Month: November 2010

BSG: Universal DMCA?

Posted on by Inara Pey

A rumour is circulating that Universal Studios have issued a DMCA take-down order against Battlestar Galactica-related (BSG) merchandise within Second Life, and Linden Lab have compiled.

Cairan Laval carries more word on the matter – and its possible speculative nature –  and of the potential meaning, if true.

Doubtless, if this is the case, then a lot of swearing is going on within the community; but the fact is, neither Linden Lab nor Universal Studios is the villain here. Whether we like it or not, BSG material is copyrighted. Full stop, end of conversation. Unless those producing BSG merchandise actually have a “little” thing called a “licence” to produce their goods, they are in breach of said copyrights. The same goes for those producing Star Trek, Star Wars, Simpsons, Disney, or any other merchandise directly based upon or utilising copyrighted or trademarked images and items.

I actually find it ironic that there are those in SL who scream blue bloody murder on subjects like copybotting, but who routinely pop out to the web and grab textures for use in their products or who routinely created merchandise for sale regardless of any copyrights on said textures or objects. It matters little to the size of the corporation behind the objects, be it Pepsi, LucasFilm, Viacom or – as in this case – Universal Studios. A copyright is a copyright, period; the “well they can afford it” attitude attitude doesn’t cut the mustard in exactly the same way it doesn’t when an in-world content creator finds they have been ripped.

Nevertheless, as Ciaran points out, DMCAs are perhaps not the best reaction from the corporations themselves. He has a valid point that SL could represent an (admittedly small) audience that is guaranteed to generate income – and more importantly – goodwill. So why not enter into modest licensing arrangements with content creators? Why not grant them the rights to produce goods on all OS-based grids? This would create massive feel-good for all concerned and once and for all lift worries and concerns over copyright breaches for those who’d like the assurance they are operating “within” the law, either as a merchant or a consumer, and be secure in the knowledge goods and products aren’t going to suddenly poof in the night.

 

Apez suspends services

Posted on by Inara Pey

Apez, the supplier of vendor sales systems, land leasing systems, a web merchants portal (like SLM) and other service has today announced it is suspending all business.

Apez has recently been looking for a potential buyer and has had other issues that have impacted the business, and these factors appear to have combined to adversely affect the business and cause the decision to suspend operations. The following was posted by Cenji earlier today, Monday November 30th:

Unfortunately, recent events including my recent announcement that we were seeking parties to take over Apez has resulted in a ‘run’ on the bank. This has resulted in depletion of the immediate L$ reserves. We had hoped to avoid this situation, but now that it has occurred we’re forced to suspend deposits and withdraws temporarily or perhaps permanently if we’re unsuccessful in attracting interest to keep the system in operation.

Unless new management is obtained, we’ll attempt to effect an orderly closure. Some immediate steps planned:

  • Keep the vend and lease systems operational in the short term to enable customers to transition their information
  • Proceeds from liquidation of assets will be used for satisfying withdrawal requests as funds are available
  • Develop a solution for liberating user data in a useable way.

We’re currently working with CasperVend to develop a migration kit that, when dropped into an iServ, will cause Apez.vend data and purchase history to be automatically transfered over to CasperVend’s system. We’ll provide information about how to obtain the kit once it is available. Note that CasperVend is otherwise unaffiliated with Apez Corp, so please don’t ask them for support with Apez products or services.

We’ll be seeking a similar solution for the lease service also.

Note that while ATM deposits have been disabled, we have no simple way to remotely stop iDeposit, iVend and auto-lease products from making ‘deposits’. Consequently, when we re-enable withdrawals, we’ll attempt to satisfy vend and lease ‘deposits’ from this time forward, first – and we hope to be able to satisfy all outstanding withdrawals eventually.

As I learn more of the unfolding situation I’ll post updates here.

Thank you,
-Cenji.

This is a major blow for many in SL – merchants in particular, where waiting for a promised migration option to keep things running smoothly may not be an option. Those using the leasing systems are in a similar dilemma.

Currently, it appears as those funds are finding their way through the systems from vending boards to Merchants’ accounts, but there is clearly no guarantee as to how long this might continue.

There are some questions here as well: Apez, despite operating a “banking” system, was not in fact a regulated financial service; so throughput should be direct in terms of money deposited and returned.

