Hypergrid Business - Latest Comments

Re: Shakeups on the hypergrid

Licu Rau — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:04:32 -0000

There is a point I am not sure I understood well: is Speculoos including in the active users also the visitors from other grids? If they and other grids are doing that, then we are comparing not homogeneous data because Craft World and many other grids do not include "foreign" visitors in their data. In our grid data in the website there is written that active users do not include 'foreign' visitors, maybe if all the grid write who they are counting as active user, we can compare more homogenerous data.

Re: Shakeups on the hypergrid

graymills — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:49:12 -0000

BIO-SE was online last week. I know they had some scheduled downtime this week but afaik they're not "suspended or inactive". Their wiki URL is http://wiki.bio-se.info/wiki/M... and not as per your link above (which is indeed broken).

Re: Shakeups on the hypergrid

Sarge Misfit — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:43:09 -0000

Just as a clarification, and with the caveat that I am not an official spokesperson, but Created Worlds has not yet opened to the general public. They are currently taking applications for beta membership and for beta land ownership. Basically, free tier until after it opens to the public. They had disabled logins for the last month+ because they changed over to AuroraSim. Logins have been re-enabled for those who are already members.

Re: OpenSim needs an installer bundle

Nilemon — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:19:03 -0000

From a Guest to a Guest
Your friend story it's just like mine
Hours and hours over several days with a friend teamviewing to help me.
My region was on map, and regions list. My friend could go there. But me? Never I could see my region or have my feet in there.
Deception it's my word...

Re: English learning grid launched

Jkwacky — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:20:24 -0000

great news for those teaching english as a second language!

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Blake Bourque — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:12:17 -0000

Hey Paul, you seen Diva's explanation of the plan for HG2.0 Sounds similar to what you are saying here.

http://metaverseink.com/blog/?...

Re: InWorldz users cash out over $15,000 a month

Eddy — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:30:14 -0000

old post, but i assume you didn't read the ENTIRE thread: this is just the cash-OUTS, and there are a lot of cash-INS also. Check your story before posting anything please.

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Sarge Misfit — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:33:30 -0000

While there isn't a whole lot of money involved here, I have to disagree with Virtual Clover and otehrs, this is definitely not a non-issue. :-)

All it takes is one anal ****** armed with a DMCAk-47 and your 2 year build is screwed. This isn't something that keeps me awake, but I do have the thought in the back of my mind of what might happen to Excelsior Station if that were to happen to me, and it does cause me some worry, so I do pay as close attention to what I am using as I can when I build.

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Guest — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:57:39 -0000

" I know that some grid owners have been working on identifying
infringing content even if the creator names are different, but I don't
know the details of the technology or what's happening on that front."

The problem is time and labor involved there and the sheer magnatude of the quantity, were talking about MILLIONS of individual items on a grid. If an object is imported it's lost it's original creator's name and uuid information, that's all erased and replaced by the importer's name as creator and it gets a new uuid number and creation date and name.
Other than visually identifying that object as being someone else's creation, there is no way that looking at the uuid's or object names that anyone can tell who is the real creator.
Once that importer gives the item out to others as a freebie, once other people have it in inventory, those who back up their OARS and IARS and maybe decide to move to a different grid, importing that object will now change the creator and uuid along with the creation date yet again.

That is why I have seen a certain freebie item on no less than 3 grids as a freebie, and in multiple places on each grid, each of them having different creator names, dates and uuid's. Since I know the object well I recognize it everywhere I see it.
But what if one of the new owners of that object does some modifications on it, changes the textures and a few other things, now its even more difficult to tell what it's original was exactly. The might even take parts of it off and replace them with different ones they like better, further complicating things.
The thing is, with individuals not edu's- people are given or pick up freebie boxes and use the items on their personal regions in good faith, if anything, most of them are as much victims as the copyright holder.

Intent has a big thing to do with it and those who have exported/copybotted/imported items and then try SELLING them as their own creations- those are the ones who are going to be in serious trouble and more likely to be sued than the single region owner who innocently collected freebie boxes placed around the grids of full perm items they are using for their own personal enjoyment.

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Paul — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:46:37 -0000

It would probably be too hard to do, but it would be good if OpenSim could use a different permissions system than the SL one (or in addition to). If you replaced the Permissions with a "licencing" permission system.

In such a system you would have clauses you could add to it (like the clauses in the creative commons system - but more comprehensive). Then the server system would be able to track the licencing permissions from the individual objects and give a report of the permissions of the complete object.

As the system could check the licencing (not just the in world permissions) of the object, you would be able to bring up a report at any time and know what you could do with it.

You could have licencing clauses like: Copyable, Non-Commercial, Local-Grid-Only, etc. A content creator could then tag their objects with these clauses as they desired. A set of default clauses would exist and any clauses the creator adds would over ride any competing clauses (eg: the default might be non-copyable, but if the user adds the "copyable" clause then that would over ride the non-copyable clause).

Clauses could be added to this system much more easily than the current "permissions" system (although this would probably be in the server development rather than by grid owners).

