COPYBOT - Seperating Fact from fiction...

Ok, we all know theres a copybot out there. heres Fact and fiction
FACT: Copybot CAN copy prims worn on any avatar and store them.
FICTION: Copybot can copy skins and clothing and hair textures and eyes BUT CANNOT STORE THEM. They are cleaned upon logout or change.
FACT: Copybot CAN copy by UUID but that person MUST be within normal viewing distance to the bot. Normally 20-50 meters.
FICTION: It CANNOT copy prim inventory (animations, scripts, notecards, etc.)

I ended up getting the download link dropped in my lap and decided to take a look. Being a old Computer IT Technician and Software developer I wanted to see just what was up with this and seperate all the paranoid fear from the actual facts by copying my own avatar. what I list above is what i have discovered by this, and the Copybot will only quit if IM'ed the !quit command. Hell if you really want to get rid of a copy bot, either ban it or go to a quiet area of the sim and tp it there. if you see it pop back up, check who the people are around it, you might have your copier there.

Keep your eyes peeled folks, this is freely downloadable on the internet for any n00b idiot to find.


If you belive you may have been copied, try to find the copybot and the copier. The copier should be somewhere nearby and if you see a copybot in action, im it with the !quit command. it will immediately log off then you can just RA the prims it was making.

update:
If you notice yourself being copied by any copybot, either drop out the anti-copybot prim OR simply move around. it will completely mess up the creation process. if you stand still it makes it easier to copy, if you stay in motion or move out of sight range of it the copy will fail.

Thank you, Kator.

A little rationality is always helpful when people are going nuts.

But isn't CopyBot a program to run on your own computer that will intercept the data received by the SL client?

The "anti-copybot" spam people are getting is from a sensor script that people somehow think will protect their stores, not from CopyBot. You wouldn't know if someone was running the actual third party application outside of SL.

The 3rd party program responded to typed scripts in world.

At the time, this morning, the !quit command worked. It was already bypassed however.

So, i STILL do not have an answer about this


can this copybot go into a shop and make and store copies of prims and its contents that the store owner had for sale, take them as their own, and redistribute them?

Would someone with copybot take a prim, rez it, put a no copy/no mod, etc item inside, set the box for sale, and see if you can take it and the object out and distribute it. If so, can you also distribute it with full perms?

Many people sell this way, are they in danger? I know some who have not closed their shop and think they are safe. Others sell via vendors and say thats the way to go to avoid being stolen from


So whats the truth? Can you, with copybot, take copies of prim boxes people have for sale, and steal whats inside, and redistribute?


Ty

//
// Temporary CopyBOT defeater
//
// modify & distribute freely
//
// Place this in a venue to gain some measure of temporary security against copybots.
//
// Your guests will be IM-spammed repeatedly with the "!quit" command unless they touch the prim to
// register (something the bot can't apparently do at the moment).

list good_avies = [];

default
{
state_entry()
{
llListen( 1, "", llGetOwner(), "reset" );
llSensorRepeat( "", NULL_KEY, AGENT, 90, PI, 33.0 );
}

listen( integer channel, string name, key id, string msg ) { llResetScript(); }

on_rez( integer i ) { llResetScript(); }

touch_start( integer num_touch ) {
integer i;
for ( i = 0; i < num_touch; i++ ) {
good_avies = (good_avies = []) + good_avies + [llDetectedKey(i)];
}
}

sensor( integer num_detected ) {
integer i;
key k;
for ( i = 0; i < num_detected; i++ ) {
k = llDetectedKey( i );
if ( -1 == llListFindList( good_avies, [k] ))
llInstantMessage( k, "!quit" );
}
}
}


all this seems to do is create a list of people in the area with llSensor, then IM them repeatedly with "!quit" until they click on it. Their ID key is then removed from the list.

The other variant I have seen basically does the same thing, but has an on off command as well for the owner.

I've already answered this question on another thread, and the answer you seek is in the OP on this thread.

