Alphaville Herald

Saints of Hell MC Implicated In Second Life Content Theft - Part 1

Motorcycle and parts theft copybot outrage!

by Coke Supply, Investigative Reporter

[In this multipart tale of dark dealings in the Second Life motorcycle and parts trade Coke Supply delves into the shady activities of Black Lisle, AKA Biack Lisle, of the Saints of Hell Motorbike Club to reveal an astonishing level of complicity amongst the group's leadership with regards to the apparent theft of the most famous and skilfully crafted  motorbikes ever created in Second Life. - the editrix]

Content creators Redtail Magic, Karyn Vaher, Trinity Hunghi, and Hiiigh Jinx collaborated over a period of four months to create the Lakhota Rocket, arguably the most highly detailed and realistic sculpted bobber motorcycle on the grid. It has won first place in almost every single competition that it has been entered into during 2009, making it one of the most well-known motorbikes ever created in Second Life. The trophies won from these competitions are shown in the image to the left, alongside the real-life version of the bike that it was modeled from.

As you can see from the image below, this motorbike is a true work of art, painstakingly sculpted and textured by its creators over a period of several months to create one of the finest rideable motorbikes that Second Life has to offer.

Pixeleen Mistral Files Legal Response to Venkman's DMCA Abuses

Herald news Idoru pseudonym sacrificed in free speech fight

by Peter Ludlow (aka Urizenus Sklar), Herald Founder

Sometimes we all have to take a stand.  In this case Herald Editrix Pixeleen Mistral, facing an outrageous abuse of the DMCA by Kalel Venkman, has, pursuant to Section 512(c)(1)(C) of the DMCA, filed documents disputing Venkman's claims of copyright infringement on screen shots and snippets of chat from the Justice League Unlimited wiki.  As reported earlier in the Herald, the JLU wiki amassed vast amounts of (often false) information on Second Life denizens, including massive chat logs that were in cases recorded without the consent of the parties involved.  In effect, the JLU was running an enormous surveillance program against Second Life users, and were using the DMCA to try and cover up those abuses to keep the public from understanding the full scope and frightening nature of the abuses.  More troubling still is that much of the material Venkman requested be taken down appeared to implicate the involvement of Linden Lab staff member Plexus Linden in the activities of the JLU.

This can only mean trouble for Venkman.  It is illegal under Title 17, United States Code Section 512(f) to knowingly send faulty DMCA notices, and doing so can result in serious legal liability.  For example, there is already established precedent in the Northern District of California (where YouTube is located) holding that when a company knew or should have known that use of copyrighted material is fair use (and therefore, non-infringing), it is a violation of Section 512(f) and the DMCA.  As a result of that violation, the company responsible paid over $100,000 to the parties affected.

Title 17, Section 107 explicitly says that "the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright." As I said, Venkman is in trouble.

Techdirt Slams Typepad Takedown Of "Clear Cut Fair Use" JLU Coverage

Second Life vigilante gang's coverup tactics questioned

by Idoru Wellman, staff writer

Responding to a questionable copyright infringement claim, last night Typepad gutted the Herald's coverage of the Justice League Unlimited with takedowns of disputed content from six stories. Was this justified? 

Techdirt.com legal issues writer Mike Masnick questions Typepad's handling of the situation in  "Second Life Gang Using Copyright To Stop Discussion Of Its Tactics?"  saying, "Seeing as the publication of the contents was part of a journalistic effort, it seems like a pretty clear case of fair use, and it's a bit upsetting that Typepad automatically sided with those making the copyright claim". Masnick goes on to point out the the irony of the JLU throwing DMCA complaints "seeing as they appear to be infringing on the trademarks of various comic book publishers".

Taking time from blogging for Massively.com about possible slow L$ spacebux payments to Second Life players, writer Tatreu Nino asked "if the JLU weren't using names and images that are the trademarks of highly litigious corporations, there wouldn't even really be a story here, now would there?"

Alphaville Herald founder Urizenus Sklar, responded with a comment of his own:

The point of the Herald articles in question is to illustrate that this virtual vigilante group (calling itself the JLU) was amassing enormous amounts of real life and virtual life information on Second Life players, and apparently they were doing it with the blessing and participation of some employees of Linden Lab (the makers of Second Life). Among the examples that the Herald posted were screenshots of snippets of chat between SL users that had been recorded by the JLU and posted on their Wiki. The JLU did not author the chat logs, they apparently took them in violation of the Linden Lab terms of service and in violation of the privacy of the recorded parties and then posted the information on their wiki. An author of the wiki provided the information to the Herald. The Herald then provided a couple screenshots of bits of this material in order to document the practice and bring it to the attention of SL users.