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Pathfinder — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:42:56 -0000

The economy of SL is a microcosm, dwarfed by the buying and selling of industry-standard mesh models across the world. See http://turbosquid.com for just one example of a mesh marketplace. Buying/selling such models is a huge industry.

And interestingly enough, there is *no* use of DRM (aka "permissions") with mesh models outside of SL. Content creators are protected by very clear licenses and legal enforcement of those licenses. The system works.

If we're looking for a model of how this all might work with the future of Opensim, I think a DRM-free future is the way to go. Licenses trump everything.

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Maria Korolov — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:22:38 -0000

This article was mainly directed at larger enterprises -- companies, non-profits, colleges, and grids -- people who would make attractive targets for lawsuits. And it's especially critical when you make objects for commercial use. No creator wants to see someone else make money from their stolen creations.

But even for individuals, there's no excuse for breaking the law. "I think I can get away with it," is not a reason.

And there are limits to fair use. You can use a part of a copyrighted work in a review, or in a parody, or for educational purposes. But if you're using pirated content as it's actually meant to be used -- listening to the music, watching the videos, wearing the virtual clothes -- then you're in clear violation. There's no "fair use" exemption there. You're getting something you should have paid for, that others are paying for, and you're getting it for free.

Maybe the creator is overcharging. Maybe the product is old and out of style. Maybe the creator is being a stick-in-the-mud about not letting you take the content to your own grid. That's their problem. And their decision. Will they lose customers over it? Will they protect their business or hurt it? That's their problem to figure out. And it's their choice to make.

You can't make that choice for them because they're the original creator, and the copyright holder.

Yes, it's a huge undertaking to clean things up.

The first place to start is to make it very, very clear when items have good provenance and are legitimate, so that people know to choose them instead. If you've got two plants in your inventory, and you know one is properly licensed, use that one. If you have stores on your grid, make sure that the terms are clear and posted.

There's plenty of good content out there now. Making it easier for people to find it and choose it would help a lot.

As for clearing out old content that doesn't have proper permissions -- I know that some grid owners have been working on identifying infringing content even if the creator names are different, but I don't know the details of the technology or what's happening on that front.

If would be nice if someone could set a system up. A registry of some kind that grids can check content against for infringement when it's first uploaded, to keep it from getting on the grid -- with some mechanism in place to allow legitimate sales.

Yes, there will still be grid owners who ignore it, but those grids get successful enough, someone will sue them and shut them down.

The music industry have systems in place to compensate song writers, for example, for when their songs are played. Maybe an industry group like that, representing copyright holders, collecting small amounts whenever their content is used... keep the amounts low enough so that compliance is cheaper than dealing with the legal fees of infringement lawsuits. And they'll add up, so that creators will have ongoing residual income from their work.

Re: How to lose your copyright in three easy steps

Guest — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:37:42 -0000

Another issue people don't stop to think of is, when you SELL your items on SL, you had better be paying full income taxes on these as well as collecting sales tax as appropriate- it is all taxable income.

For those who have not been paying taxes on this income, filing an infringement suit and going public would not only reveal your real full name and home address on public records- but the fact that you have been operating a for-profit BUSINESS for months, years, and if you are claiming you lost $5,000 USD this year due to people copying your 500 linden dollar scarf.
The IRS will certainly be holding a magnifying glass over your head real soon, if not by reading about your unique case in the news- then the defendant could retaliate against you by REPORTING you to the IRS!
The IRS can easily subpoena SL's records on your account and easily prove the amount of money in income you took in and transferred to your checking account.
This all would seriously open a huge can of worms and I suspect very few people who actually do sell things in SL and elsewhere are legally registered in their state as a BUSINESS, or putting that income on their tax forms. I would suspect even fewer are registered with their state's sales tax board to collect the required sales tax for their state and submitting that.

My view is, if you make something in SL, assume it WILL be copied at some point, make it reasonably priced and sell the hell out of it and enjoy the free cash it gives as long as it holds out. In other words, you spend say 6 hours creating a new cottage to sell and price it $L500 ($1) and in the first 6 months you sell 1000 of them- you just made $1000 cash for 6 hours work, yer already ahead of the game by a whole lot when there's 10 million without jobs or income, and a substantial number of people don't even earn $15 an hour on their day jobs.
Once the market dies on the first item for whatever reason- copybots etc, come up with a new/better product and ride that one as long as it holds out.
The market for an item is limited, once everyone so inclined has the item, the only sales for that are going to come from NEW people- IOW you wont likely sell the SAME cottage or coat or dress to the same people who already have it in inventory.

