Alphaville Herald

Less Equals More for the Restrained Life Viewer

Better bondage in Second Life

by Jessica Holyoke

When you hear about a new Viewer, usually you hear about the new things you can do with it; it will run faster, it can encypt your IM's, it can make your boobies jiggle.   (And honestly, I would be worried about a company complaining about not being able to read your private messages.)   But there is a viewer that provides less experience for the user, the Restrained Life Viewer or RLV.

RLV is an addition to the main SL viewer that allows for other items and people to control your SL experience.  If you wear the right attachments, then you can be forced to sit on a poseball.  You can be not only stripped nude but made to wear skin or other attachments.  You can be frozen and unable to move, intentionally, not because of lag.  You can be gagged and unable to speak in main chat, understand main chat, or be able to see peoples' names.  You can be trapped and unable to be teleported or teleported against your wishes. 

AbidE Blessed -- Post 6 Grrrrl

[AbidE Blessed aka patience contacted me ages ago about being a Post 6 Grrrl and I'm glad she did. I present without further ado the gorgeous AbidE Blessed, aka patience, Post 6 Grrrl -Timothy Morpork]

Words come more easily for me when they're not about myself, but I'll give it a go... I SO want to avoid the cliche's, like the "s" word that has caused this one to spend countless lindens for an inventory full of things she'll probably never see again; also, like the, "i came to SL after years on irc and yahoo," which, though it's true, i shan't mention. instead, i'll focus on what i do here, in SL, along with a *few* of my personal motivations. if you find it interesting, i'm glad; if you don't, i can't help it. lol i just hope the feedback section won't be used for negativity as the spirit with which i am, here, sharing, is not a negative one. *smiles*

Alexa Linden's Pre-Halloween Treat - Viewer 2.0 Feedback

Second Life 2.0 viewer feedback leaked to world+dog

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Players eager to try the super-secret new Second Life 2.0 viewer may want to hold off a bit after reading what appears to be early resident feedback Alexa Linden accidentally sent to the Battery Street Irregulars mailing list October 30th. The Battery Street Irregulars are a group of players who test the nightly builds of the alpha version of the Second Life viewer - a battle scarred group willing to risk lost IMs, damaged inventory, and carpal tunnel syndrome documenting problems in the official viewer.

As best we can tell, someone with a copy of Alexa's mailing had a bit too much to drink at a seedy bar somewhere in the Zinda adults-only continent, lost track of time, then rushed off with a well endowed escort for a private pose ball testing session, leaving a notecard containing Alexa's mail on the bar. The provenance of the document is not entirely clear thereafter, although it does show evidence of having been in the hands paws of more than one babyfur, and about half the grid.

After carefully disinfecting the document, Herald analysts agreed that the comments in Alexa's e-mail suggest the Lab is intent on reinventing the chat interface from first principles, risking recapitulating user interface mistakes of the past along the way.  Pithy comments such as "trying to follow group chat ... is an experience roughly equivalent to trying to read a newspaper through a telescope" pepper the feedback.

LL Slaps XStreet Competition With Selective Copyright Enforcement?

Lindens can't tell the difference between Gorean slave silks and CONVERSE shoes

by Coke Supply

 

Lindens see CONVERSE shoes here - do you?

As we all know, Linden Lab has introduced new rules on their XStreet site that state that copyright-infringing items will be removed under new guidelines. I was recently contacted by Constanza Amsterdam, one of the residents behind the slapt.me merchant website - a competitor to the Linden's own XStreet marketplace. Ms. Amsterdam was dismayed to find that the Lindens had removed of two of her items from XStreet, claiming an alleged case of copyright infringement.

The interesting part is that the items do not infringe upon anyone's copyright whatsoever.

The email alleges that the two products in question infringe upon the "CONVERSE" trademark (Converse is a trademark for trainers and shoes). The email also alleges that Constanza is guilty of "keyword spam".

