Tom Hale recently commented on Metanomics that Linden Lab “feels very strongly about the rights of our intellectual property creators and holders and want to protect those as much as we can in a Virtual World.” He expanded on the challenge of balancing the need for an open expressive platform with the obligation to protect content. He also spoke of the content protection road map, which he implied had only really just gotten started, and the idea of a ‘teller registry’.
The video of the relevant clip follows. You can view the full episode on Metanomics or read the transcript here.
TOM HALE: It’s one that we spend a lot of time and energy discussing. Certainly one of the great kind of innovations of Second Life was the idea that creators and residents in the World would own their own intellectual property, and that’s a very kind of novel and interesting idea, and I think it’s one of the things that sort of has snowballed into the economy that we’re talking about today. It’s also tricky because, in any digital context, the notion of intellectual property is a slippery one, and it’s made all the more slippery by the fact that digital artifacts can be programmatically copied and can be programmatically transferred from one IP address or one computer to another.
So certainly we have a challenge between our desire to have an open environment and an open platform for people to be expressive and creative and to innovate on that platform. And then also the obligation to our residents, whether they be merchants or consumers or just people who are creating for their own interest, to balance between those. It’s a classic problem of the needs of the few and the desire for us to make it as open a place as possible. So we take this very seriously, and we’ve certainly been engaged on this topic quite a lot.
We’ve kind of started to roll out little bit of a roadmap about how we want to manage this. So I think the first thing that we’re thinking about is, “Let’s actually just start to set some expectations about what is actually expected of people, what’s the norm.” So we’re starting to do this, and one of the sort of objects of this would be, or the outcomes of this, would be a teller registry. So you would actually know who was a trusted seller and who wasn’t. You could start to manage that.
Other things that we would be doing are more programmatic in nature, and I think that’s where we’ve been spending a lot of our energy trying to figure out what the right balance between those two poles are and what the right technical strategies are. But rest assured, we certainly feel very strongly about the rights of our intellectual property creators and holders and want to protect those as much as we can in a Virtual World.
A teller registry? huh?
The problem didn’t explode until LL opened up registration to anyone and everyone. Banning became problematic. Verifying identities required hiring a private investigator. Dealing with violators meant hiring a lawyer and taking them to court. And all to pretend SL is the wide open 3D internet when it’s clearly a walled garden controlled by a for-profit corporation based in San Francisco. C’mon already.
Let’s make this simple:
- if someone wants to upload content to SL’s servers, they have to be a registered user.
- if someone wants to sell something on XStreet, they have to be registered as a “power seller” with Linden Lab.
- going forward, if someone wants to compile scripts without having some functions disabled, they have to be a registered user. Not everyone gets the full power of in-world scripting handed to them.
- going forward, if a non-registered user is selling adult content in SL (whether of their own making or via transfer), the account is banned and the item is deleted; buyer’s pay a price for dealing with non-registered businesses and ensuring they’re not part of the problem. (Note: I’m unsure if this isn’t already a policy, not having followed the recent changes as closely as I could have).
Non-registered people can still create content using the in-world tools. They can still built and use content provided by others to improve their work, and they can compile some scripts; but the privilege of full access to Second Life’s content creation system and virtual economy requires registration.
Like any real-world economy, access should be contingent upon obeying laws. I see no reason for Linden Lab not to require virtual residents to behave as citizens and have formal documents of one sort or another.
We, the users and content creators, want an environment with few regulations, but then we also want LL to protect us. We want a police state that will look after our rights but not restrict us in any way. We want the greatest amount of freedom and the least amount of regulation, and maybe the two just can’t go together.
It’s reasonably clear that LL is not able (or is it not willing?) to enforce even the current ‘rules’ (eg bots or adult content), so making more is not going to help the situation. The Terms of Service are already specific about intellectual property, but it comes down to attitude and action in the end. That’s what’s missing. You can discuss the situation and make all the rules you want but if you are not going to enforce them what’s the point?
While LL continues to allow the advertising and selling of copy systems on X Street how can we believe they will do anything at all other than spin some fancy words?
I do believe Tom meant ‘registry’ instead of teller – that’s what happens when it’s live TV.
