Have you closed your store because of CopyBot?

Im so glad this link was posted which further shows that libSL is not good for SL in its current form and membership. I hope all the lib SL supporters read this as it clearly shows that some members of libSL should not be allowed to continue with thier work and LLs should tighten up security around libsl.

Thanks Cristiano for posting this link

I expect him to rent me an appartment with locks fitted & I don't expect him to then hand the keys to a thief.

I can't see why some people seems to assume that because copybot exists everyone is going to go and get it and use it to steal stuff. It suggests a very jaundiced view that all people who play SL are at heart thieves, and will steal if they have a chance.

No one has ever once said that EVERYONE will go and steal, then if that statement were true, all of us against it would be using it too. A small minority can ruin it for the majority.

I think most of us are indicating a jaundiced view of the libSL team who have abused the trust put in them by LL, and of LL themselves for working against the TOS we had to agree to ourselves and negligently allowed a situation where the content created by their paying customers has been needlessly exposed to risk.

CopyBot may be new... but the risk itself is not new nor is it needless. It has been with us since the beginning of SL.

Yes, LibSL made a serious error in judgement... particularly since the furor over the prim "mirror"ing script that came out a few months ago caused such an extreme reaction.

People are finding out there is no easter bunny and they're mad as hell.

We can't just make one up to fix the problem.

But that is the crux of the situation there Jopsy. It was the same people screaming then. "OMG SL is never going to be the same and we are never going to make money anymore" when prim mirror was released. It does not matter that Jeffrey was nice and changed the code in the forum. The script is still in SL and has been. But I have not heard any complaints from anyone that prim mirror killed thier business. But look at what did happen instead: Stores have been making more money then they did before, sales did not drop off.

The only thing that is going to hurt sales now is the creators who are putting up the copybot defenders everywhere THAT DO NOT WORK and spamming thier customers. I refuse to go to any store that uses one.

We HAVE closed our store and suspended SLExchange purchases, though we will continue to honor any outstanding gift certificates for the foreseeable future.

HOWEVER, we have not closed to protect our product line. We have closed in protest of LL's poor handling of this situtation, and the entire "We can't protect you 100% so we're not going to protect you even 1%" attitude that LL seemingly has adopted. We are also disturbed by the "sue the infringers" attitude, which clearly suggests that LL is NOT interested protecting small businesses in SL that cannot possibly justify pursuing legal action in the face of cost/benefit analyses. Simply put, LL is favoring major businesses (like IBM and Dell) who CAN afford to pursue such legal action, and telling the rest of us that we don't matter.

Again, we ARE NOT asking for 100% protection. We are asking for a reasonable amount of protection that does not put tools of copyright infringement in the hands of the ENTIRE population of SL (should they choose to obtain it). We can fight the single hacker. We cannot fight a battle against the hoards that could potentially put copyBot to illegal use.

Kam

You really are a poor judge of people, I'm afraid. The whole "fear of not making money" thing completely explains the 20+ people running around SL with a copy of every tattoo I had online at the time I GAVE them out. Oh yeah, it's really about the money... /sarcasm
I'm more apt to hand out freebies to friendly residents who appreciate my work than I would be to stand there and watch someone fork over L$ for something I have up for sale.
Labeling content creators "pissy" for not wanting their hard work ripped and copied a million times tho is pretty lame, man. Like you said, LL left the onus of protecting ones investments to us, not them.

EDIT: Great post Kam

Pretty much the same thing they were telling us when they raised island prices.

It could be argued that the prim mirror required (If I remember right) that 1) possession of the object to be mirrored.. and 2) that the object be mod-enabled in the first place... even with those conditions the panic and witchhuntery was extreme because the mob was rallied and essentially chanting... "damn the facts... This Must Be Stopped!"

If LL is going to abide by real US&international copyright law with regards to our intellectual property... then that means abiding by it. Not "no copy under any circumstances ever" law because we demand it. Either the laws transcend SL.... or they exists only within SL. I don't see how they can mix effectively.




Ditto! And if someone comes by spouting !quit's at me... it's time to use the ignore filter.

Agreed here, I logged in today, after being off sick while all this Blew up. The first place i went to that was Not my Home, I was innundated with !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, !Quit, .......................................................

Irritating, Isn't it?

Needless to say, I Left.
I messaged the Land Owner (A friend of mine) that the Copybot as it stands now is No Longer defeated by this, and he should just turn off Build on his Land.

If i go to a Club, or Gathering place to Meet and talk to people i don't want this annoying back Buzz going all the Time, NOR do i want to have to Fill up my Mute List with all the Name variations for this device either.

Angel/

I haven't closed my store, Lunar Studios, to satisfy copybot. Besides, who would want to steal my crappy creations? ^.^

Copybot is scaring everyone too much. people need a spine.

I closed two of my stores for two days, so they were closed during Phillip's Town Hall meeting, in protest. I have re-opened them now.

Indeed. The irony is, that the LEGITIMATE users will all have versions that are compliant with !quit.. while the criminals will be the ones using the altered code. Another case of "if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns".

I think it's amusing that so many people, afraid that piracy might cause a drop in sales, closed their stores, guarenteeing a drop in sales. It's rather like cutting off your own arm to avoid breaking a fingernail.

I also find it amusing that so many people are sure they can't make money if other people can copy their products easily. It was 1986 the first time I logged into a BBS and discovered they were running a copy of software I wrote, and they hadn't paid for it. It is, and always has been, easy for people to make copies of my products. Bill Gates became the richest man in the world selling products that could be easily copied (and frequently were). If you can't make money in this environment, I'm sorry, but that's your fault, not LL. Millions of us have been doing it successfully for decades, so don't pretend it can't be done and blame your own failures on others.

Yes, people will pirate your products. People will even resell knock-offs. This happens to every successful product in the world. Welcome to the real world of business, people. Now, either act like real businesspeople and forge ahead, or quit and find another job, but stop whining about the fact that you have to play by the same rules as everyone else, or pretending that LL can somehow wave a magic wand to exempt you from the realities of business that no one else has been able to solve for decades (if not longer).

If you instead choose to cut off your own arm, that's your choice, but please stop pretending that if you decide to make that choice, it's anyone's fault but your own. Your over-reaction to having to do business in the same environment millions of us have had to live with for decades doesn't earn you any sympathy from us. Your success or failure is still in your own hands, if you choose to fail, so be it.

I, for one, have been selling products that could be easily copied for 20 years, and I'm not going to stop now. It makes me too much money to give it up.

Neo Japan Store and Red Dragon Markets, Silk Waters Market and such are open as usual.. and I have not changed anything. I see some market traders have closed down temporary but very few.

I am not well read on this and do not understand the issue except that the name CopyBot gives a clue. If someone copies my entire range of goods, well.. after 3 years here I make very little real money in 1st life terms from SL, and spend most I make on sponsoring projects, newbie housing, free markets and such and the rest my income comes from my own modest talent in landscaping. I doubt anyone can make themselves rich by copying my objects and at least I have the skill to make many more fine objects and they would not.

so business.. ( as it is... ) as usual for me

I don't like idea to give into virtual terrorism.