Category: News

SL ToS changes: Lab contacts TPEs; some get account suspensions

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update 17th May 18:45 BST: The Lab has launched an “Authorised Reseller of L$” programme. Initial report here.

Update: 17th May: Gwyneth Llewelwyn provides an interesting and thoughtful analysis on the entire situation. DXEchange has indicated it has received LL’s e-mail of a potential solution, and is considering the matter.

Update: 16:55 BST: The e-mail to TPEs is apparently light on details, but includes the following statement: “We have approached several organizations to discuss a potential solution that would allow them to serve their customers within the bounds of the updated Second Life Terms of Service. We will soon blog to share more information about this solution, which we plan to extend more broadly as well.” So it would appear that the “potential solution” may initially be made on a limited basis.

MBKash has also indicated it has received the e-mail from Linden Lab, as has Gyndex.

secondlifeThere appears to be new movement on the situation involving third-party exchanges dealing in Linden Dollars following the recent change to the Second Life Terms of Service, and movement of a most confusing kind.

On the one hand, blog posts have started appearing on various exchange websites noting that they have received further information from the Lab, and that matters may be resolved in a manner which would allow them to resume the provisioning and exchange of Linden Dollars to Second Life users.

ToS Change

On the other hand, some exchanges are indicating that the SL accounts they use to handle their in-world dealings have all been suspended by the Lab.

On May 7th 2013, Linden Lab updated section 5.3 of the Terms of Service, which deals with the buying / selling of Linden Dollars and third-party exchanges (TPEs). While the ToS appeared to indicate that while such exchanges were not “authorised” by the Lab, the re-wording gave the impression that users could still use such exchanges while re-emphasising that doing so was entirely at the user’s own risk.

However, a blog post announcing the updated ToS change stated the that use of third-party exchanges was “not allowed” under the new ToS, and shortly thereafter TPEs started to receive e-mails from Linden Lab ordering them to cease dealing in Linden Dollars and also to remove / disable all in-world ATMs from SL with immediate effect. Third-party viewer developers were also contacted and told to remove any links to TPEs within their viewers.

As well as leading to a lot of speculation as to the reasons behind the move, the combination of mis-matched ToS update and accompanying blog post, together with the e-mail to TPEs has led to a lot of confusion and upset.

The Good

However, a number of exchanges have indicated that they have had further communication from the Lab which may allow their to resume operations. These include, at the time of writing, VirWox, CrossWorlds and Virtuateq (the latter’s update is in Dutch).

The VirWox update reads in full:

Good News: Linden Lab has approached us with a potential solution that would allow us to serve our customers within the bounds of the updated Second Life Terms of Service. We are in discussions with them and look forward to being able to share more information very soon.

Similarly, CrossWorlds also  reported:

We have received an e-mail today with regards the problem from Linden Lab. It informs us that there may be a potential solution that would allow us to serve our customers within the bounds of the updated Second Life Terms of Service.

As soon as I hear more I will let you know… and fingers crossed we can fix this problem.

It is not currently clear how many other exchanges have received similar e-mails from Linden Lab, which appeared to start issuing them late on Wednesday the 15th May, PDT, and so it is possible that updates may be forthcoming from other exchanges as the day goes on.

Quite what the “potential solution” might be is unclear. There has already been some speculation that it could be for TPEs to register as MSBs with the US Treasury Department’s FinCEN or perhaps providing evidence that they are properly registered under / adhere to any corresponding requirements within their country of operation.

The Bad

Elsewhere the news is not so good. In the early hours of the morning on Thursday May 16th (European time), Jacek Shuftan reported on the Podex blog that:

Tonight  at 2.00 o’clock all my accounts related to Podex Exchange were put on hold by Linden Lab.

I really believed that the new ToS is meant to protect avatars from the risk of fraud.  That was my goal as well so I was looking forward to cooperate with Linden Lab. I could not imagine that over one night they would want to destroy our cooperation and everything what I built for 6 years of my virtual life. They did.

I believed that they would answer my requests to start discussion. They did not.

Similarly, DX Exchange are also reporting they have had accounts suspended:

Our avatars for our exchange activities are put on hold by Linden Lab, so there is no room for interpretation that Linden Lab wants to enforce the new TOS effective immediately.

That means that we are closed permanently as of today.We expect Linden Lab to enforce the TOS on all other exchanges today.

Defying the ToS?

There has been some speculation that Podex accounts may have been blocked as a result of a decision by the exchange to continue to offer L$ in defiance of the ToS change  / e-mail, with Podex citing the 30-day “grace” period prior to changes to the ToS coming into force.

