Tag: Emerald Viewer

Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive!

– Sir Walter Scott

Well, it seems that Emerald is now over and done with, and quite acrimoniously. It’s a shame that a project that – despite reservations in some areas – gave birth to an exceptionally flexible Viewer should be ruined by childish idiocy on the part of one or two of the players involved.

But then, as others have pointed out; it’s not as if the track record of certain individuals involved in the project was not unknown, and while everyone should be given the chance to turn over a new leaf, putting so much control in the hands of individuals who have previously demonstrated a desire and ability to abuse such control was a mistake.

In her blog post, Arabella Steadham points the finger in numerous directions – LL are being unreasonable; LL simply want the user numbers from Emerald; others in the group attempted a “hostile takeover”, etc. I’m sorry, but all this is hogwash.

The bottom line is, a single (apparently) individual opted to abuse Emerald  – and the trust of every single Emerald user as well as violate the TPVP – and launch a Denial of Service attack on another individual. Frankly, it matters not as to whether the individual on the receiving end is/is not a hacker himself. Two wrongs do not make a right. And given the mentality of some of the Emerald devs (we’ve all seen the infamous You Tube vids), who is to say matters would stop at one DoS attack?

Beyond this, Emerald clearly violated several parts of the TPVP by:

• Gathering user information beyond what was required to enable users to access Second Life
• Failing to comply with the TPVP by revealing the user information being collected
• Obfuscating the data collection process through encryption in order to hide the information being gathered after those responsible for the data collection had given verbal assurances the practice would be stopped

In their demands, LL required that Emerald:

• Provide accountability for all the developers on the Team
• Remove those with a known history of transgressions and who played a part in the issues outlined above
• Omit the use of emkdu.dll (the offending file used to commit the breaches of the TPVP)
• And a number of other wholly reasonable requests.

Again, rather than admit to these, it is a shame that Arabella (or Phox, one of the culprits, and whose name is tagged to the Emerald blog post) sought to obfuscate and hide these core matters – possibly in the mistaken belief that the genuine set of demands from LL would not enter the public domain…

However, Jessica Lyon has issued a Notecard and opened a blog that both paint a far more revealing picture of the entire situation. In her Notecard, Jessica states:

As of some time this morning, all access to the servers have been severed to all but Arabella Steadham and Lonely Bluebird. Neither me, nor any of the other Emerald Developers have the ability to put out releases at this time. Beyond the recent beta 2587, we also cannot certify the safety or validity of any future releases.

Now, I made a promise to everyone to disclose the remaining requirements from LL. Those final two requirements that were given to us by LL, was to have a release out by Friday September the 3rd that would not support emkdu or llkdu even if one of the files was present, and that Lonely Bluebird, Skills Hak and Discrete Dreamscape be removed from the project. The alternative was that LL would block the viewer from access to the SecondLife Grid. While Discrete and Skills gracefully stepped down, Lonely refused. A long argument ensued in dev chat and, I created a new dev chat, where most of us discussed how we could remove Lonely from the project, however it failed. Ultimately Lonely has removed access to the servers and has also stated that he is applying for trademark on the Emerald Viewer name. Preventing us from continuing on the project without him.

Unless circumstances change, in my opinion, the Emerald Viewer Project is dead. We simply cannot achieve a release by the deadline given to us under the current circumstances.

Without access to the server and website, I am forced to make a very difficult decision as I will not allow myself to be held accountable to anything that happens from this day on in regards to Emerald.

Why should we believe Jessica over Arabella? Well, for one thing, Jessica echoes much of what has been said elsewhere, and her viewpoint matches other Emerald Devs forced to leave the project. She is also perhaps the only Emerald dev to provide RL information on herself, rather than hide behind the anonymity of an avatar. And the fact is, through this note and her blog, she has, like LordGregGreg, shown more courage and conviction than any of those within the Emerald team who have placed spin before honesty.

Jessica has never failed to be open in matters; that she and others are trying to salvage something from this mess that is both as flexible as Emerald and meets LL’s requirements is to be applauded. I genuinely hope they succeed and would, as a starting place, suggest they consider using LordGregGreg Back’s Emergence Viewer as a potential baseline, if an agreement can be reached.

