Urgent Read Me!!!

Recieved this...

*****ATTENTION FELLOW SL BUILDERS!!!******


I did not beleive it when I first heard it either, but appearantly it's true, as I saw it with my own two eyes..

**THIS IS A VERY REAL THREAT**

Someone has created a program that looks at and decrypts packets, sends the info back and re-creates it..

In other words, this program can copy ANYTHING THAT IS A PRIM and move it into THEIR inventory in a matter of SECONDS. I investigated it myself. My target willingly tp'ed me to his location and immediately fully coppied my entire CUSTOM av onto his body. Shapes, textures, prims, EVERYTHING. A CARBON copy of my self-made av.

What's more..? It is now sitting in HIS inventory, FULL PERMS. Assets completely changed, the creator now labeled as himself.

He also claims that a Robin Linden held a conference on this matter, and deemed his program LEGAL. My Linden friends, if this is true, you have stooped to a WHOLE new level. Do you understand what this means..? Anyone posessing this program can just walk into any store and copy EVERYTHING. (Everything that is a prim, anyway)

Also, I have word that this is a group-created program. By whom, I do not know. But all I know is that at LEAST two people have it. (I have watched them.) I did not get a very good screenshot, as he was teleported away soon thereafter.

As an artist with a custom av that took me months to build myself, I find this as a BIG alarm. This is not only the very definition of Art Theft, but also identity theft, and...hell, pretty much just plain THEFT. We have a right to have our works protected, and that right better be executed.

I think I speak on behalf of EVERYONE when I say this script needs to be BANNED and we need a REMEDY to protect our own belongings from such a horrible threat.

Friends, the ONLY way we can beat this thing is to band together and stand up against the wrong. To do so, please join "Content Creators Union." It is free, and this is NOT just some cause we are fighting for. Builders, this is our LIVELIHOOD and this threat is REAL.

THIS IS NOT A JOKE. YOU NEED TO JOIN THIS CAUSE! ANYONE WHO HAS THIS SCRIPT CAN JUST WALK UP TO ANYTHING YOU OWN AND TAKE A FULL-RIGHTS COPY!!


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Not sure if this a joke or not... I looked @ the Creator of this notecard I recieved and his profile seems a little more than fishy to me, I would NOT reccommend joining this group as you might incidently make yourself a "Target"

ALSO: Check this out... http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=145961

**Quoted from this webpage...**



WHICH MEANS This is 3rd party Software in other words it is a hack!

I have a "Friend" That used to hack at other games hehe well anyways you need 3rd party software to run most GOOD hacks using .NET 2.0 Framwork ie.. You are contacting a 4th party server to run your 3rd party software...


ALSO: http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=discussions&ItemID=145961

Think about whats happening!

Yes its true. Ive seen it also, so far ive only seen it STEAL avatars, and every attachment the avatar has, im not sure if it is possible in world items yet. But was told all the items were full permissions.

This is ridiculous.

This is a very serious issue, one similar to something last month where they IMMEDIATELY closed down Sl.

Im waiting to see what the official linden response to this is.

Hmm.
So there's another long thread running on this. Its apparently true. Its being called a 'copybot'. There's even a YouTube video showing it in action...
The comment about it being 'legal' is also true, but incomplete. Copyright law (and patent law, by the way) basically says you can reuse stuff for your own 'fair' use, but cannot then profit from it. (and in this context, 'profit' means: don't sell it. Don't give it away. Don't share copies with your friends, don't deprive the artist of his livelihood, etc.)

This is exactly the same situation as copying your favorite music CD. Its legal to do so, as long as you then do not provide copies to others--either for your direct gain, or to deprive the artist of income.

BUT: In this instance, the bot didn't just 'copy' his own stuff, he 'stole' copies of the textures and shapes and prims right off the back of another Avitar. To me, that is Illegal action by the owner of the bot. Just as a CD-burner is not illegal, the ACTION of using a burner to duplicate a copyrighted music CD for distribution to others would be illegal.

I can see the bumper stickers now: BOTS DON'T STEAL TEXTURES, AVITARS DO.

icky.
As a side note, the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) makes it illegal to reverse engineer copy protection...and for THAT action, the makers of copybots may be liable...don't know.

oh a little sideffect of the bot, it leaves a tiny prim at the scene of the THEFT,
if you touch it or try to edit it, it crashes your SL client,
Ive tried to touch it several times, each time it instantly crashes sl.
3 others around me also touched it, all same instantly crashed

So it is now not only a copy exploit, but a crash exploit also, and yet they allow it.

This is my opinion on Copybot

/109/62/149036/1.html

for you guys watermakering doesn't work on inworld stuff so you ahve to ask yourself this. What is more important. Having fun or profit?
If it is profit, then it might be time to move on. THis will take awhile to fix.
Yes, it does exist. Yes, anyone using it to copy is a theif. Will LL fix it?
Yes. beyond that, read the thread. Remember, this is a game, none of it is real. It is all just pixels. Enjoy the game. And if Copybot has ruined that, then time to go. And for me that is sad.

as ive pointed out in a few other posts now, there's very little truth flying around, but an awfull lot of panic.
this exploit can be easily combated, and the senseless panic is just blowing things severly out of proportion.

I don't think its as simple as that, for one I build alot of stuff and I don't play sl what so ever for profit but I would be very upset and angry if I found somone walking around with stuff I made that I did not give them.

Even if it is a game you as the person who makes an item, put the time and effort in to making somthing you get a sort of pride in your work and for somone just to waltz up and take it is just wrong. So it perfectly ok for somone to be upset, infact I'd be shocked not to see somone upset.

Just my two cents as an artist I take pride in what I do online and offline ^^

This has already been addressed on the Blog, under "Security". No real threat. LL has it under control.

You dug up a thread from last year to tell us that?