live helpers/mentors

are live helpers and mentors allowed to do and act however they wish when they are not "on duty"?

Basically, I recently discovered a person who is a member of both of the groups has been selling many freebie items as well as other items by other creators at a far higher price than the original designer sells for.

To me, this seems like a very underhanded and greedy thing to do for someone who is supposed to "represent the community and linden labs" and is one of the first people that many noobs come in contact with. It just does not seem right to me. I've done all I could do, which is notify as many of the original designers that they are having their items resold...

I would have lost respect for the person doing this, but I had very little respect for them to begin with...

acturaly im not suprized.

!

You can also file an abuse report for each and every item being resold.

Additionally, drop Jeska Linden an IM. If these allegations are true, I doubt very much that they will be around much longer as a volunteer.

Before I state my question - let me make it clear that I feel its absolutely, positively morally wrong to intentionally 'sell' items intended to be freebies by their creator.

However...

Is it a specific TOS/CS Violation?

If the item is set as 'transferrable' - and providing the individual isn't selling them at the WA - can this trigger a sanction under the TOS/CS as written today?

I'm asking - because I'm curious whether we're mixing the difference between something that is morally wrong, and an actual TOS violation.

And if we're not - and it is actualy a TOS/CS violation (I couldn't find it) - all the better.

It's a tricky question.

Technically, if otherwise unmarked or unmentioned, something with full perms is resellable.

If something though has been specifically marked as "freebie", that's an implicit license to use, distribute, but not sell. I believe Lindens have come down on freebie resellers in the past, but don't quote me.

It's a copyright violation. they can DMCA you.

I'm not a lawyer, but you do have legal options here. Linden Lab, as a US-based internet service provider, is obligated to comply with DMCA takedown notices. According to that page, they don't accept takedown notices by email unless there's been a prior arrangement, but if you feel like sending them a letter or fax, they'll get on it.

There are several different standard licensing agreements for scripts (GPL, LGPL, BSD license, etc.) and for all other freely distributable content, one of the Creative Commons licenses. You can specify whether or not you wish people to be able to create derivative works, to freely distribute your work, or to even sell it. There are options to cover most of your bases.

By explicitly spelling out your work's licensing agreement, you avoid the "I didn't know I couldn't do that" argument while simultaneously making it obvious when someone is infringing upon your work. (Copyright is explicitly granted, but by distributing a copyable, editable object in SL, I believe you could potentially be open to legal problems as a result.)

If you want to attach a license to your "various shades of free" works, you can find out how to do it, as well as which ones do what you want at the Creative Commons site.