1.
Hello all.

I see a BIG problem here .

I think LL should NOT make such custom deals with anyone.
They don't have to develop or assign special features for certain companies.

They have to provide equal chances to anyone to start and handle any kind of initiative in SL ..

Right ?

Posted at 8:00AM on Apr 26th 2007 by Clement Rosher

2. I would hope that this "AMPP completed a deal with Second Life publisher Linden Labs" is just the usual level of media confusion - or that it is a deal unrelated to actually selling ads built into SL - otherwise this is significant stuff.

Posted at 8:09AM on Apr 26th 2007 by Ordinal Malaprop

3. I spent a fair while hunting through Google for more information, and couldn't find anything more solid than what I've reported here. I emailed Catherine Linden a couple of days ago, but no reply as yet, I figured I'd let the story run as is, since if it is a deal about embedding ads into SL it's big stuff, but sometimes you have to run with the sniff and hope the "big stuff" comes to light later.

I would say that if you see the demos I link to, it's looking a lot like embedding within SL, but there are ways it could be a smaller deal. If, for example, they're going to go to clients and offer them RL advertising in SL, and go to hosts in SL and offer them payment for running the ads, well I'd not be the RL advertiser to pay for that without a clear indication from LL that it's all above aboard. Whilst this scenario would be a change within SL's culture it wouldn't prevent other people doing the same, nor would it necessarily significantly outperform other SL advertising ploys.

Posted at 8:37AM on Apr 26th 2007 by Eloise Pasteur

4. I imagine it is probably journalistic misunderstanding as to the way things work in SL (few VWs will let you do something like this without the owners' permission, after all) or hype ("we asked LL and they said 'sure, no problem'" becomes "we completed negotiations with LL!") But it is worth checking.

It's still a perfectly fair story even if it's not about actual LL deals, anyway.

Posted at 8:55AM on Apr 26th 2007 by Ordinal Malaprop

5. You know, you'd think with all the advertising dollars behind them, they would be able to hire someone to shoot the video who knew how to turn off the user interface. LOL.

Posted at 10:26AM on Apr 26th 2007 by Rik Riel

6. Don't give them any ideas, Rik.

I don't want this crap in my world.

I come here to avoid it in RL.

Posted at 10:57AM on Apr 26th 2007 by Kahni Poitier

7. After seeing the demo, yeah, if they're not too bright about the user interface.. Still not to bright to realize how easy to turn streaming video off.

Streaming video doesn't cause SL server any lag, just your client. It's all a joke anyway.

Posted at 2:48PM on Apr 26th 2007 by Nacon

8. This'll be fairly easy for them to accomplish... all they'll have to do is FTP a bunch of "clip-art" type videos, then release the links to be used at a price.

Posted at 3:23PM on Apr 26th 2007 by Doubledown Tandino

9. I am quite dismayed to hear this, as I am *MUCH* in favor of avoiding irritating traditional ads in lieu of the fun, engaging, interactive stuff that the visionary companies are doing lately in SL. [disclaimer: I now do consulting along these lines, so I am most certainly biased] As SL is a privately-held world, they can certainly do this [traditional irritating ads] at their discretion, though. Perhaps putting the billboards on Governor Linden land?

As has been said above, we could be wrong about all this. =(

Posted at 4:13PM on Apr 26th 2007 by Kage Seraph

10. "They don't have to develop or assign special features for certain companies."

What special features are you referring to? There's nothing here that I can see with regards to any "special" features, just the features that are already in the SL client already.

"They have to provide equal chances to anyone to start and handle any kind of initiative in SL .."

Yes. Is there some reason to think they're not doing that here? You apparently have some insider info about this? What features or benefits of this deal are exclusive to this company and will be denied to anyone else?

Posted at 9:04PM on Apr 26th 2007 by Gaius Goodliffe