Ergo, there shouldn’t be a major issue in ensuring people can withdraw amounts deposited – less, of course, applicable commissions for the various iServices provided; so a “run on withdrawals” shouldn’t cause a major liquidity issue, unless said funds were being used to offset other aspects of the business that required funding beyond the means of commissions, etc., to meet. That there now appears to be insufficient funds to honour outstanding withdrawal requests, as the “hope to” and “eventually” in Cenji’s final comment imply, is something that is certain to raise eyebrows.

Nevertheless this is a sad – if not entirely unexpected, in many respects – turn of events. One hopes that is it resolved amicably, professionally and satisfactorily for and by all concerned.

Display Names cometh

Posted on by Inara Pey

Jessica Lyon over at Phoenix posts a blog article of Display Names and new SL account names. This isn’t precisely a new topic – I commented on Display Name in particular a while back myself.

Like Jessica, I think that one the whole, the concept of Display Names is good – why shouldn’t people be allowed to adopt an alias for roleplay? What I have had – and still have – is concerns about the actual execution of the new system – particularly that:

  • Anyone can adopt any name they like – including the name of any other avatar (unless said avatar has a name ending in “Linden”, it now seems). Sorry, but I don’t particularly care how many other people share me name in real life; within the virtual environment I *am* ‘Inara Pey’  – I’ve invested time and effort in developing this avatar, and defining exactly what of me I’d like to reveal through her. I’ve done this for Second Life, for a number OS Grids I jump about to and for Blue Mars; in all but the latter, I’ve even gone to the extent of ensuring Inara appears consistently (save for the available fashions) in each world. What’s more, I’ve also spent money in SL in helping her to mature over the years to her current appearance. That someone else can arbitrarily grab her name and use it as they please, does tick me off I have to admit
  • Display Names take precedence over actual avatar names. This means that anyone grabbing my name will be seen by others using Display Name capable Viewers as “Inara Pey” first. They’ll also show up on Contacts and on people’s SL “dashboard” as their chosen Display Name. While there are means to reveal the actual avatar name – and leaving aside any opportunities for mischief-making on the part of those “borrowing” another avatar’s name, this is something of an open door for confusion, angst and annoyance.

While not absolute show-stoppers, it would have been better if LL had ring-fenced existing avatar names as they have now apparently done with the name “Linden” – if only to prevent the cries of outrage when people do find their name re-used.

The one good that that seems to have been implemented since Display Names was announced is that both the Display Name and the avatar name are now displayed in-world by default, rather than just the Display Name with the option of displaying both. While people can still opt to hide the avatar name from their view, this simple step removes some of the confusion.

Although the risk of confusion / angst does still exist elsewhere – such as only seeing Display Names in Contacts, and the chat and IM windows. I’ve experienced this first hand myself when I’ve logged in on the Beta Viewer to find the likes of “The Lord of the Flies”, and “Belinda’s Babe” sitting in my Contacts list and thinking, “Who the devil is THAT?” Do I IM them and ask “ER, ‘suse, me but who are you?” with the risk that a) I feel two inches short of a complete twit for having to ask; and b) they actually get miffed at me for not simply knowing who they are without the need to ask. Granted, both are little niggles, but such storms-in-teacups have been known to ruin friendships.

Display Name capabilities are coming to TPVs as well – Phoenix will have it soon, and doubtless others will, while the Viewer 2.x variants may already support it. It’s good to read from Jessica that Phoenix will provide options to see people’s actual avatar names in chat and IMs.

There has been much scaremongering around the subject of Display Names – such as they will invalidate the use of things likes security tools, and that Display Names are “yet another tool” for griefing. As such, and as Jessica comments in her blog, scripts are already doing the rounds that can ban avatars on the basis of them using Display Names: and this is akin to people who ban people on the strength (literally and figuratively) on the basis of their Avatar Rendering Cost. Such scripts are simply unwarranted and are one thing related to Display Names I’d personally see nipped in the bud before we see two many pairs of jackboots sitting in people’s closets alongside the ones that have labelled “ARC Police”.

As far as security tools are concerned – I can state without hesitation that Display Name do not circumvent them – at least, not the decent ones. These utilise the Avatar Key which remains constant, no matter what Display Name an individual chooses to use. The same goes for the sim  / parcel ban options. True, it would have been helpful if LL themselves had responded to the questions raised on this matter when first raised in their own blog (however obvious the answer appears) – but that’s just par for the course where they are concerned.

As to the idea that Display Names will be the next “big thing” for griefers – no, I don’t see it. Yes, I’m sure some will find their names used by others – but I think in the vast majority of instances, this will be for fun, not malice. Should anyone discover that their name is being used maliciously – then the Abuse Report form is there to be used.

