Permissions in the long term...

I'm sort of new, so i'm sorry if this has been discussed to death... but...

Something's been bugging me since i started playing last week. If something can be rendered on the client side, won't some techie/exploiter be able to reproduce it at some point, regardless of whether it's set to "no copy?"

Since i started checking out what SL was about, i've seen talk about how Linden wants to make the protocols more open, and wants it become some sort of standard for a 3D world.... i've even seen testimonials by folks who say that the whole experience reminds them of when they first picked up Mosaic Web Browser, when that first came out.

But as the protocols open up more and more, won't there eventually be more 3rd party utilities that can rip content... or even a sort of "browser war" with some clone of the client that doesn't abide by the Linden rules?

Already in this forum i've seen posts about texture ripping (via libsecondlife?) and about copying objects "by the numbers." As time progresses won't all that stuff be automated and accessible?

Has Linden Labs created a economy based on artificial limits (copy protections) that will eventually crash and burn?

To me it seems that at some point they're going to have to choose between:

1. Locking down and making themselves less viable as a universal standard.
2. Opening up and letting the whole economy crash.

Or am i totally off base?

You are right, anything that renders in your client can be intercepted. It is impossible to fully protect the geometry of objects, or the textures on them. Scripts run server side, so they're a little more secure.

To fully protect any creation, you really do need to look at RL cover, such as trademarks, copyright, etc. :/

Consider everything you make, upload, create in Second Life as sharing with everyone around.
Dont get mad, depressed or whiny about it because thats just how it is

ALL YOUR BASE BELONGS TO US!


Noone can steal talent and skill tho, if you have enough of that you will make some fair cash and never be bored enough to cry about the above

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I think opening up everything is the way to go. I just hope people are aware that the permissions are an artificial limit that might be breeched somewhere down the road.

I just worry about... well yesterday I saw a post by someone who was talking about building things in SL as a fulltime job. If someone writes slcopycat.exe he might not make RL rent. :hrug::

What's the impression that you longtimers have? Are people aware of that sort of possibility?

Because, i mean... i don't know if folks are being mislead by that little checkbox. I'm sure LL has covered themselves somewhere in the Terms of Service, otherwise they'd get sued into the ground, but most folks don't read that sort of thing. (i know i don't =))

Anyways... maybe in the future LL could change their business model to include _real_ intellectual property protections... offer a package deal -- "40 acres and an IP Lawyer."

What about the misquote police? All your base ARE belong to us. Pshaw!