money pyramid objects secure? can owners be robbed?

Hello,

Are the money pyramid objects secure? They work something like this.. Person A pays $200L to get object, $100L goes to owner B, $50L goes to next previous owner C, $30 goes to next previous owner D, $20 goes to next previous owner E. The object, once sold to new owner A, can be resold, and the pyramid paying pattern continues with person A now as owner B.

The object when purchased prompts a request for permissions to debit person A's account, which I assume to ONLY to pay all previous owners previously agreed upon amounts.

Reason I'm concerned is, once the debit permission is granted, is this like writing a blank check from person A's account? Can the script creator come back and change the debit amount to any amount he/she wants and essentially 'rob' any object owners' account? Since I can't see the script, I don't know what else is going on or what else is possible (i.e., purchaser's information sent to script creator, debit permissions somehow transferred as well, creating potentially situation for script owner to take money whenever and at whatever amount desired without owner's knowledge).

Also wondering how to make the script non-visible to owners. The object I'm looking at says I'm not authorized to view the script. Should I be concerned, and what can be done to make sure that I'm not potentially going to get robbed in the future by purchasing this kind of object?

Thanks.

Pyramid Schemes in SL are a TOS violation and should be Abuse Reported, no matter how secure or otherwise the script is.



The script creator can't change a script in an object once you own it, and debit permissions can't be transferred. However, you are right in that you have no idea what the script does, and granting debit permission gives it unlimited rights to draw on your account. I'm working on something to try and deal with this myself.

It's worse than that, actually.

A naughty scripter can easily put in a "backdoor" on a secret, passworded channel, which allows him/her to walk up to any of these objects, and issue commands to drain your account.

Anyone trafficking in illegal pyramid schemes already has very little social conscience, and I would DEFENITELY avoid giving ANY strange script objects permission to debit my account. In fact, I don't give ANY script debit permission, except ones I write and have tested extensively prior to setting out.

Of course, I am a scripter, so I have the luxury of doing that. For those who don't script, just make sure that the object comes with full source code to all scripts in it, and hire a scripter to check it out for you (or have a competent scripter friend verify it for you ), or only give debit permission to products from reputable authors.

Dearly Darlings,

If a Dragon says "No" (Talarus Luan)...it's REALLY bad news. Here in SL I've found Dragons to be extrememly kind and honest. However, not all such scripts are bad. We use one for our in-world charity SLSL. Sellers do recieve a portion of the sales price for our tickets. A script like this allows for the charity to get their share, and the ticket seller to get theirs. I've found that most land owners who allow us the wonderful privilege to sell our lottery tickets do make me, Lord (CEO) or Maneo members of their group and avoid all such issues of Linden stealing. I have no problem with that...you can never be too careful in this day and age. And it pleases me to know that they are donating to our charity their proceeds of sales.

Remember: In addition to our monthy lottery (25L per ticket) for a one year premium membership plus 512 L for the purchase of First Land we also have a Grants' program. All Grant Projects should be addressed to Maneo Suntzu our Recording Secretary. Anyone wishing to have a financial statement should address inquiries to me, as I am Treasurer.

You all have a lovely afternoon!

Mrs. Showdog Tiger

Aye, I think what you all are doing would probably fall under the "make sure it comes from a reputable author" exception. Reputation comes from happy customers and being around a while to establish said reputation. Also, a lottery (raffle, etc) with commissions isn't a pyramid scheme. It might be considered "gambling", but it certainly is not illegal.

You run the risks every time you buy anything in SL or play any casino games.