While not absolutely perfect, Display Names could be a lot of fun for many people, allowing them to assume names more suited to their role-play characters – and they should really be treated as such, not as “yet another LL evil” as some out there are portraying them.

Lowering the (age) boom

Posted on by Inara Pey

I’m a couple of days late, largely through inattention but also because of things being rather busy in-world, but I finally caught up with this announcement from Terrance Linden regarding the advent of teens on the Main Grid from the start of 2011.

And my, what a lot of controversy it has caused!

I’m already on record as not being overly impressed with the arrival of 16 and 17 year-olds into MY playground (emphasis deliberate).  The Main Grid has always been promoted as an ADULT playground, suited for ADULT interests and pursuits. Now LL are reneging on that promotion – despite their repeated claims it was “not” going to happen, and we’re all up in arms. And in some ways, rightly so. Once again LL are presenting their user base with a dramatic shift in focus for Second Life without anything approaching any kind of cultivation of the idea within the community or engaging in real dialogue over the change. So in that respect, despite the various management changes over the years, (from Rosedale to Kingdon to Rosedale to Komin) nothing has really changed in their overall attitude towards us. Pity.

Terrance recently went some way to allaying fears concerning the arrival of 13-15 year-olds, and the measures overall, it should be said, are good. And, if I’m brutally honest, I don’t think the arrival of 16-17 year-olds onto the main grid is actually going to be the disaster people feared, or result in a massive upheaval some are predicting.

Let’s look at it pragmatically:

  • They will be restricted to PG / G rated sims. These are in the minority; while this may be a concern to those with PG / G private sims, there is a potential solution: change the sim rating to Mature.
  • Adults visiting PG / G rated sims should already demonstrate restraint in their mode of dress and communications. We do so in real life (where, ironically, those in their mid-teens are generally a darn sight ruder and lewder in their use of language than most of “us” adults), so where’s the problem with exercising self-restraint in-world?
  • How many of those touting fears about adults and minors interacting actually spend enough time in PG /G sims for this to become a worry? Not that many, I’ll wager. Sure, there is the issue of shopping and “accidental” interaction – but again the rules relating to PG / G sims kick-in. And if someone is worried about accidentally communicating with a minor – moderate your language and be circumspect in your approach and act responsibly at first contact. Just because we’re in a virtual world doesn’t mean common sense should be checked at the login screen, for crying out loud!

Of course, there are issues – for adults and minors alike.

In the case of the latter, and as many point out in comments after Terrance’s post, Mainland is a hotchpotch of PG / G sims scattered among a multitude of Mature sims – sims legally registered minors will not be able to access. This means that the supposed “continuous” experience of travelling across Mainland by road or rail or flying (sim boundary issues accepted) will simply not be available to them. The only means they’ll have for inter-sim travelling is teleport. Worse, for them, is the fact that they won’t even know the rating for the sims surrounding the one they are in…until they collide with the boundary. Hardly friendly.

Beyond this is a deeper concern for adults – as raised in the forums. Just because minors are confined to PG / G sims doesn’t mean they cannot cam to neighbouring Mature sims, or that they cannot make purchases from neighbouring Mature sims. Thus, they can “legally” see / buy things and items that  – frankly – might open a can of worms.

Let’s be honest here; while he had other things of late to occupy himself (such as getting re-elected), Senator Mark Kirk (US, Illinois, R) is now back in office, and he has long campaigned against SL and its “influence” in “corrupting” minors  – indeed, while LL deny it, their rapid push-through of the Adult Policy and Zindra did come hard on the heels of a Senate investigation into the question of adult activities and minors on the Internet that was in part kick-off by the likes of Mark Kirk. And that was back in the days when the Main Grid (and its users) were reasonably safeguarded by the overall access policy of “over 18s only”.

Now LL are removing that security wrapper – and there is something of a risk that all it could take is one or two incidents of X seeing  / buying Y, and someone noticing (parents of a less-than-liberal / tolerant nature, for example) and then clanging on the alarm bells – and we might see the likes of Kirk and his over-zealous friends swinging into action again.

Internet legislation is also changing to point the finger at the likes of you and me, as well as service providers when it comes to safeguarding minors. Again, some have argued that the Internet is rife with porn (well, duh!) but minors can access it anyway, even if it means “borrowing” a parent’s credit card – so where is the problem with LL opening the door to minors?