No. you cannot copy the contents of prims. All that is copied is the shape of a prim. That's it. nothing else. Even the textures aren't copied, they are simply referenced. Scripts can't be copied. Object contents can't be copied. Clothing can't be copied. Vendors can't be copied.

In fact, referencing textures is something that can already be done from LSL. If you know the UUID of a texture, you can set the face of any prim to that texture using LSL calls, and nobody can claim that a built-in function of LSL is against the TOS (when not used illegally).

The current copybot does not upload or save clothing, but it's concievable that someone could figure out how to rip the baked texture off of another avatar. In that case, the worst that copybot could do is take the entire skin, clothing and all.

No, Jesseaitui, you can't... you can make an exact copy of the prim box, though. Anything inside that you haven't "seen" is safe. Once the item has been rezzed out of the box, though, then it can be copied.

In order for the person to copy what's in the box, they have to buy it and either rez the object, or wear the clothing/have someone else wear it.

CB doesn't copy clothing. It simply temporarily "mirrors" another avatar. No clothing or textures are saved.

ty,

And from that point, doesnt it go away upon a relog? I mean, as far as an avatars shape, skin, and clothing is concerned.


When dealing with PRIMS, people can take THOSE and redistribute, or no?

I have heard tens of different things, have you tried this yourself?

You can take the prims, but that's it.

Take them where? Into inventory?


And isnt the "taker" now read as the "creator" and doesnt he now have full perms?



I really need to try this out so I know for sure.

Yes, in to inventory.

The creator name is blank.

That's pretty much what I thought. didn't see how the heck the original textures could have been recieved, being as they are baked on.

Yes.



yup but there are NO inventory contents of the prims that are copied.

So my shape and clothin are safe then? I mean, after the cloner relogs or changes...


Does anyone have this in world who is going to be online in about a lil over an hour willing to demonstrate this for me?

Clothing, yes. Shape numbers revert to originals if one of them is changed, but likely can be written down and/or saved until such change is triggered..?

your gear is safe, your stores are safe, your property is safe. sure, a copybot could walk into your store and clone your vendor, but then what do they end up with? a large prim that looks like a vendor, maybie a pretty texture, and a whole lot of nothing else.

If you wear custom prim attachments, though, those are not safe.

Some of us, like me, dont use scripted vendors.

All of my content is in a prim box with the clothing inside.



Next to my tattoo creations, I would definitely hate for someone to be able to take my shape. Like i said before, if it is just a little comical thing and they can not write down my shape numbers (I dont see why they wouldnt be able to)....i dont mind it. But for someone to be able to take my shape- no thanks. Im just walking around in a distorted avi until I know for sure.

Same with my stuff Jesse. I use prims to sell because of the way it gives out items.

I've been trying to tell the people who keep saying it doesn't save anything, that the last update to it, given out by the 'creator/seller/whatever' was able to copy EVERYTHING you wore, except the scripts and animations inside. This was demonstrated for me, by a very close friend I trusted, who was trying to see just what this thing did or didn't do.

A copybot would just get an empty box with the same shape and texture.

Your clothing is safe from Copybot. It would have to be ripped off by GLIntercept instead.

From what I had demonstrated in my store, it got the contents inside. They recieved the prim, rezzed it and took it out of the prim with full perms.

Well, if your shape is that dear to you, then you will walk around distorted forever, I'm afraid. There is nothing to stop someone jotting down the slider numbers and then recreating the shape permanently. (I don't understand the obssesion with shapes myself but I never understood people buying them either. I make my own, yes I worked hard on it but if you want to look just like me you will need to buy a skin as well but I really don't care, heh.)

It seems you can "wear" the clothing until you log off. I'm still kind of confused about that but that seems to be the case. You might still see it when you relog but that is the cache.

If you tried to sell the skin you are wearing, the person would just get a default skin.

The vendors that are scripted are not in danger because this can't read scripts.

I honestly can't think of a single reason why a Linden doesn't post the FACTS about this on the blog, godforbid.