A need for correctly identifing the problem.

Dear Linden Lab,

After just reading, and commenting, on the blog entry about what Linden Lab is plannig to do about "grey goo" attacks, I have two simple questions;

1) When is Linden Lab going to properly identify the problem and find a solution to it?

"Grey goo" is not the problem. It is a by-product of the problem. The problem is that there is no accountability of Resident Accounts. Ever since Open Registration on 6-6-06, things have gotten worse. Yes, I've heard the old arguments that "statistically" things are just peachy. Well, numbers lie.

Statistically the percentage of griefing and DoS attacks may have gone down. The reality is that the number has skyrocketed. It has lowered some after an initial spike, but has resumed a steady climb as of late. I attest this to the stupid being weeded out fairly quickly, leaving only the more devious malcontents behind.

SL can not use CC information for verification anymore. The cultural pool from which SL Residents come from is too broad. Many countries make it difficult or near impossible for even a person over eighteen to obtain one.

There must be other means. CC and PayPal are the fastest. Could phone numbers be used if Residents call into LL? What about photocopied photo IDs?

2) Has Linden Lab even looked into these possibilities?

With Linden Lab on the verge of throttleing the LSL, and/or segragating the Residents into "Trusted" and "Non-Trusted", we are entering into very dangerous waters. Changing the LSL is sure to break legit scripts. It already has with this last attack (yes I know it's temp, but I'm not sure ALL the temp problems will be temp. Some are showing signs of far reaching problems). Restricting Residents on what parts of the LSL they can use is even more of a time bomb.

I ask, not for a short "We are doing all we can." answer. I ask for a detailed answer to both questions, and would request a complete outline of what Linden Lab is looking into and working on for this issue. Even if it is things that may not be, it will allow us, your customers, to see that something is being done, and done correctly.

Thank you,
~Jessy

Jessy, as these are very powerful and relevant issues to all of us -- I've personally already asked that future progress on how we deal with "grey goo/grid attacks" be shared straight from the expertise of the developers. This includes concerns about scripting restrictions. So I'd look forward to blog entries with details, similar to how there've already been technical info posts (from Kelly and Zero and more) about the inner workings of Second Life.

Re: registration, Robin made some related posts also in Linden Answers, like:

/139/ef/141680/1.html#post1303097

And in addition, we continue to examine registration possibilities open to us in general. Particularly in the area of being able to transport your Second Life name across Resident-run sites on the Internet via a "Registration API" of sorts. This is tentative and I do not have further info at this time, but will gladly communicate it when it does become available.