Tact. The Lab have none.

Image Credit to h.koppdelaney

Yesterday I wrote about the closure of metaverse There.com, which announced it was closing its doors after running out of money. Reactions in the comments was somewhat mixed, but what I found interesting was the idea that Second Life should appeal to the users of There.com and encourage them to join SL.

Although I haven’t seen Linden Lab follow up on that, I did notice that both Blue Mars and Frenzoo.com have “invited” the users of There.com to their virtual worlds.

To some, this may seem like a friendly hand looking to offer a new home. To me, it looks like vultures circling around the carcass of the metaverse, looking for scraps to feed off. There members invested money into the  platform, and although it wasn’t enough to keep it going, it was still an income. And it represents an income up for someone else’s grabs.

It just doesn’t sit right with me that these virtual platforms are so blatantly coming out and saying “Hey guys – sorry your world went bust, but why not come spend your money in our place instead?” It seems rather disrespectful to the guys who were running There, as well as feeling uncomfortable to the users, who no doubt had an emotional attachment to the platform. Kinda like feeling you’re just a commodity to used to generate business and income for someone else. Which admittedly you are, but it’s nice not to have it shoved in your face.

Whilst studying Architecture at university, one of the units involved studying the code of conduct, which stated that one architect cannot try to smear another architect, or go out to steal their business. Regardless of if they go bust, you don’t try to steal their clients until the clients advertise that they require services, or approach you. It’s about keeping ethics and professionalism, which is something both Avatar Reality and Frenzoo.com have clearly demonstrated that they lack.

That’s just a personal opinion though, and I respect that other people may think there’s nothing wrong with a company appealing to the customers of another platform.

It just doesn’t sit right with me.

Yet another virtual world closes down as the people behind There.com shut their virtual doors on March 9th. Yet another victim of the economic recession, the virtual platform simply didn’t have enough customers who were putting money into their coffers.

You got to feel for the There.com team, who put a lot of effort into their virtual platform, but in the end, they couldn’t sustain the promise they’d once shown.

After the closure of Metaplace, and seeing other virtual platforms hit the wall, it makes you question the economic viability of smaller online worlds, and if they have the niche markets to be able to sustain themselves.

At the end of the day, we can’t cure the recession, and at some point we have to stop writing checks to keep the world open. There’s nothing more we would like to avoid this, but There is a business, and a business that can’t support itself doesn’t work. Before the recession hit, we were incredibly confident and all indicators were “directionally correct” and we had every reason to believe growth would continue. But, as many of you know personally, the downturn has been prolonged and severe, and ultimately pervasive.

I imagine they’re not the only ones suffering a rough patch right now.

Are Second Life residents easily exploitable?

An entrepreneur from London recently chanced upon Second Life after reading an article about it on BBC News. Reading up on the Second Life economy, he saw a niche which would save him thousands of dollars: Paying SL residents much less to do the same job, in return for “play money”.

In this case, the required work was translation of documents, but the concept is easily applicable to several other uses. The fact of the matter is, when in Second Life, you think in Second Life terms. A ball gown doesn’t cost $1500, it costs L$1500. A designer bed doesn’t cost $2500, it costs L$2500. And so forth.

It’s akin to outsourcing your work to a cheaper nation, where the workforce’s wages are lower. Capitalism at its finest. And better than that, Second Life has little regulation and no unions – no need to fill out lots of tax forms, employee records or contracts – simply tell someone what you want, get the work from them and than pay them.

The Second Life economy is essentially built on micropayments – minuscule sums which amount to larger numbers over running totals. The average Second Life resident views the grid as a game, and something for fun. The subject of this article paid SL users a minuscule sum of L$50 (or about 20 US cents) to translate a document. For a Second Life resident, it represents easy money and they get a small amount with which to buy themselves a t-shirt.

And the businessman saves himself a fortune by exploiting the Second Life economy.

Question is, how much of this goes on on a day to day basis? My thinking is that there’s quite a lot of people exploiting SL residents who simply use Second Life as a game, or avenue for some fun. And that being the case, is it fair? Nobody seemed to complain – the business makes a lot of money, and the SL user makes money for something which comes easily to them.

My gut tells me that Second Life just became a Chinese sweat shop.

