The odious Copyright Protection Mark III device

I am at my wit's end with this. Every so often, over the last couple of months, when I am or an alt or my business partner is just hanging out innocently on our store land, we will get the following green message from the infamous (and ineffective) Copyright Protection device.

[10:53] Copyright Protection Version 3.001648a: !quit
[10:53] Copyright Protection Version 3.001648a: CopyBot Protection Mark III
[10:53] Copyright Protection Version 3.001648a: Featuring:- Dynamic Protection with Low Spam.

None of us has ever used this thing, and we can't figure out where the message is coming from!!! It happens when no one outside the landowning group is on the land, it happens when there are lots of shoppers around, it happens when we're doing stuff, not doing stuff, seemingly randomly, and at infrequent and irregular intervals. I hate running into this damn thing when I'm out and about, and hate the idea that our customers could periodically be spammed by it even more.

Where the hell is this message coming from? Is it coming from our parcel, or possibly a neighboring parcel? Could it be hidden in something that one of us bought? Why does it randomly send us messages? Has this happened to anyone else? Should I just be happy it's not the old style one that fills up the screen with !quit !quit !quit messages to infinity???

Well a couple of quick and dirty answers:
#1 goto a freebie shop and get the freebie object finder...or just IM me in world later and I will make one up real quick for you. Either that or you can TP me there. In any case, once there, you can use it to search fo an object "Copyright Protection Version 3.001648a" If the object is within 96m then we can find it. Once found, you can edit it, find out who the owner is and ask them politely to turn it off since it is infringing upon your customers. If they are unwilling to do so...

Step #2,
Goto Mute Object
type in the name exactly "Copyright Protection Version 3.001648a" and presto you will never hear it again as long as it is called that...or better yet, if the person was rude in thier response...simply mute the owner and you shall never hear anything owned by them again.

The problem with suggestion 1 is that the device in question randomly changes its name after every IM is sent (and the messages are IMs, so listener scripts won't work), specifically to defeat scanners.

Mute probably works, but with the number of these things still out there, your mute list will get very long indeed.

The best trick I know of is to go to an area where those things regularly operate, and log out before it sends you the message, with your IMs set to go to email. When it sends the IM to you, the email will contain the coordinates of the object sending the IM.

The passage below is from a thread with a similar problem.


I think SLProxy might be able to help.

/327/cf/236348/1.html



/327/d9/238238/1.html

Yes, Day is here with me and my alt and has just recommended SL Proxy. We haven't seen the evil message again yet. I think I'll try that.

While the freebie object finder is an awesomely colorful accessory, it hasn't had success in locating the problem.

As I understand it, these objects actually change their names specifically to avoid detection. That's what makes them "Advanced".

The SLProxy solution is really the only thing that's going to help. These objects are Instant Messaging you, so no "script" can hear them. If it's any help, these usually look like little silver pyramids with the top cut off, and kind of resemble a kitchen appliance.

If you want to locate them faster, use an alternate account. From what I suspect, the device has a list that it keeps of the last "X" number of people it's spammed, and once it's spammed them it doesn't do it again until they're bumped off the list again.

It's ironic that SLProxy can locate them. Once again proving that these things never helped stop Copybot. Once copybot was programmed to ignore the word "!quit" it could actually use these IMs to locate a place that was "worried about content theft"... like a shark smelling blood in the water.

Someone asked me recently where I got this from, I haven't got a bloody clue and didn't place it anywhere but it's most definitely around!

I could tell you who sells it.. but yah. Locate it, and Abuse-Report it for spamming you and your guests. Have all your friends Abuse Report it as well.

I'm back and doing more exploring. Day Oh has my eternal gratitude for showing me how to use SLProxy. I'm flying around neighboring properties with an alt who hasn't been hit with that message in a while and still not getting it again. It's frustrating - now that I have a tool that can help me find the offending object, it's not talking to me anymore!

Here is what I am wondering. There are several cushy private residences adjacent to our store that have banlines and limited access to selected residents. I suspect that people who are paranoid enough to put banlines around their property may also be paranoid enough to use copybot protectors. Though to be fair to them, perhaps they're just afraid our customers are going to go rampaging into their private homes. Does anyone think it's possible that when their visitors are visiting them, it's kicking the copybot protection message to everyone within shouting range, somehow? Even though it should just be IM'ing the people on their property? Perhaps I should see if any of these parcels have people on them during the times I get these messages. I've tried hovering over the banlines on all 3 properties and the message doesn't kick in, so maybe it's not them, though.

Easiest way is to find who the owner is and mute them. Not the best of solutions but effective. These things will even announce across sim borders... Totally annoying.

YES! I mean NO! Something finally happened! I got the evil text!

It's not in my sim at all, I don't think - the coordinates given are on protected Linden land and there's nothing there. The SLProxy gives some sort of code for the region ID, but I can't interpret it!

Which makes me wonder, WHY on earth am I getting these messages for a sim that I'm not even in?

An easy way to look up the region name by its UUID is like this:
http://world.secondlife.com/region/56ded31a-e111-b386-5059-e6412c374a4c

Winter, somebody still *sells* this?

My suggestion was going to be that we create a jira asking that it and its ilk be asset blacklisted, so they could never be rezzed again and all extant copies would go away. But if somebody is actually still *selling* it...

(boggles)

I FOUND THE DAMN THING!!!

It is in the region of Bissorte, which only touches my sim of Lilypad at one corner. Not one to give up, I TP'd my alt to the coordinates given at all of the neighboring sims (202, 101, 135), and when I landed at this parcel, I was greeted with the unfriendly message, multiple times.

Of course it's a rental parcel, so I can't tell who owns the device, and the security system has a 5 SECOND warning so I can't get close enough to it yet to identify and mute the owner and AR the damn thing. But you better believe I will find a way!

Even before I finish typing this, I have gone just outside the range of the security system and found the item. Thanks, Winter, for telling me what they look like. You better believe I'm AR-ing this. It should not be sending messages to everyone on my parcel in another sim!

Of course the way LL responds to AR's, I'll probably have to log in all my alts individually to do this so it gets attention. Even then, who knows if it'll get a response.

I highly recommend SL Proxy for your information-gathering needs.

What the region uuid and the coordinates?

http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=195621

Though that one is no longer for sale, it is the one most likely the culprit in this case.

The one thing I think the creator should have done was to put in a way for her to locate the objects and convince others to discontinue using them.

As you can see from the discussions about the product, that is not likely to happen, though. :-/

I did a search on SLX, and I didn't see any more of these copybot protectors for sale, so if there is someone out there selling them still, they at least are not trying for mass distribution.

I knew I should have asked you how to find that! I was so hopped up though that I had to TP around to cool off. Thanks again for all of your help with this!

I think I need to go to bed now. It's been a rough day all around!

Thanks! I'd forgotten that SLX comments could be such a rich source of hilarity. I've not enjoyed myself quite so much since that same scripter's name appeared on the "Upper Echelon of SL Scripters" list, helpfully supplied to the Scripting Tips forum by--what a coincidence!--someone who left comments on SLX.