Bits and Pieces 2013-39

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ToS

Ciaran Laval has an article up on the new Linden Lab™ ToS: New TOS Needs To Be Rectified.

Oculus

Jo Yardley notes The Verge has another article up on Second Life™. The Verge article is: Second Life updates graphics, promises Oculus Rift support ‘soon’. This one is by a different author and about the Oculus Rift. I think this author, Adi Robertson, watched the video. I doubt Ali has been in SL.

Jo in her article, The Oculus Buzz caused by Linden Lab, is discussing the reputation of Second Life. She has some good ideas. We know several Lindens, including Rod, read her blog. So, may be some of those ideas will get picked up or at least shape some of the Lab’s PR work.

Jo believes, and I think with good reason, that the Oculus will bring a second renaissance to SL. Of course the ToS change may offset that… I do believe we will see an up tic in the number of people entering Second Life. I can’t decide if I believe the Rift will change the retention rate. I flip-flop on that point.

And check out the first comment after her article…

If you take a look at Polygon’s article, Virtual world Second Life gets graphics and features overhaul, you might get the idea the Lab sent out a press release.

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TOS Revisited 2013-39

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There’s still quite a bit of discussion going on about Linden Labs™ new TOS. Lots of misinformation is appearing as people are giving their opinions. I think I have a few things to add to the discussion.

Empty Malls? - Image by: Lost Tulsa via Flickr
Empty Malls? – Image by: Lost Tulsa via Flickr

First, for those that want a definitive answer there is no choice but to consult an attorney. But, there are free legal advice services on the Internet, just Google free legal advice. You don’t have to hire an attorney. But, remember it is free. You get what you pay for.

The Point

Many haven’t bothered to inform themselves what the discussion is about. Remember. For some time the Lab has had a ToS that says you give them the rights they need to operate the service. Since you are GIVING them nonexclusive rights you have, since you created the ‘thing’, copyright is a non-issue. You are giving them a copy of your copyrights to your ‘thing’. This is not new.

Also, a number of people think you’re giving away your rights. You aren’t. The Linden TOS says you are granting them nonexclusive rights. That means you get to keep all your rights too. If you are giving up your rights, you would be granting them exclusive rights.

The change from all the previous TOS versions, as best I can tell, is removal of the clause: …rights needed to operate the service. (That is paraphrasing.) This little clause is the point of all the discussion. This clause limited Linden Lab to using your stuff with Second Life™ and only in connection with Second Life. Or if you push it another level up, with the services Linden Lab provides you. 

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Good Coverage of Second Life

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Inara Pey has an article up titled: The Verge: an astute look into Second Life. Inara is discussing the article and pointing out its highlights. The article was written by Chris Stokel-Walker, have no clue who Chris is. But, Inara points out and I agree it is a well written article fair to Second Life. If you want to show someone what Second Life is about this is a good article to point them to. See: Second Life’s Strange Second Life.

The Verge (the blog publishing the article) seems to be a tech news blog or may be more accurately a techie’s news blog. I haven’t seen it before but it does look interesting. They do some fun stuff with the images in the article.

I find it interesting that Caliandris Pendragon came from the Myst games. She started with Riven advanced to Myst Online: Uru Live (MOUL). She came to Second Life when Uru closed the first time in 2004. I have a similar background. But, I came when Uru closed the second time in 2008.

There are two or three groups that players from the Myst games hang out in. The group I prefer is the D’ni Refugees. They do karaoke and have lots of parties.

I find the article amazingly well-balanced. Check it out.

 

 

Second Life Share – Facebook

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Well, yesterday September 25, the Lab announced Second Life Share. This is the feature that allows us to easily share stuff from Second Life on Facebook. It’s an opt-in thing.

You can find the announcement here: Introducing SLShare, an Easy Way to Share to Facebook While Inworld.

Torley Linden has a new video out to show you how to use SL Share.

[youtube hAL7Li_h8pQ]

Torley’s pink and green is definitely muted in this video. But, I think it gives you a good idea of what the Lab is after with this feature. They are adding links to the Facebook posts so that people will be lead directly into Second Life. They will be landing on the maps page. If they are curious they will be downloading the viewer and trying to get in.

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ToS Update 2013-39

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Hamlet Au has an article up on New World Notes about longtime creators removing their products from Second Life. This is because of the change in the terms of service. See: Longtime Second Life Content Creators Remove SL Work in Protest Over Linden Lab’s New Draconian Terms of Service.

Removing content is one of the actions I pointed out in my article: Second Life ToS Change. Now we’ll see how many people follow the Odd Fellows.

Is the new TOS having any effect on you?

If your merchant are you still uploading new content?

Hamlet quotes Nerad Oddball saying, “‘Oh, but we wouldn’t really [take your content]!’ doesn’t rate.” There’s some tricky quotes there.

Nerad makes the same point I did in my article. What happens if Second Life is sold for some reason? The new buyer will see all the stuff in SL as there’s. And they can do with it whatever they want to court in this current TOS.

So the BIG question is; why won’t the lab put back in the clause that makes this a limited license? Hamlet says he’s asking. I doubt were going to hear real answer, at least one we want to hear.

There are now 15 screens of entries in the SL forum thread: Updated LL TOS Claims FULL RIGHTS to ALL CONTENT.