It is a shame that a viewer like Emerald should be so crippled and ruined by the ego-driven hubris of one or two people. But as another saying goes: pride goes before a fall.

I am Fractured Crystal. I have a long history of doing stupid things… so begins the latest in a round of Emerald-related blog posts. This is nothing new, Emerald has been the subject of heated blogging since its inception – with just about all of the allegations relating to its malicious intent remaining a matter of – well, malicious intent on the part of many of those making the various claims against it.

All this changed, however, when none other than LordGregGreg Back (LGG) went on record citing concerns about what was happening within the Emerald “team” – with people’s actions not exactly measuring up to their words.

The response from Emerald was the usual dismissive rebuttal – albeit thinly coating a tawdry attempt to suggest it was LGG himself who was at fault. And so the house of cards began to fall, with evidence coming to light that Emerald – and by extension, each and every one of us who has used Emerald has, utterly unwittingly – been the cause of at least one Denial of Service attack on another user.

While efforts were made to deflect / play down the situation – particularly through various postings within the SL forums, investigations quickly showed that the allegations relating to the DoSS to appear to accurate – so much so that Linden Lab issued a statement on Emerald, both in the official blog, and via e-mail to users.

Modular Systems have responded to the situation, both through Fractured Crystal’s comments and another self-serving blog posting.

I use the term “self-serving” deliberately – because while both posts have the veneer of apology, both are couched in terms of self-justification (particularly the latter of the two links above), in which the underlying tone seems to be, “Me bad but it’s really OK, as he bad to.”

Well sorry, this just isn’t good enough; it’s akin to saying, “Yes, I mugged him, but it’s really OK as he’s mugged others.” In short, it is vigilantism.

Fractured Crystal’s “apology” is side-barred with the old truism power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. And while the tag may have been offered as a means of excusing his actions, the fact now remains that whatever the outcome of discussions between Modular Systems and Linden Lab, the former’s reputation is now not so much tarnished as it is fractured. What’s more, it will remain so for as long as this individual and those who share his world view remain involved in the “team” in any capacity whatsoever. For those of us what have had our trust so casually thrown aside, the time has come to move elsewhere in order to access Secondlife – be it Viewer 2, Viewer1.23.5 or any of the Viewers still credible part of LL’s Third Party Viewer Policy.

I try not to engage or comment on disputes between people, but in this case I’ll make a small exception, as the faux pas is too good not to point out.

As I’ve mentioned, LordGregGreg departed Emerald over the weekend, and in doing so much of trust people have for the Viewer being kept “on-the-rails” followed him through the door.

His reasons for leaving were pretty clearly stated, and have been widely reported by supporters of Emerald and snipers alike.

Of course, there will always be two sides to every story – and then there is the truth, as the old cliche goes. But LordGregGreg – as many have stated – has never been anything other than straight and honest with people. As his blog shows, he’s been a consistent voice advocating people’s right to privacy and some security in what they are receiving through the Viewer or where the Viewer is redirecting them. He also has a deep technical understanding of the Viewer. For this reason, it is disappointing to see such a tawdry, accusative post appear on the Modular System’s blog regarding his departure.

It’s hard to see how raising legitimate concerns over the possible capture and/or transmission of private information that is not relevant to the user’s SL experience in terms of what they see or or and what the Viewer needs to be able to do in order for them to do so is an act intended to “deliberately try to bring the Team’s reputation into disrepute.” To try and gloss over the matter does little to redeem Modular Systems in the eyes of many.

That said, I could not help by smile and laugh at the closing attempt to dismiss LGG’s contributions to the project: Alas, part of being a success is having detractors, however we wish him well on his next legitimate venture.

“Legitimate venture”? Phox / Fractured / whoever wrote this, I suggest you go back and re-read that line carefully. You may think you’re very cleverly casting further aspersions on Lord GregGreg’s character; but that’s the danger when trying to engage in clever wordplay: one is all to often hoist by one’s own petard as one’s words collide – they have a habit of being read in ways other than originally intended.

I mean, are you really admitting the project LGG has just left – Emerald – is in fact an illegitimate venture?  Perhaps we should let the jury decide.

With the ripples from the recent forum phishing scam still, well, rippling (PMs remain disabled on the blogrum), people seem to be returning to their own pet peeves.

