Copybot

I bet he cannot name 1 person that can be verified to have left SL because of Copy Bot.

*Off topic* Outside of a military unit, there are NO legitimate uses of guns, IMO, except for looking cool in historical Wild West movies.

Back on topic.

I doubt you would be saying that if you were woken from your midnight sleep to hear strangers rummaging through your belongings while your wife and kids were sound asleep.

There are so many LEGITIMATE uses of guns and reasons to own one.

If you want to make a gun argument/discussion - start a new thread.

I *think* he was being sarcastic and trying to show why the anti-libsecondlife/copybot arguments are ignorant and condescending. I've never met an army guy who wasn't into guns and usually had a few laying around the house. The same with cops often being NRA members who respect the responsible and legal use of potentially dangerous tools.

I might be going out on a skinny, rotten limb, though.

House construction?

Edit: yes, people have been killed by nailguns.

That wouldn't be legitimate use of a nailgun, would it?

Incompetent, perhaps, even negligent, but not legitimate.

Ephraim: you're muddying the waters, mixing imponderables, and I dare say mixing muddy ponderables! And you know what they say about muddy ponderables. They say, if you're not part of the solution you're part of the precipitate. And speaking of precipitation, they also way into every life a little rain must fall, which is probably how the waters got muddy in the first place.

I actually don't think it's the issue of Copybot itself. And there are def valid uses for it on our own work.

However, it's the issue of when it IS used maliciously, or to defraud, or infringe and so forth. Linden seem to struggle with (a) proving it and (b) actioning a ban against the alt used and the main account per the TOS.

That's the part that demotivates creators I suspect. It certainly does me. Also, Linden have the issue of the false claim. You only have to read the fashion blogs etc to see how many *cry wolfs* there are, and photo sourcing confusion over copying. Until they have a method to prove it, and also work with the idiotic DMCA format it's going to always be a tough one.

"copybot" is not the issue. Even without copybot, everything it does would still be possible, using some tool or another. Targeting the tool is not like banning guns, it's like banning Glocks and Colts without touching any other arms manufacturers.

i blame 9/11

The import and export commands of TestClient (comes with the libsecondlife package) can be used for copybotting

There's a few issues being brought up here:

• The questionable use of Copybot

• How to avoid 'inventory death'

• Where to find such a program

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I'll try to answer these as best I can. Let me start off by saying hi, the name is Abrah, and I'm the Public Relations Manager for Inventory Backup.

Some quick background information on Inventory Backup:

• I.B. was developed on the same fundamentals that Second Inventory was created on.
• I.B. was created as a cost-effective alternative that did the job without sacrificing power.
• There are two variants of I.B., allowing users to access backup potential without paying more than they need to.
• I.B. has been successfully in business since October 2008.

THE QUESTIONABLE USE OF COPYBOT

This has been in doubt and debate since it's initial entrance into SL. The basic problem everyone has with copybot is that it can be used to copy someone's stuff without their knowledge/permission. This, of course, is against the TOS and will get you a ban in SL.

However, LauraP Linden made a comment back in April of 2008 that there -were- legitimate uses for copying programs within SL, and it was the infringement on permissions that wouldn't be tolerated. This is a very fair assessment, and I fully agree and commend LauraP and LL for their stance on this subject.

So while ANY copying program remains controversial, it is legal if used within the confines set up by LauraP.

HOW TO AVOID INVENTORY DEATH

Isn't that the question? Copybot's initial creation was as a debugging tool, nothing more. It's later uses were to avoid inventory death, and then someone got the wise idea to harass people -- and that's what we remember.

Avoiding inventory death isn't possible. Sorry. However recovering from it is, and there are programs out there which help in this recovery. Inventory Backup takes objects and prims and sculpties from in-world and writes them into XML on your hard drive, allowing you to have a permanent copy of your item. If it dies, you simply import that same XML file into Second Life again and everything is well.

Skins, clothing, prims, complex objects, sculpties, certain scripts, and more - with Inventory Backup, almost everything within your inventory can be backed up!

WHERE TO FIND SUCH A PROGRAM

If you search in Second Life "Inventory Backup" then you'll find our shop, it's humble, but it doesn't need to be extravagant.

You'll see a laptop and that's how you get it. It's symbolic to the I.B. team because that's actually the first laptop we ran and tested the program out on, so we thought it'd be nice to bring it on in to SL.

Many people ask, "Well how do I get the program once I pay?"

Upon payment you will get:

• A Proof of Purchase
• A note card

The proof of purchase is no copy, no mod. It is the truest form of "unique" one can have in SL, and if a customer loses their program and needs a new copy, or wants to upgrade, they need to present their proof of purchase.

The note card contains a user name and a password to our Members Only section, as well as the link to our FTP site to download the program.

Due to piracy, this link changes once a week or so, so customers who lose their copy of the program need to keep their proof of purchase if they need a new copy later down the road, after their initial link has changed.

We do offer free upgrades when one becomes available.

If you have any questions, please shoot me an IM in SL, same name.

Or you can email [email]Inventorybackup@gmail.com[/email].

(I usually dont check these forums, so any questions or comments please send them directly to me. Thanks!)

How did I know the example would somehow bring up a debate on Gun Control? But the parallel is precisely the same -- some believe it's a right with legitimate purposes, others do not. The constitution says it is, DESPITE the fact that some will misuse that right, and the product.

Less controversial is the VCR analogy -- and no, it's not apples to oranges. It is precisely the same. Movies are copyrighted material -- do we want to see VCRs (or DVD recorders/players) banned from sale because some people will commit a crime with them? Or do we punish those who DO use them inappropriately and commit crimes with them, instead?

Tried to install an unlicensed version of PShop in the last couple of years? I've gone round and round with Adobe, trying to activate a *cough* questionable version of the program on a third computer. Microsoft Office is the same way. I tried to install an old MS Office 2003 disc the other day and it told me, "you've installed this on as many machines as we're going to let you, sweetcakes."

I hate paying a thousand bucks (or even a couple of hundred) for a piece of software. But for a lot of programs, it's the only game in town. If you wanna play, you gotta pay.