Well, the comparison with porn sites is true – but irrelevant. The point is, that whether the credit card is borrowed to sign-up to a porn site or SL, both have been flagged as adult environments – so the wrongful use of a card (or entering false data in the sign-up) has acted as a “security wrapper” inasmuch as you and I could not be held responsible for the actions of a “naughty” minor. Unlike porn site, LL is now removing that wrapper  – and shifting a good portion of the onus therein onto the shoulders of their residents.

Argent Stonecutter has suggested a perfectly reasonable solution to the particular concern of Mature sim visibility for PG /G sims: simply tweak the server settings so that this is no longer the case. While this may ruin the contiguous look of the mainland to minors, it’s really not impacting on their experience at all beyond this – after all, they can’t actually travel to the neighbouring lands if they are Mature.

“Hiding” Mature sims might even benefit minors inasmuch as the boundaries to their current movement are obviously visible in the form of the surrounding “water”; this to me is a far better means of telling them “Sorry, you can go no further,” in advance of them simply hitting a sim boundary and getting violent bounced to who-knows-where, particularly if driving a car or flying at speed…

That said, and having had time to reflect on matters, I don’t hold with all the cries of concern over IMs that some adults are raising. Suella Ember actually raises a very valid point – one that is far to casually dismissed in generic references to “the Internet” – and this is that anyone using any Instant messaging service may well find themselves talking to a minor – and thus circumspection is the key. Profiles are available to peruse, and we have a certain little ability called intuition. Is it so hard for us not to employ both it and common sense when approaching others / being approached by others? How many of those screaming about this don’t actually do so already?

I still have concerns over teens entering the main grid, but these come down, again, to other matters, including worries, real or otherwise, around Copybotting – or the perceived threat thereof, frankly.

The Teen grid is renowned for the amount of ripped items there – the excuse being that this is because commerce has been so limited within its confines. This may be true; but nevertheless Copybotting has been an accepted way of life there, so there is an understandable worry that it will be ported into the main grid along with everything else. And there is certainly a lot more temptation for it to continue on the main grid. And even if this doesn’t prove to be the case – lord knows we’ve had enough hysteria among adults over the entire subject of content ripping to led to major controversy such as CDS Gemini and other edge-case tools. The last thing we need, again, is to have people going off half-cocked.

Overall, I’m personally less-than-sanguine over the arrival of teens here in SL; my interests here – as anyone reading my Peysworld blog will know – revolve around “adult” activities as well as more general pursuits. However, it is now a fact of life that they are coming, and with one or two caveats, I really don’t think it is anything the majority of people in SL are going to be impacted by – so long as common sense is applied to both sides of the equation. And therein lies the rub: as it has to be said, we, as residents are as capable of demonstrating an abject lack of common sense as much as anyone at Linden Lab.

Mesh and ARC – Angst in the offing?

Posted on by Inara Pey

An interesting post popped up in the official blogrum today concerning confusion about Mesh objects and prims counts.

While the technical ins-and-outs of the main discussion largely go right over my head, Lightscribe Infinity raises a point that, if accurate, could lead to a lot of additional angst in-world in the coming months:

ARC is high for any av mesh. The default av, simply smoothed and brought inworld, increases ARC dramatically. 91938 versus the 0 of a present av, with everything detached.

ARC – or Avatar Rendering Cost – is a misleading “measure” introduced by Linden Lab some time ago that was designed to provide a loose – one might say entirely arbitrary – measure of the “cost” to the SL Viewer in rendering your avatar, based on the number of textures and primitives (or indeed, sculpties and (soon) Meshes worn by your avatar. The basic value for an unadorned avatar is 100 (and not the 0 mentioned by Ligtscribe, in fairness), but the more prims /textures your avatar wears – and the higher the resolution of those textures – then the higher the ARC count generated.

ARC itself appears as a number floating above avatars’ heads once the option is enabled from Advanced > Rendering > Info Displays > Avatar Render Cost, and it is perhaps one of the most misunderstood information displays available in Second Life, and one of the biggest causes of unnecessary drama. This is for two reasons:

  1. People look upon ARC is absolute terms. That is, a) the look at it in isolation of other factors; and b) they treat it as if it is an entirely accurate measurement in and of itself.
  2. People believe ARC lags the simulator, and thus directly impacts everything.