Re: How to lose your copyright in three easy steps

Guest — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:25:03 -0000

What the person probably MEANT by "you could lose your copyright" was probably just misstated and more likely it was intended to mean you could lose your items by copiers distributing them everywhere, and sure, you can try and sue a person but it all would be a laborious lengthy expensive proposition with a lot of headaches to track down 192 copiers across 16 different grids, all the free boxes, inventory that has been re-named, modified, used in other builds and objects etc.
Then again, even if you sue someone, the court will look at the 500 linden dollar scarf you are claiming infringement on and determine it's REAL value was 50 cents according to the L$ to real $ exchange, and probably award you about $35 USD and the person who has it in their inventory that you are suing is a 17 year old teen who lives with mom-dad, has no money anyway, doesn't even own a region, and is in SL for free.
Meanwhile you spent 6 months of calls, emailing, writing, faxing documents and paying $10,000 to a lawyer to get back a proverbial $35 from that one person, now there's hundreds more out there.

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Guest — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:07:53 -0000

Yeah I agree there, I mean it's not like a virtual house sells for $125,000 USD, it's maybe at best about 40 cents real money, and if the creator doesnt sell off of SL then they aren't losing any money if a copy is in a freebie box on Kitely or IW for people there to use. The only time they would lose money is if someone imported it BACK to SL and was selling or giving it away.
There's a mountain of freebies everywhere, passed along through multiple channels, imported exported, none even have the original creator's name on them once they are exported. I have seen the same item in different freebie boxes with different creator's names on them because multiple people exported/imported the item at different times and now pretty much everyone everywhere has incorporated these items into their inventories, builds and freebie boxes. It would be an impossibility to retroactively fix this now without starting over from scratch on everyones regions and inventory.
There IS such a thing as "fair use" and fair use does apply to many things- a small sample portion of a larger texture, a paragraph in a review of a book for example.

Re: Five tips for better provenance

Virtual Clover — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:12:47 -0000

I think people are taking this issue way too seriously for cartoon pictures. In the grand scheme of things, this is a non issue and shouldn't be given this much air play as if it's in league with you know, real crime.

Just sayin ;-)

Re: Should virtual environments be realistic?

WesternPrairies — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:34:48 -0000

Glad we agree there. It doesn't have to be PHOTO realistic but it should look believable, realistic and practical.
If
it's products being showcased, then little to no clutter or
distractions should be evident. Signage when used should be to the
point, EASY to read without camming in. Floating text detracts a lot in
many ways, but in various scenarios you need it.

Re: Should virtual environments be realistic?

Guest — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:54:23 -0000

Glad we agree there. It doesn't have to be PHOTO realistic but it should look believable, realistic and practical.
If it's products being showcased, then little to no clutter or distractions should be evident. Signage when used should be to the point, EASY to read without camming in. Floating text detracts a lot in many ways, but in various scenarios you need it.

Re: 7 ways to bootstrap a VW business

Maria Korolov — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:15:54 -0000

I just found this free ebook by Seth Godin, "The Bootstrapper's Bible."

http://changethis.com/manifest...

Re: Should virtual environments be realistic?

HyperFair — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:54:36 -0000

I think that in the university and business worlds, especially where physical products are being showcased, realistic virtual worlds are very important. Thanks for writing this!

Re: Tor Books drops DRM

Odowebmail — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:11:03 -0000

It's actually worse: DRM applied to cars is as if the car manufacturer is not only telling you that your friend can't drive the car *you paid* for, but also where you can drive the car and where not.

Re: Should virtual environments be realistic?

Sarge Misfit — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:27:19 -0000

All in all, a good article and it definitely provoked some thought on my part (thumbs up on that). When I initially read the title I thought it would be straight forward to add a comment, but once I read it, I found that its a deeper question than it appears. And all I can say is no. And yes.

The problem is the word "should". It implies a one or the other situation when there is no need. Why can't a person do both? Consider one of those alternate history stories. In a sim it would be completely realistic, until you see a steam powered flying car go by.

I don't think there is a "should" involved at all. Be as immersive as you want, or as little.

Re: Should virtual environments be realistic?

Pathfinder — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:39:35 -0000

Great post, Fleep.

I totally agree with the value of things that are common cultural touchstones in virtual worlds. But I think the real trick is to balance the Fascinating with the Familiar.

I've recently been thinking a lot about how we often experience such a balance whenever we remember the content our *dreams.*

"I was walking down the street with my friend carrying a bag of groceries. Suddenly I looked up and saw a pink whale the size of a sparrow, flying overhead on the wings of a dragonfly. So I jump into the air and followed..."

Typical dream content. The truly fascinating embedded in the completely familiar. That's what human dreams are all about. So to build the ideal virtual world experience, I think you basically should *build dreams.*

See my most recent slides for some of these ideas: http://www.slideshare.net/Path...

Re: 7 ways to bootstrap a VW business

Araxie Longoar — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:55:55 -0000

Thanks for the handy tips. I'll save these just in case. I am launching a grid of a sorts, but have no intention of making it into a business at this time. I may have a cute NPC pass some sort of virtual hat errr something once I get some cool stuff going. I run a very small web developing biz, but I'd be so bad at a VW business. I was never a proper SLer, so all that land sales stuff just seems weird to me.

Re: Six myths about the hypergrid

Timothy Rogers — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:03:14 -0000

The reason I didn't want this included is the modules in existence for this are still highly experimental. I don't want to list something that may or may not work securely for the merchant or end user.