Quarter 3 Results, no QPC, but introducing TPH

by Jessica Holyoke

The Lab'ts latest economic blog post by T Linden promised an in-depth look at the their quarter 2009 economy.  However, the Herald's economic friend, Positive Monthly Linden Flow, was not reported.  PMLF as its known,  reports in-world business profits on residents who have earned more money then they have spent the previous month.  Its the numerator in the Herald's Quarterly Profit per Capita or QPC.  Using the QPC, the Herald's economic offices were able to measure the strength of the in-world economy by comparing how much people were earning with how many hours people were spending online.  

To compensate, the Herald's offices are introducing Transactions per Hour or TPH.  Even though I don't like User to User Transactions because it includes transactions with banks, ATMs, automated Zyngo gam(bl)ing machines, and other exchanges, and even single players when you exchange money between alt accounts. By looking at the numbers, you see a much larger variation in values of TPH than you do with QPC, with a relative leap in Quarter 3 2008 which relates to the drop in user hours during that quarter.

Fierce Fashionistas - Metaplace launches Fall collection!!!

The Herald goes backstage at MP's Fall fashion show

by Suzie Skybeam

Amethyst announces the after-show party

Nervously waiting backstage, I watch two channels of chat scrolling up the screen: the public announcements to the audience, and the private instructions to the models. They've taken away spotlight we had at rehearsal (it made the clothes look too washed out); we're supposed to click the pumpkin when we walk off stage.

Click the pumpkin? What on Earth? Oh, ok, it's so Cuppycake can teleport us off the catwalk.

Coverage of Second Life Suspended for 48 Hours

Metaplace a mostly harmless substitute

The Herald has joined http://theartistsvoice.org/ in an almost entirely symbolic SL content creator sympathy strike November 4th and 5th and 6th.  While taking a break in tracking the transition of Second Life into Suit Life, we will look into the Metaplace fashion, party, and e-dating scene.

Naked Post 6 avatars, class action trademark and copyright legal battles, flaws in SL's digital rights management system, and the Lab's amazing perpetual drama pump coverage will resume this weekend - unless we get lost in Metaplace.

Tepid Life 2009: A Tasteful Success

by Miss Petunia Amaryllis Courtney Taliaferro, Second Life League of Decency

Herald readers will no doubt recall my prediction of the impending doom of all that is wicked, obscene, and crass in the cesspool of vice known as Second Life. 

At the time, I issued a manifesto of sorts to spur the righteous onward to victory. I am delighted to report that the revolution has begun! This year, in response to the fountain of naked debauchery known as Burning Life (where only loins, not the soul, grow inflamed) my fellow aesthetes and I began a counter-festival, Tepid Life 2009.

Events were crowded with throngs of visitors to witness the brilliance of many events, including:

The Wall of Doilies: Oh, my heart patters faster as I think of the brilliant handicrafts made by geniuses such as Miss Clytemnestra Oliphant-Jones, whose lacework carried the day for the Anita Bryant Medal of Uplifting Art. 

Kris Littlething -- Post 6 Grrrl

[This week's model is the beautiful and talented Kris Littlething, who was not only sweet enough to do the shoot on short notice, but who also produced outfit after outfit of incredibly tasteful design so that I could have done a hundred fantastic shoots with her with no notice. I proudly present this week's Post 6, Kris Littlething. -Timothy Morpork]

Hi, my name is Kris Littlething. I've been in Second Life for a little over two years and I'm still having fun with it. I've had ups, downs, laughs and cries over this dumb game. I have a very happy first life that I spend most of my time with, but what an awesome creative diversion these linden people have given us.

Lab Responds to Eros and Nomine

Lab's Naked Trademarking and Copyright Preemption defenses explained

by Jessica Holyoke

On Friday, Linden Lab filed its response to the suit filed by Eros, LLC and Shannon Grei.  Most of the responses are unsurprising as most answers admit or deny what the other side is saying.  The affirmative defenses are also not that unusual except for naked trademarking and copyright preemption.  

Naked trademarking is when a trademark owner loses certain rights to the trademark when they don't exercise control over the product when it is sub-licensed out.  In Linden Lab's case, it would appear that they are saying that either Eros, Grei or a class member lost the right to enforce their trademark due to their not ensuring that sub-licensees made the same quality of product as they themselves produced.  It would be interesting to see if they are exerting a defense if the products are sub-licensed through XStreetSL and that if they don't work as well, the sellers lost the right to enforce the contract. 