What is interesting here is that DX Exchange appears to have suffered the same fate as Podex (at least for the moment) after they had initially suspended operations, and then, according to Hypergrid Business, decided to follow suit alongside of Podex and others. This move apparently led to Bart Bockhoudt, co-owner of Gyndex indicting to Hypergrid Business that he would be objecting to the move by DX Exchange and seeking further clarification from the Lab. Whether this prompted some exchanges receiving account suspensions or not is also unclear.

However, one of the other exchanges which also opted, according the Hypergrid Business, to continue to offer Linden Dollars under the 30-day grace period cited in the ToS was CrossWorlds – who are one of the exchanges who have received the e-mail citing a “potential solution” from Linden Lab. Again, whether this is indicative that the likes of Podex and DX Exchange have / will also receive similar e-mails, and that the current account suspensions will be lifted / are the result of confused communications within the Lab, remains to be seen.

Still Confused

Overall, the result of these moves appears to leave the entire situation as confused as ever, and doubtless open to further interpretation and speculation. Expect further updates  as / when matters become clearer either via the Lab or through contact with the various exchanges.

Related Links

Lab updates SL’s Terms of Service

Posted on by Inara Pey

secondlifeThose logging-in the Second Life on Tuesday May 7th, 2013 were confronted with the need to accept the platform’s terms Terms of Service (ToS) once more. An official blog post on the matter states:

When you log in to the Second Life Viewer today, you’ll be asked to accept an updated Terms of Service. As with any legal document, it’s important to read in its entirety before accepting, but we wanted to highlight one of the changes we’ve made in this update: to better protect Second Life users against fraud, the updated Terms of Service make it clear that trading of Linden dollars (L$) on exchanges other than the LindeX, Second Life’s official L$ exchange, is not authorized or allowed.

 As the official exchange owned and operated by Linden Lab, the LindeX is the best place to buy and sell L$ for use in Second Life. It consistently offers the best rates for both buyers and sellers, and by limiting L$ trading to the exchange we operate, we are better able to protect users against fraudulent activity.

 The majority of Second Life users who purchase L$ do so through the Second Life Viewer by clicking on the “Buy L$” button. There will be no change to that function, as these orders are placed directly through the LindeX. Similarly, shopping on Marketplace will not be impacted.

The post also includes a link to the Knowledge Base article on the LindeX and the Quick Tips video on getting and spending Linden Dollars.

The core change to the ToS is section 5.3, which has been revised to read:

Third party exchanges are not authorized by Linden Lab and Buying or Selling Linden dollars on third-party exchanges are not authorized transactions. Third party exchanges are wholly distinct from both the LindeX exchange and Linden Lab and they have no affiliation with Linden Lab. We do not endorse or otherwise guarantee the legitimacy of the Linden dollar transfers offered on them, and we are not liable for purchases of such Linden dollars. Buying or Selling Linden dollars anywhere other than the LindeX is done so solely at your own risk. If you Buy Linden dollars that are traced to unauthorized credit card activity or other fraudulent activity, we will recoup these Linden dollars from your Account. The only authorized exchange is the LindeX.

All reference to any third-party exchanges using the Lab’s “Risk API” tool has been removed from the ToS, and the Risk API wiki page has been removed from the SL wiki, although the deletion log is retained for reference purposes.

Related Links

Marketplace: incorrect listings – LL offers “clean-up process”

Posted on by Inara Pey

In March 2012, merchants started noticing issues with some (or even many, in a number of cases) SL Marketplace listings. Key issues included:

  • Listings on Marketplace stores do not match the actual items
  • Incorrect merchant attribution (products from Merchant X listed as belonging to Merchant Y, despite appearing in Merchant X’s store)
  • Products from one merchant appearing in stores belonging to other merchants
  • Items incorrectly priced
  • Incorrect ratings assigned to products (G-rated items appearing as Adult, etc.).
An exmaple of the listing errors, supplied courtesy of Lillou Merlin
An example of the listing errors, supplied courtesy of Lillou Merlin

A JIRA –WEB-4587 – was raised on the matter, and extensive forum thread also reported the matter, and merchants were assured the matter was being looked into as a “top priority”, and in May 2012, an updated was issued by the Commerce Team noting that:

(WEB-4587) Listings show up with images from other Merchants listings:Current status: we have identified the problem and are working on testing the fix.

The fix apparently didn’t work, as the issue was subsequently reported as one the Commerce Team would address “after the next Marketplace update“. This only problem here being that subsequent updates failed to address the majority of JIRA relating to Marketplace issues, including WEB-4587 – and then stopped altogether – something with prompted me to comment on the continuing erosion of merchant trust.

On April 24th 2013, just over a year since it was first reported, the Commerce Team published an update on the listings issues and WEB-4587, which reads:

For those of you who have had an incorrect image appearing on your listings–or have seen your image on someone else’s listings, we have come up with a supported process to get these listings cleaned up.

