-288&Itemid=5

Install it on a different computer if you are leery and log in with an alt. Right click on an extravagant linkset that you have created and hit "More" twice in the pie menu until you see "Export" and click it. The "bad" tools do it just as easily, now explain why it is that this has not happened:


I've already explained why this stall has not happened; the majority of residents are and will always be honest.

Ever seen an old lady shoot a Ruger Redhawk 44. Magnum? I've owned that one for over 20 years and still shoot it, a 22. rifle and my trusty pellet rifle on a regular basis My daughter hasn't moved up to the Ruger yet but she is a crack shot with the other two.

Had to ROFL at this...

Just considering how many people use Freebie Skins that were originally ripped without creator permission.