Copyright preemption is a bit trickier.  Preemption is a constitutional concept where the U.S. government wants their law to override a state's law.  What the Lab would be arguing is that certain goals of the Copyright Act override the state law claims that the plaintiffs are bringing.

Next up are discovery motions to see what each side has for evidence.  Protective orders have already been filed in order to protect the confidential information each side might have. 

Linden Research Denies Eros/Nominee Trademark/Copyright Complaint

Lindens admits Copybot is bad - denies 155 other claims

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Linden Research has filed a denial-filled response to Eros, LLC and Shannon Grie's intellectual property rights complaint against the maker of the Second Life. The complaint alleges the Lindens have violated the content creators' trademarks and copyrights, materially contributing to and supervising the infringing conduct of others within Second Life - but the Lab's lawyers disagree, and throw down 16 affirmative defenses of their own.

For readers unwilling to wade through the complete response [included after the jump], some highlights:

Linden admits that Second Life includes a Digital Rights Management (“DRM”) system, and upon information and belief, that persons have used third-party programs to circumvent that DRM in the past. On information and belief, Linden admits that CopyBot is a third-party program that allows users to circumvent the Second Life DRM system and copy digital content that is used with Second Life without regard to the copyright or trademark status of that content. Linden admits that such use is prohibited by the Second Life Terms of Service, and denies the remaining allegations of this Paragraph.

Linden admits that on or about June 17, 2008 LR inadvertently disabled some content within Second Life, and that promptly thereafter LR stopped that disabling. Linden lacks sufficient information to admit or deny the remaining allegations of this Paragraph, and on that basis denies them.

Linden admits that LR controls some of the technology and systems that comprise the Second Life platform, that some information related to Residents’ activities is stored on LR servers, that Residents may acquire virtual land within Second Life subject to the Second Life Terms of Service, and that LR charges service fees. Linden lacks sufficient information to admit or deny the remaining allegations of this Paragraph, and on that basis denies them.

Historic Hyperborea Sim On the Block

Irreplaceable archeological artifact threatened by sim sale - Herald to relocate HQ?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Ending months of speculation, Wandering Yaffle confirmed he is seeking a buyer for Hyperborea sim - home of the Herald’s in-world corporate offices, _blacklibrary, and the most civilized sandbox in Second Life.

Although he was not willing to commit to a definite timeline, Mr. Yaffle told me he hopes for “a preferential buyer - one who will keep the faith, whatever that is”. We can only hope a sensitive buyer will emerge, although it seems likely that the character of Hyperborea will change and the community scatter.

Historically significant Leninade bottle at the entrance to the Herald's Hyperborea office

Meanwhile, metaverse archeologists are deeply concerned about the fate of an extremely rare Leninade soda bottle owned by perma-banned resident Tizzers Foxchase. The priceless bottle was unearthed on the Herald’s property and is almost certainly the only way to call up the profile of late Ms. Foxchase, along with a pick that points to the original Woodbury University sim before Linden Lab destroyed the island.

Tavasha Martynov -- Post 6 Halloween Grrrl

This week the Alphaville Herald is proud to present a special parade of past Post 6 Grrrls as a Halloween Treat for its readers. The final Halloween Treat is Tavasha Martynov, who was originally photographed by Marilyn Murphy in March 2007.

[I met Tavasha Martynov because she happened to be online and in the Post 6 group when a friend of mine needed some models for a project. I was stunned by Tavasha's looks and her charm and her sense of style. It is and honor to present Tavasha Martynov, Post 6 Grrrl. -Timothy Morpork]

Hey there! Wow, it seems like not long ago at all I was writing up a similar article for my first Post 6 spread, I never expected two and a half years to fly by so fast! It occurs to me as I try to concentrate on what I've been up to since my first shoot, that since it happened when I was a ripe young two weeks old in SL, that time period would include most everything I've done in SL! hehe where to start...