Someone Else’s Image on My Listing
If you are seeing someone else’s image on your listing, you should be receiving an email with a link for you to go remove those images from your listings. These images will be returned to the listing we have identified as correct. Any listings not reviewed by May 15, 2013 will be unlisted until the Merchant has a chance to remove the image manually and reactivate the listing. We will provide a summarized list of these and notify all Merchants whose listings have been deactivated.

My Image on Someone Else’s Listing
If your image is appearing on another Merchant’s listing, the following will happen:

  1. The Merchant will be notified to review their listing and confirm that the image does not belong with their listing.
  2. The image will be returned to your listing. At this point, you will be able to review your updated listing here (link). This may occur after the review period for step 1 has already completed.

If the listing your image is appearing on is not reviewed in step 1, the listing will be unlisted to prevent your image from appearing on the incorrect listing.

We appreciate your help in getting this cleaned up.

So the good news is, there is actually movement on the matter. Admittedly, in reading the forum post, I cannot help but conjure a mental image of some poor sod (or three) at the Lab having been tasked with spending the last 12 months digging through the Marketplace and manually checking images against project descriptions / links – but movement is movement, and is, on the whole, to be welcomed.

There are some issues being reported with the process, however, as noted in the thread following the announcement. Some of these issues appear to be related to items which, in lieu of any communications from the Commerce Team, merchants opted to previously manually remove from their listings, and other appear to indicate that not all incorrect listing items have actually been captured by whatever process was used at the Lab. Others are reporting mixed outcomes simply as a result of following the given instructions.

It’s not clear how widespread issues are in following the instructions; certainly the problems being noted appear limited going on the amount of feedback on the thread. Not that this is any comfort to those affected, but it perhaps indicates that for most people who were blighted by the issue, things are now being put right.

Related Links

BobbekinWorld: building interactive children’s stories in SL

Posted on by Inara Pey

Last week, Dawny Daviau (Sylvia Thevissen in rl) nudged me about a project she’s involved in, and which is being developed by a team led by SL machinima maker Chantal Harvey and the creator of R2D2, Tony Dyson, working under their Netdreamer Publications brand. At the time I made a note of things – and then promptly forgot in the rush to sort-out bits and bobs for Fantasy Faire coverage.

Fortunately, Saffia Widdershins over at Prim Perfect didn’t, and she has a good write-up on the project, which Chantal and Tony call BobbekinWorld.

This is a series of children’s e-books which use advanced animation and combine video, music and still images of cute little characters called Bobbekins. The team use a range of media – including Second Life –  in which to create the stories, with “Toy City” being an actual sim inside SL.

The books are designed to be immersive, fun and have a teaching exercise or theme to the stories, the idea being to make full use of the digital medium to engage children in a visual, interactive style.

Currently, the first book in the series has been developed, and an Indiegogo kickstarter has been set-up to help with financing the project. Some $15,000 is required to bring the project to life. Those donating to the cause receive a range of benefits according to their level of contribution. The indiegogo page includes an excellent Q&A to the project, featuring Tony Dyson. In it, he not only explains why the team believe that e-books are an ideal medium for children, he also explains why the team has turned to Indiegogo rather than presenting the concept to a large publishing house:

Over the last 2 years, we have invested a considerable amount of money and time in this project. It has been very difficult to stay independent. We know that if we sell to the large publishers too early, we will most definitely lose control over matters we find very important and are close to our heart.

The cover of the first BobbekinsWorld e-book, designed by Dawny Daviau (image courtesy of Netdreamer Publications)

We now need to market and develop the full range of e-Books and printed material. At Indiegogo we have the perfect opportunity not only to pre-sell our publications, but to also offer exciting bonuses to families and teachers who share and appreciate our concept.

As a part of the team, Dawny is the Graphics Artist, responsible for designing the cover of the first book in the series. Another long-term SLer, Slim Warrior (or “Slimmie” to her friends – Leo Wolff in RL) is responsible for the music within the books.

In terms of Second Life, the project – as Saffia points out in the headline to her piece – highlights another unique way in which environments such as Second Life can be used to help develop real-world projects.

As well as incorporating the team’s own belief in the digital medium in which to engage young children, the project has received support and input from a panel of advisors, including Dr Tracy Harwood, a National Teacher Fellow and a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University, UK, Dr. Phylis Johnson (PhD, Instructional Technology), a professor of media in the College of Mass Communication & Media Arts at Southern Illinois University and Elizabeth Spezia, education services and community engagement manager at WSIU, the public television and radio stations for southern Illinois, who leads the station’s Ready To Learn initiative, which reaches thousands of local children and families each year through media-based learning.

A scene from the first Bobbekins book, using a set created in Second Life (courtesy of Netdreamer Publishing)

Related links

With thanks to Saffia Widdershins, and sincere thanks and an apology (for the late write-up) to Dawny Daviau.

