There is a furore going on in the SL forums because libSL have produced a CopyBot which allows complete copying of prim objects with textures and animations, which makes the copier the creator of the object, and have seen fit to release this on the community.
The geeks of libSL react with surprise that anyone could think that this might be used for evil purposes, and helpfully suggest that a DMCA takedown notice will solve the problems it creates. libSL for those who haven't come across it before, is the Linden-supported project reverse engineering SL's code for the good of the community ... or so they would have us believe. In their words: libsecondlife is a open source software project to allow the creation of third-party Second Life applications. They have also been a haven for griefers and exploiters, and many of those have been banned.
As with previous copying devices, it doesn't seem to cross the feeble brains of these people that other people's livelihoods in RL might depend upon their SL income. Those people who are living the dream that is promoted in every article, of earning a RL income from SL creations, are now living a nightmare in which their source of income may soon be worthless.
That's not to speak of big commercial companies who have paid anything up to 1,000,000 dollars to have their product reproduced in loving detail, who will discover that every Tom, Dick or Harriet may rip off their creation for nothing - and then sell it as their own.
When every other store is full of ripped-off Sky Designs, or Gurl hair, or Adidas trainers, how much good is a DMCA takedown going to do anyone? You can pursue some of the people some of the time, but you can't pursue all of the people, all of the time. By the time this CopyBot thing has been readily distributed by people too stupid to foresee its nefarious uses, the damage is done. GeForce Go (does Nvidia know he drags their name through the mire like this?) sells the machine for profit. I'd like to orbit him to a place where he will not return.
Linden Lab's Robin Linden posts on the Linden official blog, without once visiting the question of why libSL might have felt the need to make this item in the first place. I'm feeling very depressed about it. If someone wanted to destroy the economy of SL I don't think they could have found a better way. It would be good to understand why someone might have thought this seemed like a good idea, or what justification there is for it.
Some people have posted that the CopyBot on SL Exchange may carry a trojan and it isn't clear whether this is a ruse to prevent people from buying it, or a real concern.
There are some geeky solutions suggested on the Linden blog, but none of them seem much use to me. If someone takes one of my Christmas trees, for example, and then copies it and starts to sell it, I don't see that there is much chance I will get to hear about it, if it doesn't have my name on as creator. It will take a coincidence like me coming across it for me to even be aware ... whereas at present people contact me and let me know if my freebies are sold anywhere, for example.
It seems there is precious little to be done about this thing now that it is in the wild. I just hope the people who made it understand the enormity of what they have done. Yes, it is always possible to copy stuff in SL and yes, someone could copy my trees if they had the patience to do it. But the difference between that and being able to rip one off with the CopyBot is the difference between being able to take a biscuit off a plate or having to walk down the road, go to the shop, buy some and bring them home.
My comfort when previous scams of selling freebies etc have come to light has been that most people are honest and decent, and won't do or buy these things if they know. The problem with this CopyBot is that any of us may buy ripped-off products and never know that they are ripped off.
1. >The geeks of libSL react with surprise that anyone could think that this might be used for evil purposes, and helpfully suggest that a DMCA takedown notice will solve the problems it creates.
The geeks at Linden Lab have also said this, Caliandris -- that's their only response, and always has been.
Meanwhile, the superior geeks, like Spin Martin, suggested that everyone should try both selling everything AND giving away everything for free. I guess his experience in the music and podcasting industries have led him to this positon.
http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2006/11/bots_back_in_th.html
I don't buy at all that this isn't the fault of libsl. They deliberately made the copybot; they joyfully, gleefully, maliciously spread it around inworld. Baba Yamamoto and other libbers have been going around the grid since November 7, Revolution Day, spreading this stuff around. It's for sale now on Slex, even though one libber, Jesse Malthus, says they have no yanked the code.
I'm unclear on what users of copybot actually get when they deploy it, whether the skins and shapes and such they get can be in fact kept in inventory permanently and resold -- there is discussion about how it is temporary.
They put notecarded disclaimer that supposedly asks permission of targeted avatars to be copied, but that's lame.
The real question isn't why Baba spread the copy bot or why he and others at libsl made the copy bot -- anything the Lindens can copy can eventually be copied by somebody else because everybody has to have access to the streaming world in order to see it, and that means the information about what is rezzed can be captured by those who know how to do it.
The real question to me is why the Lindens sanctioned libsl; while Cory blessed it; why Lindens remain in it to this say, though it has constantly filled up with w-hat griefers, and why given that they are in the group, they didn't instantly shut this down. I realize their default is always to reward script-kiddise, but this is a time when other departments might have persuaded the programming cliques to ratchet down their constant exhuberance for giving away the store.
Posted at 12:26PM on Nov 14th 2006 by Prokofy Neva