Toxic Menges -- Post 6 Halloween Grrrl

This week the Alphaville Herald is proud to present a special parade of past Post 6 Grrrls as a Halloween Treat for our readers. The second is the talented Toxic Menges, who first posed for Post 6 in September of 2008 for photographer Bunny Brickworks.

[It is a pleasure to re-introduce Toxic Menges to Herald readers. Toxic is well known as a more than just another pretty face, she is a gifted machinimist as well known for her style, good nature and humor as her technical work. I was thrilled when she said she'd pose, and speechless when she produced the outfits you see here. I usually hope to do avies justice, but in Toxic's case I know I haven't. Each of these looks deserves multiple pictures, the fine details she's added are incredible. Without further babbling, I am pleased to present Toxic Menges, Post 6 Girl. -Timothy Morpork]

I think I did Post 6 in September of last year, and a lot has happened since then!

I still make machinima, some of which has been exhibited at real life film festivals, and has also won SL film festivals. Machinima is such good fun, and it's spurred me on to learn skills such as Photoshop and After Effects.

Brain-Eating Linden Billing Support Zombie Haunts Cornfield

Residents warned to avoid abandoned Game God penal colony

by Pixeleen Mistral, Irrational Affairs desk

Residents can visit the Corn Field without an account suspension now that the Second Life player prison has been opened to the public - at least for Halloween. However, players may be faced with the spectre of Linden billing support staff who have turned into zombies and roam the sim looking for brains - or credit lines - to eat.

 

Jules Linden - Billing Support and Customer Outreach - wants your money or your brain

While I managed to escaped with my brain and credit mostly intact, I was less successful with Kyle Linden, who  admitted he does not have a Linden bear to share - even after I gave him the Herald's secret lime/cilantro turkey taco recipe as a gesture of good faith.

Trust me, Kyle will not be not getting any more cooking lessons until he has a freebie Linden bear to share.

Jaime Wheeler -- Post 6 Halloween Grrrrl

This week the Alphaville Herald is proud to present a special parade of past Post 6 Grrrls as a Halloween Treat for its readers. The first is the lovely Jaime Wheeler, who first posed for Post 6 in August of 2007 for photographer Justine Babii.

[It is a special honor to introduce Jaime Wheeler because in my book she is not only a very accomplished person, she also gave me my first SL job, gave me photography lessons, and even gave me a little plot of land for my first studio. It is my extreme pleasure to introduce Jaime Wheeler, Post 6 Grrrl. -Timothy Morpork]

The Second Life Herald won't leave me alone, and I'm grateful. When I started in Second Life in 2006, the first friend I made was another noob by the name of Jimbo Quality. Months later I introduced Jimbo to my oldbie friend Marilyn Murphy. When Marilyn retired from the Herald, I was the first Post 6 model featured by my friend Justine Babii. A year or more later, I met a sharp guy named Timothy Morpork who was looking for something to do so I put him to work on my blog. It's a small world after all.

Is ToToM the Metaverse Soundtrack?

Balancing creator, mixer, and consumer rights

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

While I was visiting Soviet Woodbury Saturday, the resident communists took time away from building their new workers’ paradise to rez a brightly colored dance floor and an impromptu worker’s dance party took place to an audio stream from http://www.maxxhitsbootlegs.com - a French mashup site that seems to be  on the way to becoming the metaverse soundtrack of choice for both Second Life and Metaplace. At the Metaplace Fashion Show event on Friday we were also dancing to a stream from the site, and I can confirm maxxhitsbootlegs is an in-theme choice for user-generated content worlds in either 2.5D or 3D.

I've begun to wonder if audio mashups are the aural equivalent of the W-Hat goons' and Woodbury /b/tard's builds - unexpected juxtapositions of diverse elements to create a new and typically ironic work - sometimes for fun and sometimes as social commentary. A mashup like Black Butterfly Busters combining Smashing Pumpkins – Bullet with Butterfly Wings + Ram Jam – Black Betty + Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters seems to be saying something, but can the copyright laws and the sampled content creators keep up?