Become your avatar. Again.

Posted on by Inara Pey

secondlifeThey say there is no such thing as an original idea.

In the Lab’s case, there appears to be no such thing as an original marketing campaign.

Three years ago, they ran a campaign “Become Your Avatar“, asking people to “star” in ads which put them up with their avatar in an attempt to draw-in new users.

It was a campaign which was – both within and without SL – somewhat ridiculed. The message itself, to the uninitiated, appeared confusing and ultimately and the whole thing appeared to be something of a flop in most people’s eyes.

The original campaign
The original campaign

Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the Lab trying it again in late 2011 – and it received about as much “positive” feedback from observers at the time as the original.

Now in fairness, we don’t really have any way of gauging how well either campaign actually did; they could actually have done remarkably well, despite the jaundiced eye many of us (myself included) cast over them.

be your avatarWell, guess what? The Lab are looking to run it a third time, and are calling for people willing to “star” alongside their avatar in a new campaign to be launched in the near future.

The announcement reads in part:

We are now casting both humans and their avatars for a new promotional campaign that will be featured on SecondLife.com and across the web.

For this campaign, we’re looking for people who are comfortable revealing their “human side” alongside their avatars in Second Life, like in the image above. Specifically, we are looking for those whose avatars do not physically resemble their owners.

This promotion aims to spotlight the diverse and creative communities in Second Life, so please apply if you’d like to share your passion for Second Life with the world!

To be considered, please fill out this application form by 11:59 PM Pacific on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. All submissions will be reviewed by the creative production team for the campaign, but no personal information provided will be disclosed publicly unless you are selected and specifically consent to participate.

We look forward to hearing from you!

I’m not sure what to make of this – other than the fact I won’t be applying. As noted above, just how well the original and follow-up campaigns did is hard to say; we just don’t get enough data on sign-ups and retained users nowadays to make a realistic assessment. This means it is easy to err on the “not very” side of the success equation.

For my part, however, I just wish that someone at the Lab would put more thought into finding something that is fresh and original and which might find broad-range appeal rather than constantly re-running the same ideas. The talent pool within SL is as deep as it is broad, and there would seem to be plenty of opportunities for the Lab to work more collaboratively with users to promote the platform than this approach, as I’ve mentioned myself in the past and also more recently.

While “tried and trusted” may appear to be the safe / easy / assured option for the Lab, it does tend to come with a problem beyond its perceived success. A problem I would hope the Lab take time to note.

Many out in the world – gamers, pundits, et al, already regard Second Life as one of “dead”, “dying” or “past it and not worth the effort. In constantly re-treading the same ol’, same ol’ by way of marketing efforts, the Lab is actually doing very little to dispel such views.

Still, if you feel like having a go – don’t forget the application form and the closing date of 23:59 SLT on Wednesday, May 1st.

If you take the Trooble to visit Amazon…

Posted on by Inara Pey

amazon-6The Lab launched its latest Amazon offering to US residents on Friday April 12th: Trooble Pigs. The accompanying blog post gushes:

We’re happy to announce a new special offer for Second Life on Amazon – a pack of virtual pets!

The Troobles have arrived and are squeaking with excitement to be the stars of our third limited-time, special promotion on Amazon. From now to April 24, 2013, you can get the Pet Pack – The Troobles (a $9.95 value) for free.

The Pet Pack includes an adorable family of Trooble Pigs including Daddy, Mommy, baby sister, and baby brother. Each Trooble has their very own fashion accessories and special talents. Mommy Trooble offers customized greetings to your visitors, Daddy Trooble can go into guard mode and teleport trespassers, and the babies are always up for a cuddle.

This is the latest of “premium packs” and “special offers” being supplied to SL users  / Amazon customers located in the USA through Amazon’s online game service, presumably as a means of promoting Second Life to the latter – something which didn’t exactly start off overly well when the original offer backfired and resulted in much amusement. Well, for me it did.

I’ve actually nothing against the Lab trying to reach out to new audiences and build new, engaged users. Rather the reverse; I believe it is more important they do so than it is for them to cut tier. As I’ve previously pointed out, tier cuts (for the foreseeable future) are liable to do more harm than good, whereas building an engaged user base can only be for SL’s betterment.

However, what I do feel – and continue to feel – is that offers like this tend to miss the point, and that if the Lab really is after attracting new users from the masses who use Amazon (even if only those located in the USA), then there is fair more they could do in which to make SL appear attractive and worth the investment.

As it is, the virtual pet / fashion accessory pigs are here and will remain “free” until Tuesday, April 24, after which they’ll presumably continue to be offer at $9.95. So if you’re of a mind and in the USA, you can hop over there and pick them up – dare I say – with no trooble at all.