Virtual World News

Phoenix Firestorm Hour

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Well after all the tech problems at the Phoenix Hour, now the Phoenix Firestorm Hour, I finally got to see the video of the meeting. I’ll paraphrase it here. As usual I’ll provide time marks so you can listen to the parts that interest you. I try to be accurate, but I have biases and preconceptions so I can hear things differently than they are intended. So, you’ll find the video at: New Linden Lab Policy.

Phoenix Firestorm Hour

I’ll point out here that the paraphrasing I have here is 5,000+ words. The meeting was an hour and 45 minutes not counting time out for crashes and region restarts and the 40 minute delay in starting. If I had stuck it out from my early arrival to the end I would have had more than 3 hours in the meeting. I really think some of the changes talked about here are FAR less important than the fact they regions didn’t stay up.

If you’re in a hurry, there are 250 words at the end that pretty much sum things up.

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SOPA, PIPA, OPENA, and ACTA

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A new article appearing on ReadWriteWeb is about the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The writer is part of the group that thinks SOPA, PIPA, and OPENA have been stopped. They have not. See: SOPA, PIPA, OPENA articles.

Now we have word about an international attack on our rights from another quarter: ACTA. Read the article: What You Should Know About ACTA and Your Rights.

This is important for our SL community because other counties will be adopting, or not, this treaty. Many countries still have opportunities to stop their countries from signing onto the treaty.

This law comes to us in the forum of a treaty. Pres. Obama has signed this treaty. Few people are aware of the attacks on our freedom in the US mounted by this admiration. A treaty must be approved by the US Senate. The House of Representatives has no say in treaties. So, in many ways the Senate is more important than the House.

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SOPA, PIPA, and OA

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You have probably heard enough about these laws. But, the depth of the deceit in these laws is escaping many of those writing about SOPA, PIPA, and OA. Some creators and merchants in SL actually support SOPA, PIPA, and/or OA, which I see as shooting their own foot.

It is reasonable to want to protect one’s intellectual property and ownership rights. It is a basic tenet of freedom to protect private property. Without such protection things devolve into anarchy and poverty. It’s a basic lesson of history.

One should research the facts and make up their mind if they are to support SOPA, PIPA, and OA or not. The best analysis and explanation of the proposed laws I’ve seen is Gwyneth Llewelyn’s article: SOPA/PIPA revisited. Please read the article. Gwyn has taken the intellectual step to reason beyond the surface of the issue and look at how the proposed laws can be misused.

 

 

 

 

I’m Back…

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SOPA and PIPA are not gone. We didn’t win. We were impressive. But, the politicians and the commercial interests involved have just stepped aside and allowed the wave of protest to pass. They are expecting us to go back to sleep.

Alec Rawls writes on Watt’s Up With That about Cass Sunstein, an Obama czar, wanting to use copyright laws to stop rumors and conspiracies, in other words to stifle free speech. The copyright laws in the US have the idea of fair use. That idea is to be modified so that you can’t write about ideas I espouse on this site. That would stop discussion of those rumors and ideas.

Harry Reid, the chairman of the US Senate, is rewriting PIPA to try and get it through the Senate and to the House. The bill is about getting the government to enforce copyright law for Hollywood. The most heinous aspect is the efforts to dispose of due process. The change is to make one guilty until they can prove their innocence. That’s an over simplification but…

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SOPA Update

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ReadWriteWeb has an article on recent developments in the SOPA, Protect-IP, and OPEN bills. The Obama administration is saying they will not sign any bill that would allow censorship or changes in the domain naming system. Personally, I think that is smoke to quite the resistance these proposed laws are drawing from around the world.

[vimeo 31100268]

I will point out that this is the same administration that issued a ‘legal opinion’ telling government agencies they may ‘legally’ lie to avoid complying with Freedom of Information requests. See the LA Times editorial:  Obama’s secrets

Additionally this is the administration that signed an executive order that relives the government from following due process when American citizens are accused of sexual misconduct on campuses. Guilt is to be determined by the college or university administration. Failure to do so is cause to cut off funds to the institution. See this article by a Buddhist Obama supporter. (It links to the WSJ)

I suggest that any time a politician tells you what he is going to do, you better watch them. The result you get is often very different than the politician’s words.

Keep writing letters to Congress. See: SOPA is Still a Problem for detailed information.

#SL Region Crossings

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Well… things are a mess in regard to region crossings. Andrew’s Friday afternoon meeting was overrun with region owners, sailors, and aviators looking to find out when regions crossings would be working better. 54± people were in Denby, which made it hard for me to get in. Later in the meeting there were 80 people in the region. Persistence does work. 40+ were in Longfellow and 10 or so were stuck in Hanley.

Full Regions for Server Script Meeting

Some of the meeting was relayed to the Second Life Beta group chat.

Since the latest server update and the recent kernel updates region crossings with vehicels have become a problem. Walking or flying across is less of a problem then attempting to drive, sail, or fly a vehicle across.

There is also concern about the Havok upgrade that went into testing this week.

Whatever the case, sailors and aviators showed up in mass at Fridays user group meeting. I’ll have more information later, after I have time read through some chat logs and meeting minutes. Watch for Server News.