Ost Clawtooth -- Post 6 Grrrl

[Ost Clawtooth IM'd one day and I swear she got accepted to Post 6 just on the hilarious greeting she sent. Fortunately for me, her looks are every bit as world-class as her wit, so I proudly present to you Ost Clawtooth, Post 6 Grrrl. -Timothy Morpork]

I have been in Second Life a few years now, though usually it feels like I just joined! Especially when I hit 'wear' on something I bought on Xstreet and the giant box is suddenly waving around attached to my hand. Don't lie, I know I'm not the only one who still does it!

Stolen Goods Free-For-All At Burning Life

Who is the culprit - what will LL do in response?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

 

a wonderland of stolen content - courtesy of the Neillife viewer?

Tenshi Vielle at Shopping Cart Disco just broke a shocking story - a huge cache of pirated content has been passed around at the Burning Life. Yet despite frantic reports of ongoing theft by Stroker Serpentine and Tenshi, LL seems powerless - or unwilling - to do anything other than suggest filing of more abuse reports.

How is this possible? The SCD story says the stolen items retain the original creator name and information, but are transferable and many items include a blank box, suggesting the use of an exploit - and so the search for culprits begins.

The box holding the cache of stolen goods was created by Damen Hax - a long time SL resident and Open Source advocate. When the Herald contacted Mr. Hax for comment he denied involvement and suggested  he has made more than a few enemies who might be eager to frame him.

XDeth Absent & Bearsy Bloobury - Sim Crashing PN Griefers!

Interview with Post 6 Party crasher!! Exclusive!!!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

"in a world of user generated content where you can remain anonymous, people are bound to find exploits... like a fun sport, you know?" - XDeth Absent

It was no surprise that XDeth Absent was pleased that Linden Lab finally got around to banning his account, but I was sad to see the alt account he used next - XDeath Portal - lost the glasses that XDeth Absent wore. Consistent griefer fashion statements are so hard to find.

For those who missed it, the later stages of the recent Herald Post 6 party were enlivened by the sort of meta-game that is all too common at well-publicized Second Life events - surprise sim crashes as a certain segment of the population levels up in the stupendous ironic bad-ass race standings. If Linden Lab can't keep Robin Linden's farewell party from being sim-crashed, why would a Herald party - or any other event - fare better?

The griefing game is all about being taken seriously, so for real validation griefers are more than happy to take a ride on the ban-wagon. Luckily, the Lab is more than willing to play along once the blinking red lights on the game god console draw their attention, and a futile round of account bans is played out. This pleases both the griefers and the Linden Governance team, who can both point to their "accomplishments". With an endless supplies of free, anonymous accounts, what else would you expect? It all started cordially:

[13:20]  XDeth Absent: excuse me.
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: you are that reporter correct?
[13:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: yes - I edit the Alphaville Herald
[13:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: why?
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: I have read this newspaper many a time
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: I must say it is an honor to grief a party with you attending
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: please enjoy.
[13:21]  Pixeleen Mistral: thanks - I think

[--the Greenies sim crashes and we are all logged out--]

Sea of Drama to Link Soviet Woodbury to W-Hat Goons

More artistic mashups now possible?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk


 
A new sim - Soviet Woodbury - appeared on the map just south of the W-Hat goon’s WHAT sim Saturday, marking the end of a forced migration for one group of residents displaced by the collapse of Intlibber Brautigan’s BnT land empire.

Woodbury community organizer Tizzy Teardrop tells the Herald the WHAT and Soviet Woodbury sims are to be connected by a sim to be named “the Sea of Drama”. Negotiations are also underway to connect the Digital Worlds community to form a trifecta of meta-gameplay and virtual world artistic pursuits with significant synergies hoped for from the cross-community virtual and artistic connections.

How Secure Is Second Life - Really?

