Comments on: Step UP! for Content Creation Theft Awareness

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:55:24 +0000

While identity theft is technically a more serious crime, that only applies if you're prosecuted in the United States. In my experience, it's pursued like a misdemeanor. Going back to my previous example, there are plenty of “full disclosures” and “innocent pizza orders” on ED all the time, and very little to nothing comes of it. The FBI knows what is going on, but there is little monetary harm, so they don't generally act, despite the fact that stolen credit cards are used. Hopefully that monetary threshold may work to the advantage of SL vendors?

I do see the value in limiting opportunistic copyright infringement this way, especially because the copybot-paranoia will subside. My larger concern is the impact the increase of ID theft will have on this, the internet, and society in general. :

By: Gwyneth Llewelyn

Gwyneth Llewelyn — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:21:43 +0000

Oh yes, you're right! However, the point is that identity and credit card theft are rather serious crimes and hotly pursued; "content theft" is not, and in most jurisdictions, it requires a lawsuit against the person duplicating content to get them to pay a fine or something (but hardly getting them into jail!).

By tying content theft (a misdemeanour) to identity/credit card theft (a major crime), it'll push the "casual pirate" into seriously committing crimes. Now, not every pirate has a criminal mind. Most just do it because you're hardly able to get caught, and even if you do, what happens? A few items get deleted, you get suspended for a few hours (at most) or days (in extreme cases) and can just continue your efforts with a different alt. So there is no serious deterrent, it's so easy to do and with so little punishment that piracy is almost encouraged...

Turning it into a major crime would only limit content piracy to criminals. A few do exist in SL, of course. They're willing to take the risks. But a regular content pirate? No, it's not worth spending some years in jail for credit card fraud just for making a handful of illegitimate L$...

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:55:24 +0000

By: Gwyneth Llewelyn

Gwyneth Llewelyn — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:21:43 +0000

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:53:33 +0000

This is a remarkable idea, but I do have one concern: in my experience with network security, identity and credit card theft is far easier to accomplish and get away with than you may realize. IRC and *chan trolls are quite capable of this (ED, for example). I confidently state this because I was almost pulled into that underground world.

By: What point are the exploiters tying to prove? | Your2ndPlace

What point are the exploiters tying to prove? | Your2ndPlace — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:00:45 +0000

[...] Gwyneth Llewelyn suggested it in her post about content theft a month ago, which you can read here. I believe that if you're going to look at matters like that then you simply shouldn't allow [...]

By: Nalates Urriah

Nalates Urriah — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:46:46 +0000

I've been reading the new 3rd Party Viewer Policy discussion today and posting about the problem that nothing can keep content from being copied. That viewer-writers will need to be validated seems like a good idea. That can stop a bogus viewer from capturing my ID and sending it off. But it does nothing to stop the pirates from changing a viewer for theft.

The solution you propose does the best job of controlling content 'resell' in SL. But, it does nothing to prevent pirates from moving things from SL to OpenLife or the OSGrid.

The hidden watermarks placed in images by various Photoshop plugins might help if the SL upload process did not squish them out (not sure if it completely obliterates it or not).

There is just no good digital solution.

By: Tessa

Tessa — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:41:05 +0000

Exactly Gwyn. Lots of folks think its unfair, the whole restrictions on the FREE FOREVER accounts, but we feel we need to pay more attention to to folks that finance this than those who would just mooch off the paying members. That never seemed right to be and I think is one of the reasons so many users go through experience now in Sl as if they were game levels, without any heart or soul to the whole thing. I just think its time we get more real and set things up to promote the values we old timers started out with and did … well just because we cared about each other …. really. Color me warm an fuzzy – I never claimed to be like regular company owner! LOL

OHHH and thanks for the plug Gwyn! I'm still looking for a dependable honest .. err cheap! Mac coder to work with us on our client!!! Shameless advertisement for help. Then maybe I can get you to come visit us!

((hugs))) Tessa *-)

By: Gwyneth Llewelyn

Gwyneth Llewelyn — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:07:00 +0000

Wow Tessa, thanks so much for that information! I see a lot of thought has been put on SpotOn3D's safeguards — really, what you're doing is pretty much what Linden Lab is supposed to have been doing all the time. It's actually ironic: you're pretty much implementing something that eBay has done (or even going a bit beyond it, since the mediation and arbitration panels are done by real people and not automated systems, and the arbitration is done by a real judge, and every proceeding is open to the public to listen and watch), and eBay's founder was one of the major investors in Linden Lab — one wonders why he never insisted that Second Life ran a similar system!

Oh yes, allowing unvalidated avatars to have all the fun but limit them in the ability to sell stolen content is the way to go! I'm sure that the harder it is for them to sell the content, the less stolen content is available: after all, opportunity makes the thief, as the old saying goes.

Awesome work. Thanks for posting this!

By: Tessa

Tessa — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:10:39 +0000

*sigh* And once again I misspell your name Gwyn. Just blame it on my stoopid dyslexic fingers, ok? *bangs head on desk a few times and looks up apologetically*