Linden Lab have published their policy upon which third-party viewers which connect to Second Life must adhere to. It’s kinda an interesting read if you have too much time on your hands, suffer from insomnia and need help falling asleep, or write a blog. In my case, all three.

Third party viewers gained prominence around a year ago, and it seemed they were popping up everywhere. As is always the case, one client rose above the others as Emerald Viewer eclipsed the competition with its stability, fun little toys and, of course, breasts that bounced. Sex sells, kids.

However, they rapidly gained notoriety after a handful of viewers with illicit undertones emerged, and a mainstream blog irresponsibly published the name of one of the clients, driving more people towards it. That, coupled with other incidences (sidestep) led to Linden Lab finally responding with a plan for all third party viewers.

And about bloody time.

So what are the nuts and bolts of what they’re requiring of all third party viewers? Are they shying away from doing anything as I insinuated in my previous blogpost? Or are they actually stepping up and stamping down their authority?

Here’s the nuts and bolts:

• Required Functionality and Disclosures

Viewers need to have their own unique identifier label. When they connect to the grid, they need to announce themselves to the server as to which client they are, and must not try to cloak or cheat the system by pretending to be another viewer (Either Linden Lab or other Third Party Viewers).

All TPVs (Yeah, I’m already getting lazy and abbreviating that one) must also display a link to their privacy policy, stating what information is collected about users, if it is stored and how it is used.

• Prohibited Features and Functionality

TPVs must not alter key information about objects in-world, such as the creator’s name, or try to hack the SL permissions system to circumvent modify/copy/transfer.

Additionally, all viewers must not provide functions which allow content to be exported out of Second Life which isn’t in the official viewer, unless it is specifically checked that the creator of the content is the user of the client.

As is commonly known, Linden Lab have enforced bans in the past using IP and MAC addresses. The policy states that TPVs cannot mask this data when the client connects to the grid.

There’s the usual stuff too, that the TPV must not contain viruses, trojans, spyware, phishing, cause DoS attacks, sell your new widescreen TV, lock up your children in the basement, or steal your cookies while you’re out having extra-marital affairs with the neighbour’s wife.

• Intellectual Property Rights

TPVs must not be created with the purpose to infringe intellectual property rights, or encourage, instruct or assist the user to breach IP rights.

Linden Lab lay down the big daddy rules here, saying they’ll ban your viewer from accessing the grid, ban you and your alts from SL and set the lawyers to hound down your sorry ass.

Also worth noting is that all TPVs have to comply with the GNU General Public License. Basically, it has to be free software with the source code published.

• Data Access and Privacy

The Privacy Policy needs to clearly state exactly what information is collected about all the seedy and naughty things people use their TPVs for, and the user should never need to provide any personal information to install or uninstall the program.

Any data which is collected by TPVs must not be shared with Linden Lab, unless the user gives consent.

• Third-Party Viewer Branding and Second Life Trademarks

Here’s an interesting one – all TPVs are prohibited from using any name which can be confused with Linden Lab’s trademarked brands. TPVs are hereby banned from using “Second,” “Life,” “SL,” or “Linden.” So if a viewer’s name ends in “Life”, it’s gonna have to change its name, sharpish.

Additionally (and expectedly) the Second Life hand logo must not be used.

• The Viewer Directory and Self-Certification

All TPVs that would like to be listed in the Viewer Directory must comply with the Policy, and SL’s Terms of Conditions. All information provided about the viewer must be true, and all the Second Life accounts owned by the developer must be in good standing (and none must be permanently banned). The developer must also have Payment Info on File, or be Age Verified.

• Your Responsibility for Third-Party Viewers

Linden Lab states clearly that they will not provide any support serviced for third party viewers (obviously), and that the developer is solely responsible for the TPV they create.

Users are advised to take reasonable precautions when installing viewers from a third party, incase they do steal your cookies. Those are good cookies.

• Policy Changes, Enforcement, and Termination

Linden Lab state that they may look at the code of TPVs to make sure they’re playing ball, and not using any pumping poison into the user’s circuitry. If they find any anthrax, they’ll cut off access to the grid for that viewer without notice, and may notify the developer to stop distributing the software for the purpose of accessing the Second Life grid.

The Lab also state that by being a TPV developer, you automatically agree to provide Linden Lab any part of the code based on their viewer for them to review. If it’s found that the viewer is not in full compliance, they may request that functions be removed, added or modified.

Basically, it’s their world and their rules.