Reformed über-griefers Plastic Duck and DeadlyCodec disagree on security analysis

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

It was pure coincidence, but shortly after Linden Lab released a compulsory client update to address "a potential security issue" last week I ran into Timeless Prototype and Huns Valen at Philip Linden’s swank new house in P Squared sim. We lounged poolside and speculation turned to what sort of problem the Lab might be addressing - the Lab’s terse announcement was less than enlightening. Could this have anything to do with the SL security advisory DeadlyCodec had been quietly trying to get the Lindens to respond to since early September?

As we chatted, it was clear that neither Timeless Prototype nor Huns Valen feel the Lab is doing much to encourage resident security exploit reports. Do the Lindens realize their L$ spacebux reward (L$10,000 - about $37 USD) for security problem reports is considered a bad joke? Or is this by design? If the Lab's goal is minimizing costs, de-motivating the security community with small game currency rewards might limit Linden staff time spent on security issues - ignorance is bliss, at least at first.

In any case, respected scripters such as Timeless Protoype are not planning an exhaustive analysis of SL for L$10,000 spacebux per exploit. As Mr. Prototype said, “It's not worth my while to spend my time researching the code security in the SL client. Security flaws are only found where security researchers are looking”. So why was DeadlyCodec trying to get the Lab’s attention?  It couldn’t have been for the reward because the Lindens have a permaban-on-sight policy for Codec - he would never be able to spend the L$s.

Out Of Touch Egghead To Pontificate on Second Life

Herald founder keynotes 2009 Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference

The Herald's own Urizenus Sklar - who is widely believed to be self-identical - will present a virtual keynote titled "Virtual Communities, Virtual Cultures, Virtual Governance" for the Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference Monday October 26.

Virtually viewable here http://compassconference.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/ludlow/ after the virtual presentation Monday - the virtual keynote will be followed by virtual cocktails at 1 PM EDT at the virtual "meet the virtual speaker" session to be held in Second Life's Abacadabra sim: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Abracadabra/201/90/31.

It's going to be virtually impossible to miss this event, because Uri's real real life typist is believed to be Peter Ludlow - Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University. He has worked on a number of topics at the intersection of philosophy, linguistics, and cognitive science, and has also published a number of works on the emergence of community and governance in virtual worlds, including High Noon on the Electronic Frontier (MIT Press 1995) and Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias (MIT Press, 2001). 

Players Dodge Horrific Namespace Collisions!!!

Metaplace developers hope to avoid each other's triggers

by Suzie Skybeam

Wednesday night, a group of developers got together in a Libertarian coffee shop to discuss what to do about the Metaplace's lack of namespaces.

In Metaplace, you can attach scripts from different modules to the same object. For example, a chat system and a combat system written by different people might both be attached to the same "player" object. The problem is that "properties" (used to store the current state of an object) and "triggers" (used for communication between objects) aren't local to a module, so if two modules happen to use the same name for a property or trigger, they will interfere with each other, and probably won't work properly.

DougQB explains: "a Builder who doesn't know how to code starts putting  a bunch of modules together and then starts changing/breaking things. Then wants someone to fix it."

Many people felt that the best solution would be a change to the Metaplace version of the Lua programming language, but weren't optimistic that would happen any time soon.

chooseareality: "a private declaration would be great.. sigh"
KStarfire: "Exposed Triggers is the best solution altho even that  i dont think it would completely fix it"
LunarRaid: "It's a pity triggers aren't prefixed with the script name by default."

Our World - You Obey - Our Viewer Only

3rd party viewer policy update includes Linden Goonsquads™ brown bag resident registry

[note: Caligula Linden - who might not be a Linden at all - provides an updated version of the Lab's 3rd Party viewers blog post -- the Editrix]

by Caligula Linden

Linden Lab supports an open platform with opportunity for all who comply with our ever-more corporate worldview. The flexibility of the content creation tools and open viewer allow for great creativity and innovation, but that openness also enables others to do things we decide, on a whim, that we don't like. But we are game-gods and can have whims. Thus, we announce our latest whim about third party tools used with our platform.

In the blog post that Philip Rosedale issued just before he left us, “I'm Outta Here! This Ain't Burning Man”,  he hinted at stifling changes ahead. Meanwhile, the rest of our team addressed the responsibility Residents have to obey us, unconditionally, lest we ban them, their alts, and their furry sex-slaves from our game. 