Chief among these is a return to the popular game of “Emerald bashing“.  Let’s be clear on this: I’m actually very uncomfortable around some of the activities being undertaken by those involved in Modular Systems. My take on Lonely Bluebird (one of several alts within the “Emerald dev” group that is operated by one of that group’s more conspicuous members) handing out Viewer-crashing prims in the name of “anti-copybotting” activities being a case in point.

I’m also less than sanguine about the likes of CDS and Oynx, both of which smack of vigilantism to some degree – especially in the light of the continued obfuscation put out by those involved in Emerald / Modular Systems / Oynx / CDS. I’m certainly not sold on the idea that they need to be secretive because otherwise the “bad guys” will be able to bypass the “security” tools like Oynx and CDS supposedly give.

But that said, the blatant witch hunting that goes on around anything that even faintly smacks of being Emerald-related stinks at least as much as (and in some cases more so than) any whiff of unpleasantness arising from Oynx / CDS.

In a recent  round robin on the Oynx bots currently threading their way through the grid, any opportunity to engage in reasoned discussion was quickly overturned by those more interested in relying on fear and innuendo. That some of this seemed driven more by one Viewer developer’s  – dare I say it – envy over Emerald’s continued success more than any genuine concern or attempt to give factual information on subject was unfortunate. That another over-the-top forum poster saw it as a means of (again) demonstrating her self-promoted “skill” at wordplay simply drove the entire thread into the realms of pointlessness.

Which is a shame, as there are questions that need to be legitimately asked – and honestly answered – around the subject of Oynx in particular. Dragging matters down into games of wordplay or Viewer envy tend to kill the opportunities to ask such questions stone dead.

To be sure those at Modular Systems are not entirely free from blame here. They’ve been challenged some in the SL blogs and forums such as SL Universe, and rather than give direct answers, they’ve opted for wordplay and obfuscation of their own. Many attribute this to the fact that they have “something to hide”. Personally, having been witness to the behaviour of some of the individuals involved in Modular Systems, I have to say I think their repeated attempts at “wit”, etc., is actually down to juvenile flippancy more than any desire to “hide” things; that is to say that some of them enjoy spreading confusion simply because it does upset the very people it  is aimed at, rather than being any attempt at deviousness. While it is true that some of them have, in the past, demonstrated a capacity for maliciousness, I for one would still rather look upon them with an attitude of “innocent until proven [emphasis deliberate] guilty” – whereas others out in the virtual world seem to believe that democratic due process proceeds from “guilty even if proven to be innocent”.

But this aside, resorting to the Alphaville Herald (neither a bastion of honest journalism or a font of unbiased and accurate information) – does little to establish a “case” against Modular Systems; all it actually does is provide further opportunities for wordplay, FUD and temper tantrums.

Elsewhere, people are picking up on the Evans et al suit against Linden Lab following a report (loosely) on the matter posted by CNN.

Although the CNN article doesn’t directly address the ins and outs of the Evans et al case, this hasn’t stopped some in the blogrum from gloating over the potential for LL to be “put to rights” over perceived wrongdoing – while seemingly remaining blissfully unaware that a) the case is less about land ownership and more about potential false advertising on Linden Lab’s part, and b) it seems fairly clear from the way the case has been structured (and by whom: one Justin Archinaco) that the plaintiffs are more likely to be seeking a hoped-for settlement out-of-court, rather than the before jury hearing they are demanding (and it will be interesting to see how they respond should LL call this particular bluff).

Most of all however, I’m again struck by the shallowness of thinking that surrounds those who post gleeful “I own land and I can’t wait for this to get to court…” comments. While I do remain convinced the chances of this case reaching court prior to a settlement being reached are slim, I have to say that those wishing it to go that far show a remarkable lack of comprehension. Have they really not thought through the repercussions that they will face, let alone LL? Anyone who “owns” a sim and then rents out “sells” or otherwise leases land on that sim for profit (i.e. any income over and above tier) could well find themselves liable for tax due on said income – and I seriously doubt many will have placed themselves in a position of being able to write-off their liability to any sizeable degree.

While there does need to be a discussion around the concept and realities of digital ownership, one really shouldn’t be fooled into believing that Evans et al vs. Linden Lab has anything to do with such a discussion.   And those that gloat today may yet find themselves deep in regret tomorrow.