CopyBot threatens SL economy for real

The string of good news for Second Life temporarily stops today as the MMO faces threats to its virtual economy. The issue began last Monday when Linden Lab VP for Community Development and Support, Robin Harper discussed with SL residents, the Sellers Guild, about the implications of the program CopyBot. This specific bot allows residents to copy any object regardless if it intervenes with someone’s intellectual property rights.

As a result, many in-game entrepreneurs have expressed worries and intentions to shut down their businesses and leave the virtual world all together. While filing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint could be the best recourse for the company, several game officials are still rather worried. “The problem with the DMCA is that it takes many weeks. By that time, someone’s work could be copied and stolen and distributed all over the grid,” expressed content creator Jim Mallon.

It is surprising to know that prior to the incident, no security measures for such were placed within the game. No less than Linden Lab Chief Technology Officer Cory Ondrejka was the first one to acknowledge the slip-up and partially suggests and implements a solution: “Second Life needs features to provide more information about assets and the results of copying them.

Unfortunately, these are not yet in place. Until they are, the use of CopyBot or any other external application to make unauthorized duplicates within Second Life will be treated as a violation and may result in your account(s) being banned.”

On the other hand, LibSecondLife, creator of CopyBot, states that it was created as a tool for testing and demonstrations and was never intended to be used for illegal theft. “It deals with legitimate client data that every client receives, but it takes that data and converts it to a packet and sends it back to the servers. It acts like an import/export tool,” explained one member of the group.

Via CNet

The string of good news for Second Life temporarily stops today as the MMO faces threats to its virtual economy. The issue began last Monday when Linden Lab VP for Community Development and Support, Robin Harper discussed with SL residents, the Sellers Guild, about the implications of the program CopyBot. This specific bot allows residents to copy any object regardless if it intervenes with someone’s intellectual property rights.

As a result, many in-game entrepreneurs have expressed worries and intentions to shut down their businesses and leave the virtual world all together. While filing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint could be the best recourse for the company, several game officials are still rather worried. “The problem with the DMCA is that it takes many weeks. By that time, someone’s work could be copied and stolen and distributed all over the grid,” expressed content creator Jim Mallon.

It is surprising to know that prior to the incident, no security measures for such were placed within the game. No less than Linden Lab Chief Technology Officer Cory Ondrejka was the first one to acknowledge the slip-up and partially suggests and implements a solution: “Second Life needs features to provide more information about assets and the results of copying them.

Unfortunately, these are not yet in place. Until they are, the use of CopyBot or any other external application to make unauthorized duplicates within Second Life will be treated as a violation and may result in your account(s) being banned.”

On the other hand, LibSecondLife, creator of CopyBot, states that it was created as a tool for testing and demonstrations and was never intended to be used for illegal theft. “It deals with legitimate client data that every client receives, but it takes that data and converts it to a packet and sends it back to the servers. It acts like an import/export tool,” explained one member of the group.

Via CNet