When “Map Boy” Rosedale started Second Life, we used to respect the intellectual property rights of others inside or outside our fake world, but that has become inconvenient as Reaction Grid, Blue Mars, and Nickelodeon suck our revenue streams dry. 

Philip has his little island now and has moved on. We don't need visionaries. We need money. Here's our roadmap:

First we fired a warning shot at wooly-headed college faculty by telling them they could no longer use our trademarks, even after we extolled their brilliance on our own site. They rolled over and played dead, the losers, so we decided we needed a more visible scapegoat. We would have whacked Rezzable, whose content put us to shame, but they decided we cost too much, then pulled out their content to Open Sim with a smart tool we'd never have dreamed up during our nerf-ball fights at the office. 

Crackdown on Third Party Viewer Encrypted IMs?

Emerald Viewer's OTR at odds with SL Community Standards and ToS?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The grid is aflutter with wild rumors in the wake of the Lab's announcement of an impending crackdown on third party viewers. One source pointed the Herald to what is claimed to be an e-mail sent to the Emerald Life developers. If legitimate, the letter is likely to raise some serious concerns as it puts ability to encrypt chat on the same level as unauthorized content copying.

Is the Lab unhappy with the encrypted private IMs that Emerald enables? Experienced residents assume that the Lindens occasionally take the opportunity to monitor player IMs - but widespread use of third party viewers with OTR (Off The Record) features could curb that activity.

Look for a lively discussion of what is a legitimate expectation of privacy in Second Life as the third party viewer controversy grows.

[text of the alleged e-mail after the jump]

Bob Boothroyd -- Post 6 Guy

[Normally I have my Post 6 pictures taken weeks in advance but recently real life has kept me hopping. The other evening I was scrambling for a model and Bob Boothroyd, who had introduced himself a few weeks before and offered to model "if I ever need it," happened to be on. Little did he know how soon I'd come knocking. Not only did he drop everything to come model, he came up with the following in less than an hour. I give you the amazing Bob Boothroyd- Timothy Morpork]



Hi. My name is Bob Boothroyd and I'm a Second Life avatar. In real life I'm a typing dog named Cletus. I think Second Life is awesome because I get to express myself however I want. Whether in real life I'm rich, poor, black, white, greenish-blue or, as in my case, a typing dog, I can live the effing American Dream, or the French dream, or the proverbial wet dream. I think that's pretty frickin cool.

Which is why it bums me out that people are so negative here. It's like the internet has become a place to be bitter and stir up drama. As I'm sure you understand, my internet access is pretty limited because I'm a typing dog, so it's always a mystery to me why humans- blessed as they are with cars and opposable thumbs, would waste their time with tearing down other people instead of building something good for themselves.

Brown Suede Boots With EULA

A license to wear boots

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

 

you can't read the license terms until after the purchase

I probably should not have been surprised to see that the L$650 pair of ZHAO brown suede boots I bought yesterday came with an End User License Agreement - but no word on refunds should the buyer disagree with the license terms - and no way to read the license until after the purchase. Sion Chickens started us down this path, so why not continue with virtual clothes?

Soon, residents will need to bring a lawyer along when shopping for pixel clothes as a thousand flowers bloom, a thousand schools of thought contend, and a thousand unique EULAs grace Second Life content creators' wares.

I'm looking forward to seeing Second Life Bar Association president Stephen Wu accompanying Gorean slave girls on shopping sprees for silks, bazi tea sets, and scripted collars. Or perhaps the Second Life Bar Association could help the content creators adopt some standard terms and agreements? While they are at it, would a vendor that displays the text of the EULA before purchase too much to ask? That might help establish the idea that both parties willingly entered into an agreement.

BnT Failure Fallout Sends Players to Surreal Estates

Are other land businesses at risk?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

As word spread that IntLibber Brautigan’s BnT virtual land business is effectively bankrupt, displaced residents considered their options. For some, the unwinding of BnT’s affairs has been chaotic -  residents were given 24 hours Friday to retrieve their objects from the sims Linden Lab seized, then the sims were again taken offline - perhaps permanently.