Emerald Viewer began a crusade against privacy rights of Second Life users last week with the launch of its latest version. The rather harmless previous features which included bouncing breasts have been eclipsed by this latest version which allows users to see who has allowed map rights, and crucially, who has denied the right to see them online.

Not being able to see somebody online was a feature introduced by Linden Lab a few years ago, as the community rapidly grew. In the past, anybody on your friend’s list could see you online and had map rights to see where on the grid you were.

The added privacy function which allowed a user to appear online or offline to particular people allowed many to live a quieter or simpler Second Life. It would allow designers to work without distraction where busy mode doesn’t keep people from trying to find you.

This privacy has now been shattered by the release of the latest Emerald Viewer, which has caused grief amongst residents. Finding out someone on your friends list doesn’t want you to know they’re online (regardless of motives behind it) leads to everything from silent rage to full-on confrontation to simply just deleting the “friend”. Additionally, the viewer has also alerted you as to who has viewed your profile.

This latest release of Emerald has done nothing but undermine the privacy within Second Life, and yet again raises the question of what other information can be integrated into the SL viewer that may breach other users’ privacy.

How long before granting map rights is obsolete and you can view where any of your contacts are on the grid? How long before your recently visited sims are revealed in your profile? How long before no longer feel like you have no freedom in Second Life?

The latest version of Emerald viewer includes breaches of privacy which could potentially kickstart an assault on the Second Life users’ freedom within the grid, and it’s worrying to think of the consequences of what the creators of this viewer may have begun.

And then there’s what you find under the bonnet. Emerald viewer’s Privacy Policy states that the viewer places a cookie on your computer that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. Precisely why Emerald Viewer needs to know what websites I’ve been looking at is totally beyond me, and I’m interested as to why they might have reason for doing so.

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.

Having been part of the testing group for the “new” Second Life Viewer 2 for several months, I pretty used to using it by now and for anyone who’s finding it difficult to get to grips with: relax – it’s easy once you stop clinging to the old format.

The new viewer represent a much cleaner User Interface – a kind of interface which users of other programs would be familiar with. Despite that it looks like an Adobe Air product now, things actually make much more sense in the new client. However, I’m not going to bore you with where all the bits have moved to as both Sasy and Arminax have already done a marvellous job on that.

Also, there’s guaranteed to be a hundred blogposts all complaining about the viewer, which I’m well past doing. If anything, I’d quite like to write a blogpost about how unusable the old viewer is!

So anyways, the Viewer 2.0 isn’t the only piece of news to have come out today. It’s been like the usually dormant SL Marketing department all took coke before coming into the office this morning, because they’ve been on overdrive with news.

Third Party Viewer Directory

Sort of related, and in my opinion, much bigger news is the introduction of the Third Party Viewer Directory, and outlining of their policy.

Unfortunately, Linden Lab have shied away from any form of policing the third party viewers which can access Second Life. The directory is essentially just a way to say “Hey guys – we’ve not checked these clients out, but they said they’re awesome and that’s good enough for us!”. If they’re not awesome, they’re relying on us – the users – to let them know. Probably after an illegitimate viewer has screwed us over.

I’m all for a directory as a way of bringing together all the fantastic clients out there, but it’s hardly difficult for people to find illicit viewers at the moment. Which is why systems like CDS have been developed. The reason Second Life spawns vigilantes is because the Lab won’t police the grid.

Linden Endowment for the Arts

In more positive news, it seems someone at Linden Lab read my blog entry on Second Life’s social issue, and they’re making an effort to support the arts. This makes me all shades of happy, as I’m a strong believer that the artistic community is vital to the future of SL. An effort by Linden Lab to support the non-commercial arts within Second Life is one of the most positive steps forward I’ve seen in a long time.

How this programme will work remains to be seen, but I encourage all residents to nominate their favourite Second Life artists and musicians and get behind this effort, and hopefully it’ll serve as a platform which will encourage more amazing art and experiences which are struggling due to elevating costs.

That said, I still want to see support for non-profit venues in Second Life. I recently announced the closure of my bar The Crown and Pearl due to spiralling costs, and after months of seeing many other venues close, I can’t see the situation improving.

M Linden Speaks Out!

Also in the news today, Mark Kingdon, CEO of Linden Lab and known as M Linden in world has been giving an interview to Building43, in which he’s promoting Second Life. It’s an interesting outlook on trying to bring in new people into Second Life, and how the bossman explains it. And he says he wouldn’t buy a pair of Stiletto Moodys.. which I’m sorta thankful for.