In fairness, the first item – ARC being viewed as an absolute measure – could be said to be partially LL’s fault inasmuch as the ARC count is “colour-coded” when displayed, with “low” lag counts (approximately up to 1,000) being shown in green, “medium” lag counts (between around 1,000-2,000) appearing in yellow and those above 2,048 appearing in red. These colours alone send out entirely the wrong message to the uninformed, given that most us of automatically associate green with “good” and “acceptable” but red with “bad” and “dangerous”  – and something that “must” be avoided.  However, as the SL wiki entry on the subject itself states:

ARC isn’t the end-all for pinpointing Viewer lag. It’s a useful estimate which should be used in conjunction with other tools

The second point is completely and utterly wrong. ARC is a factor – as the name states – of rendering. Rendering is a function of the Viewer, not the simulator. As such, rendering is dependent wholly on the client end of the equation – what computer you are using, what graphics card / system, the amount of memory it can utilise and so on, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the the simulator itself.

These basic misconceptions have resulted in a wide range of myths sprouting up around high ARC counts – such as:

  • a high ARC count is indicative of an avatar carrying a high script load.
    • No, it isn’t. Scripts are not, and cannot be, rendered ergo they have absolutely no impact on an overall ARC count
  • a high ARC count directly affects your ability to teleport.
    • No, it doesn’t. Teleport failures are largely related to how many scripts your avatar is carrying and/or server-side issues entirely unrelated to ARC)

While it is true that ARC can provide a measure of the overall cost of rendering an avatar by every single Viewer that can “see” that avatar, the point that people forget is that it is not, nor has it ever been – and the SL wiki states – the only measure. More importantly, its not even an accurate measure in any way, shape size or form; it is simply an estimate. If only those who bow down before the Great God ARC would actually understand this!

The fact that LL openly admitted it to be a subjective measure, entirely dependent on a wide range of factors entirely outside of their control, at the time it was introduced went almost entirely unnoticed by those who use now use ARC as a club to batter people with, and who have reached a point where no amount of reasoned argument will sway them from their entrenched view that those displaying a high ARC count deserve to be shouted at, badgered, and / or banned from sims. Not even perfectly obvious demonstrations of the ineffectiveness of ARC as an accurate and reliable measure can break many of these so-called “ARC Police” from their misguided views.

For example, if ARC were truly an accurate measure of an avatar’s impact on things, then one would expect all ARC counts to be constant for any given combination of clothing and attachments worn by an avatar.

But it is not. For proof of this, simply get a group of friend together, or go to a shop or mall where there are a number of avatars and turn on ARC. You’ll get a range of counts appearing above people’s heads – but if you cam around, zoom in or out – the counts will change! Simply teleporting from sim to sim can increase / decrease an individual’s ARC, simply because the need for the client to render everything else in the view is impacting on the count ascribed to the avatar itself; and before anyone starts telling me the error of my way, yes, every single object you see in your world view also has it’s own rendering cost as well.

So how does this relate to worn Meshes? Well, if Lightscribe is right, and Mesh attachments end up sending ARC skyrocketing, then doubtless the ARC Police (which is perhaps the politest name for them compared to others I’ve seen) are going to be bludgeoning a lot more people with there ignorance and creating even more unnecessary drama and angst.

Which is a shame, because one gets the feeling that Mesh is going to have more than its share of drama, upset and misunderstandings once it arrives on the main grid, without anyone stirring the pot even more.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day…

Posted on by Inara Pey

Today, the world over, people of the Commonwealth and other nations  – veterans especially – will mark Armistice Day, and remember the fallen of World War One (1914-1918), and all major conflicts that have occurred since, up to and including those still on-going in Afghanistan.

As the daughter of a former officer in the RAF, I have, every year of my adult life, always joined my father for services on Remembrance Sunday, and since it was formally reinstated here in the UK, I have always observed the two minute silence that commences at 11:00am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month as a mark of personal respect for all those who gave their lives in the defence of freedom and democracy – two things that in this day and age we all too easily take for granted, or vociferously proclaim to be ours without really understanding what they truly represent and mean.

Today will be no different. At eleven o’clock I will bow my head in silence for all those who gave their lives – and I hope each of you reading this will as well. For we cannot even begin to imagine the horrors they faced, in whatever conflict they were caught up in; nor can we really understand the sacrifice they made in giving up their lives. But we can, at the very least, remember them and give thanks; and hope that one day we will outgrow the need to bring down war upon one another.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

(For the Fallen, 1914, by Laurence Binyon)