What will get banned next?

The above statement is perfect, and to me this is a big problem in mobilizing action in SL. People here seem to think that SL has to respond like a government, addressing the needs of the people, due to some sort of social contract. They attempt to solve problems here like they do with their home governments in RL, and this myth is cherished by LL because it means the people are powerless.

If we want Freedom here, we have to think boycott not protest. We have to think press release not legislation. Address this thing for what it truely is, business practices we don't like, not laws that are unfair. Hit LL in the pocket book and all of a sudden,, LL will move to an offshore space and tells the different governments that would seek to ban ageplay or gambling to go jump in a lake.

However, if I remember a concierge meeting I read the transcript of back in November, LL may have already done so in one fashion. According to Cory Linden, LL will open source its server software sometime in 2007 or 2008. No date was given but is was part of the eventual plan, as was open sourcing the viewer. Supposedly there would be some sort of agreement with Linden Labs were fees could be paid to LL to join to the grid but it would otherwise be build your own sim. If this happens, I'm sure LL can find some wiggle room in a TOS to immunize themselves against prosecution over what happens on these private server sims. Not to mention, if worse comes to worse, they can be housed in offshore jurisdictions, a fee could be paid to LL for use of the code, but a seperate grid for maingrid banned stuff could be constructed. This might be a solution. A maingrid in California that is disnified, serving business and education and mindless consumers looking for mainstream games, and a second, feaky-deaky, grid of sin, for those who play harder than the rest.

Or maybe instead of trying to cuase LL trouble; Respect their need to make business decisions. Complain to them through whatever internal medium is availible (such as here), but dont try to give them a black eye with the press.

And if the lack of freedom becomes too much vote with your virtual feet and go elsewhere.

Aldous Huxley and perhaps even HG Wells would applaud your brave new world, but I don't think it is any closer to reality than thiers were. No matter where the servers originate, residents will still be bound by whatever laws their governments see fit to impose. Americans can't go into Casino's, Dutch or French can't go into Ageplay areas, Germans can't go into areas displaying Nazi Symbols (remeber it is a totally open world) Chinese and North Koreans can't go anywhere. A nice idea, but I don't see it happening.

I do believe we can influence the providers to a small degree by how and where we spend our Quatloos especially in regards to premiums.

If the servers go open source, there's nothing to stop someone opening a competing grid in a country that doesn't care about gambling, ageplay or licensing of the code. LL could be left standing while any fees due would be completely uncollectable.
Throw in some well paid, well trained coders to fix everything that's wrong with SL, and a working customer support service, a lot of people would be walking out the door.
It's not even as if LL has a great reputation built on trust that a cowboy operation would lack.

It doesn't make a lot of business sense for LL to allow that to happen.

Perhaps-

Its also important to remember Linden Labs was a venture to prove out a system of networking.

Second Life was the software to show the hardware system could work.

Maybe they only want to sell the technology and not run the Second World.

Sure it does. LL owns the code to it's server. Anyone who it grants access to the code can be charged a fee. Even if they open their own grid, the fact that they built the grid on the SL code would require a kickback for LL. It would also free LL from liablity if the new grids created allowed gambling or ageplay or Nazi worship, etc. It's the beauty of Open Sourcing. There is an acronym I am forgetting at the moment, but it basicaly means you can copy an opensource code, but if you build or tweek it, the company that open sourced it for you can demand payment. It's some form of copywrite that works differnetly than traditional copywrite, but is still enforcible under the laws of most nations.

As for being obligated to obey your country's laws, there are always hackers and crackers who can find a way around them. If I live in the US and know the right websites I can download software to bounce my IP to another nation and gamble my soul away, then scrub free my harddrive. I am personally not very into gambling. I occassionally play slot machines, but only out of bordem and never more than 25 linden at a time. I am not into ageplay either, nor am I a Nazi, but I don't trust my government not to make the things I am into illegal. If they did, well, I recently started reading up on Linux.

Yea, I started looking into linux myself. I will hold off converting until there is a linux client released.

They could charge for access to the code, but then look at the whole "warez" scene. Anywhere someone tries to charge for access to software or code, someone else is out there giving it away for free. Even the most obscure and specialised software turns up in a ripped form.

Sure you get the companies who need to be above board licensing the code, but that doesn't stop the unlicensed ones taking a major slice of the pie and reducing the number who are willing to enter the market.
It does happen, check out the estimated revenue of allofmp3 ($30m/year) and the claims about their lack of licensing. Any big money service will draw in a lot of cowboys.

What is it about linux anyway? In the hands of a beginner, it's going to be as insecure as windows and if the government really wants to see what you are up to they will do, no matter what OS you use. It might keep out the casual snooper, but plenty of linux boxes have been exploited in the past by even the newest script kiddies. Not that I'm against linux, I use it on all my webservers, just be aware that it isn't magic.

Thinks to self..."Thank GOD age play is banned... Some sick puppies out there in the world."

The main Open Source license do not allow that; once you release it under something like the GPL you have no control over the code. They could try using some "Visible But Not Free to Use Source" license, but that's really no different from a traditional licensing model. And honestly... why pay for LL's server code and invest all that effort cleaning it up when it really needs a group-up rewrite anyway?

*does a little dance and locks the thread*

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