LL:UK Expansion Pack

Seems Linden Lab in the UK are growing too, having moved into bigger office space. Why do they always put their national headquarters in the gay capitals, anyways?

At the moment, Linden Lab are profiting from its userbase in several different methods. The bulk is provided from buying sims and tiers, but then premium accounts also raise a healthy revenue. Every purchase and cashout of Lindens incurs a charge, as does transactions on XStreet SL. Classifieds in world and upload fees provide a healthy chunk of change to the Lab, and with new products like SL Enterprise, they’re constantly finding new ways to bring in revenue.

So how long before they sell us – the users?

Each time we use Second Life, we give away more information about ourselves. Everytime we join a group, we essentially tag ourselves to our interests. Each time we enter a search term and select somewhere to teleport, we provide data which gives an idea of interest. Everytime we write a sentence in open chat, we’re giving out streams of keywords. Every purchase on XStreet SL can be tracked to note what sort of items we like to buy.

This is a marketer’s wet dream – access to this sort of data is a goldmine for advertisers. Our access to Second Life is free and open, but we are essentially trading information about ourselves in return, and all this data is easily harnessed by Linden Lab.

And with additional data about spending habits, they can match how much we spend to what we spend on. The bonus of the virtual world is that we often buy things that we may not be able to in the first life – unless it’s directly offered to us to make us think about it.

Lets say you buy a piano on XStreet SL and it’s delivered to your inventory. Lets suppose an advertising  image is attached to that delivery with a notice of an online retailer who would like to offer you a discounted piano for real life too? You might think “No, thanks” but if the seed is planted, then you may come back to it in the future.

Supposing you join a group in-world for fans of Blues music. Suppose Linden Lab then sent out a notice in this group advertising a new Blues CD coming out, and offering an exclusive price for members of the group – again, this represents data mining in which Linden Lab stand to profit in a big way.

And with Age Verification and Credit Card info on file, Linden Lab already hold our real life details, which a small and quiet change to the Privacy Policy could pave the way for a new potential windfall for the Lab.

Second Life residents share more intimate information within Second Life about themselves than they do on websites such as Facebook or Twitter, because a thin veil of anonymity makes them think they are safe from revealing true interests and activities which they may not want first life friends to be aware of.

This is the sort of information which advertisers crave in order to be able to target their market – not just interest and what appeals to users, but also how much they spend and how much they are willing to spend. Someone who spends money on virtual goods online, has no problem with purchasing real products online.

The goldmine is there for Linden Lab to monetise. So perhaps the question isn’t “Will?” but “When?”

Image by Skills Hak

Skills Hak last week released a ban-tool called Gemini Cybernetic CDS, which on paper, sounds a fantastic tool. It ejects avatars using third party viewers which have illicit purposes in order to combat the threat from copybot. The ban is not just limited to the sim in which the avatar was identified, but also every other sim in the CDS network.

The creator insists that the CDS system has not had a single case of a false positive in beta trials. More interestingly is that this system has been gathering information on which viewers that SL users have been using for several months now, and will ban users even if they are not using an illicit viewer anymore. How this system counters against viewers which cloak their identity is currently unknown.

The way the system works is obviously being kept under wraps in order to stop illicit viewers from creating workarounds. However, in a world where piracy is rampant, I don’t doubt that they will find a way. As sad as that is, it is the way of the internet which has grown a culture of wanting everything for free.

So what of this system? There appears to be suspicion surrounding it, and it obviously raises ethical questions of privacy. Just because someone used an illicit viewer once upon a time, is it fair to ban them if they’re not using them anymore? Is CDS really 100% foolproof, and how long before a popular Second Life figure is caught out by it? Is this system just vigilantism to the extreme, and should Linden Lab be the ones who govern this sort of discipline?

There seems an element of Orwellism in the way everyone is now being watched. Although I have no issue with disclosing the viewers I have used, it does make me wonder what other information can be harnessed by other SL users, and how it may be used.

Google’s advert during the Superbowl was about someone falling in love with a Parisien, and using the Search Engine to find the answers as predicaments arose. Which, of course, is what the many residents of Second Life often do too, as is observed:

Yeah, I know there’s a couple of minutes of black space. I put it down to me not being able to edit a video properly.. let me be, it’s been a while.