BnT in liquidation?

Those who live on sims Mr. Brautigan leased from the Surreal Estates were more fortunate and continue to have access to their land. Surreal Estates General Manager Deuce Marjeta distributed a notecard Saturday explaining that Surreal was taking over control of some of the sims formerly leased by Mr. Brautigan. The note pointed to debt as the cause of BnT’s problems, saying “Put simply, the sims were not profitable and so significant debts accumulated over time”.

When I spoke with Mr. Marjeta about the situation, he said, “Anyone in the land game must realize, don’t get in over your head, buy only what you can afford to pay for on your own, never count on partners unless its a rl one - one you can take to court easy”.

Second Life Boobs Jiggle In Emerald Life Viewer

Shimmy your way through the metaverse

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATED: Ayumi's Jiggletastic video added after the jump]

Open source advocates are pointing to the newest feature of the Emerald Life viewer as proof positive that open source software makes life better for everyone.

The latest version of the Emerald viewer includes the ability for female avatars to jiggle gently - along with what we understand is an interesting built-in animation override that does away with the default Linden chicken walk.

While this might not be exactly what M Linden has in mind for his Immersive Workspaces vision of Second Life, the rank and file players seem more than willing to make the move - as Toxic Menges demonstrates.

Bewbies from Toxic Menges on Vimeo.

Land Baron Meltdown Leaves Residents Homeless

Intlibber Brautigan's estate taken offline by Linden Lab

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

 

Between 30 and 40  sims are offline tonight after what appears to be a Linden Lab repo-man job on the estate of Intlibber Brautigan. Mr. Brautigan's base -  Venture Square - and neighboring sims are offline and inaccessible.

In addition several Woodbury sims are also offline.

When asked for comment, Woodbury community spokeswoman Tizzy Teardrop said, "The real solution is to decrease land holdings by liquidating most of the estate and channeling energies into profitable/sustainable things like content creation. Content creation is essentially resource free. There is no real overhead and can be infinitely replicated unlike land where there is a quite a substantial overhead cost. When you run a virtual land business, if you are not breaking even you are -losing- money. Big money."

Mr. Brautigan was unavailable for comment.

A Techno-Communist Manifesto

Autonomous chicken-collective lags Linden lackey Neva

by Pappy Enoch, Techno-Revolutionist

I salute all working avatars of the fake worlds!  

A specter is haunting Second Life - the specter of Prokofy Neva. Yes, I mean the same avatar who claims to defy the cabal of Linden plutocrats by being an anti-collectivist “free-market capitalist.”

I laugh in the face of such tartuffery. Neva is, in fact, the worst of an army of revanchist stooges in service of Linden hegemony.  

In the fairness that characterizes all communist deliberations throughout history, we have given the Linden lapdog Prokofy Neva many opportunities to join in the inevitable struggle to overthrow those who would crush us under their iron heels.

Lindens Turn To Cheaper Lawyers in Class Action Complaint?

Lab’s insurance won’t cover Michael Rhodes $800/hour fees

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

According to a story in LAW.COM, the Lindens can’t afford their first choice in legal representation - Michael Rhodes of San Diego law firm Cooley Godward Kronish. At issue is the Eros LLC/Nomine vs. Linden Research class-action trademark and copyright complaint which alleges the Second Life game gods have been less than diligent in protecting players’ copyrighted and trademarked creations - a potential nightmare for the Lab should the legal action end badly. Presumably the Lab would want the best help they can find - but can they afford it?

Michael Rhodes - out of Linden Lab's price range

LAW.COM says that last month he Linden’s staff lawyer Marty Roberts “had initially retained Rhodes to fend off a copyright suit by a maker of virtual sex toys. But Rhodes' rate, which is above $800 an hour, was too high for the insurers. Instead, Linden Lab will be using San Francisco's Durie Tangri”.

The more affordable  Durie Tangri posse

The change in lawyers may explain the delay in the Linden’s response to Stroker and Munchflower’s complaint - presumably there will be some sort of action soon.