“But rest assured, we certainly feel very strongly about the rights of our intellectual property creators and holders and want to protect those as much as we can in a Virtual World.”
SEVEN YEARS of opportunity to do more than Be “assured” and “feel”.
“Other things that we would be doing are more programmatic in nature, and I think that’s where we’ve been spending a lot of our energy trying to figure out..”
SEVEN YEARS of “thinking and trying to figure out”.
“We’ve kind of started to roll out little bit of a roadmap about how we want to manage this.”
SEVEN YEARS of opportunity to do more than “kind of start”.
SEVEN YEARS of “Assurances, thinking, trying, figuring, feeling and starting” And what has it gained us?
An amended TOS that is haphazardly enforced at best. They cant’t even verbalize “Seller Registry” correctly!
Meanwhile, the churn keeps churning and quarterly profits are on the rise. The debate is over, it “IS” a game! Here are the rules:
“Under the aegis of self-promoting misinterpretations of federal statutes,the West Coast technology industry has produced a number of start-up firms premised on the notion that commercial copyright infringement is not illegal, unless and until the injured party discovers and complains of the infringing activity, and (the) infringer fails to respond to such complaints.”
Elaine Scott v. Scribd
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10357108-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
While I am quoting:
“Look at all these little things! So busy now! Notice how each one is useful. A lovely ballet ensues, so full of form and color. Now, think about all those people that created them. Technicians, engineers, hundreds of people, who will be able to feed their children tonight, so those children can grow up big and strong and have little teeny children of their own, and so on and so forth. Thus, adding to the great chain of (second) life. You see, father, by causing a little destruction, I am in fact encouraging (second) life. In reality, you and I are in the same business.”
Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Stroker,
If you feel so strong, why don’t you just leave? Vote with your feet, not your mouth. Then again… think about all that $$$ you’re making, even with a few copies here and there.
@ David Crespo
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”
“Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.”
“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”
Stroker,
I love how people find solace and faith in other people’s great words. I believe it’s called Standing on the Shoulders of Giants?
It doesn’t answer though the real issue here, you make an a lot of Dollars out of Second Life. Is This is sour grapes? No, People are getting tired of this, it’s stinking of PR. Again, you’re reporting to make around $2700+ a day out of SL?, losing a few sales here and there, isn’t that the reality of the world. Counterfeit goods are never going to go away. Even if LL do something, bad-people will circumnavigate news ways to rip you off again. This is not LL’s fault, blame the people in question. Sue them.
Oh let me use that quote again…
“You’re Swan Diving off the Shoulder of Giants”
/won battle.
/LOST war.
/account closed. At LL we appreciate your custom since 2003. I’m sure the plumbing business is thriving in Florida.
How about these “shoulders”…
We should be seeing and looking for leadership from the likes of Qwaq, IBM (the official team, not Ian), Forterra, Opensim and the even, dare I say it, Second Life’s Mark Kingdom. People who can actually make a difference through actions, not words.”
“I used to work for IBM, the only way to beat them is to leave them.”
“The set of people who snipe and offer expert opinion with little to no real knowledge of the real working world and corporate life. Who don’t actually create anything, but can give you their opinion and ‘expert’ advice after the fact.”
David Crespo December 11, 2008 at 02:57 AM
/Hypocrisy unveiled
/Source considered
/desk cleared. We at IBM appreciate your opinions and insights. We’re sure you’ll find a comparable career befitting your expertise.
/Troll fed
I’ve made it clear that my real name and info is behind my store- that’s enough for trust, isn’t it? So now I have to sign up for some seller’s registry and obtain more spam from Linden Lab. Surprisingly I get about 1 a week from their stupid Xstreet venture and now fashion week spam?
Thank you, Stroker, for all you’ve done to protect content creators.
But rest assured, we certainly feel very strongly about the rights of our intellectual property creators and holders and want to protect those as much as we can in a Virtual World.
I suspect the problem is LL’s leadership is so focused on code that they actually believe this statement to be true. Clearly the statement is untrue because the problem is repeated registration of new avatars by the same content thieves. What the code does is not the issue.
It may not even have occurred to some Lindens that the policy of open registration of avatars means that any coded tools against content theft are meaningless.