Ouch! I just saw where Gaia Clary, mover and shaker of Machinimatrix.org, has just posted how Avastar® is being changed to be an OpenSim focused tool rather than a Second Life™ focused tool. I think that strongly suggests how Gaia sees things going in the future.
ToS
Second Life ToS Meeting Summary
Toysoldier has a blog post up on the ToS meeting I mentioned on Sunday. He has made a transcript of the meeting available as a PDF. See: Transcripts from Sep-29 SL Inworld Meeting on L.L. TOS Issue.
Ernie Farstrider, a RL retired academic administrator for all of a large university’s intellectual property, sponsored the meeting. Ernie states that he believes “moral rights” are unalienable. He provided links to Harvard’s pages on moral rights. Kylie Angel Skyborne facilitated/moderated the meeting.
It seems Toysoldier Thor has been pushing this issue in the creative community. He was asked to speak at the beginning of the meeting: (I’ve made spelling and grammar corrections [ ] as this was taken from a transcript of live chat. This is not a full transcript, but highlighting of the things I found of interest.)
ToS Meeting Today
Inara Pey has an article up about a meeting this Sunday to discuss the change in the Second Life/Linden Lab Terms of Service. That meeting is today, Sunday, at noon SL Time (PDT). See: ToS Changes: in-world meeting.
The meeting will be at: East, West, North Galleries Ampi-Theatre. Region: Georgiana 159/189/1800. This is a main land region from the looks of it.
I couldn’t figure out who is sponsoring the meeting. So, I went there to see what the deal is. On TP’ing in you get this note card:
TOS Revisited 2013-39
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.
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.
ToS Update 2013-39
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.
Second Life ToS Change
In August the Linden Lab Terms of Service for all their products changed. One change most of us missed is now a point of considerable concern.
I’ve been watching discussion of the change in ToS that explicitly states we grant Linden Lab the right to sell any content uploaded to Second Life. I am not seeing what I consider a good explanation of the situation or clear opinion on it. Inara Pey has an article that shows the EXACT change and highlights the pertinent sections. See: ToS change and content rights: Lab provides statement.