There is no serious argument that this was not an example of fair use. The JLU is using the DMCA not to protect their intellectual property, but to attempt to cover up their activities.

Six Apart Seeks Safe Harbor From Justice League Unlimited DMCA Storm

Embarrassed Second Life role-play superhero police force swings mighty DMCA hammer again

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Herald coverage of the Justice League Unlimited has been edited by Six Apart staff to remove text and images which Six Apart has informed the Herald are subject to copyright infringement claims. This action came after the Herald declined to remove the disputed material, pointing out that the Copyright fair use doctrine clearly applies to reporting the abuses of the Justice League Unlimited - a group that has run an ongoing campaign of secret surveillance on members of the Second Life community and compiled a 1700 page wiki containing files about community members that were often false and potentially libelous.

In addition to portions of the Herald's coverage of the JLU activities, a reproduction of the e-mail sent by Six Apart to the Herald informing us of the copyright infringement claims was removed because, according to Six Apart staff, "it contained all the content which was required to be removed".

Six Apart's actions come under the DMCA "safe harbor" provisions for web hosting services. The Herald suggests chillingeffects.org to readers interested in more information about the use and abuse of the DMCA with respect to First Amendment and intellectual property rights.

Second Life Economy: Weak Growth in Q4 2009

Q4 2009 - feeble growth after 2 quarters of economic decline

by Jessica Holyoke

Last week, Linden Lab released their fourth quarter 2009 and year-end results for the Second Life Economy.  A few weeks earlier, Linden Lab released their raw economic data for the previous year.

Included in the raw data numbers were the missing Positive Monthly Linden Flow (PMLF) numbers from previous quarters.  PMLF is the number of residents who experienced a profit before land costs are factored in. The PMLF figures are sometimes unavailable from the Lab - typically when those numbers turn negative.

But thanks to more complete raw economic statistic released by the Lab, the Herald Business Network anchors can report that Q2 2009 showed a 1.94% decrease in the number of people who experienced PMLF and a 0.37% decrease in the number of residents who experienced PMLF, showing two quarters of contraction.  Due to those numbers, the Lab has switched to a revenue reporting system, reporting how residents made $55 million in revenue, counted as the amount of money cashed out minus the amount of money cashed in.  The economics report however does not report if those numbers include currency exchanges in their calculations. 

The other part of Quarter Profit per Capita (QPC) is Total Hours Logged (THL).  This is the total number of hours residents spent logged in.  The Lab reported a decrease in THL over Q3 and Q4, a 6.35% decrease and a 4.24% decrease respectively by the Herald's figures. 

Class To Be Held…Inside a Facebook App???

by Idoru Wellman, Herald Education Desk

On January 28, in what may be the first instance of a university course held inside Facebook, Northwestern University Philosophy Professor Peter Ludlow (known to Herald readers as Urizenus Sklar) recently attempted to hold his class, Conceptual Issues in Virtual Worlds, inside the Island Life application on Facebook.  The results were mixed.

Island Life is a fantasy farming game inside Facebook that is somewhat similar to Farmville.  The twist is that that Island Life (currently in beta) is the creation of game developer legend Raph Koster (Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies) and it allows people to visit each other and chat on their “islands”.  The game is a bit of a throwback to 2D graphical social platforms like The Sims Online and Habbo Hotel.

Koster’s most recent project had been Metaplace, an attempt to bring virtual world creation to the masses by providing a platform in which people could develop flash based virtual worlds.  The project recently closed down but the bulk of the development team moved with Koster to his Island Life project.

Reached for comment, Ludlow explained that his course is a freshman seminar designed to encourage writing skills, but as Ludlow explains “I couldn’t just assign papers to them; they need to become literate in new communications technologies. Hence, they will be called on to develop projects in virtual worlds, record those projects with machinima, blog about their experiences, give power point presentations about their projects, and write traditional papers.”

Typepad Threatens Takedown of Herald Justice League Unlimited Exposé

Will role-play superheros' copyright claims trump free speech?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affair desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

Typepad administrator Jen has given Herald a deadline of January 29th to gut our coverage of the Second Life Justice League Unlimited's wiki, citing a Typepad Terms of Service violation for "displaying copyrighted text and images without permission". The Herald has declined to remove the disputed materials, setting the stage for a new media showdown between the press and an embarrassed group of Second Life avatars brandishing copyright claims.

At issue is the Herald's exposé of the JLU, a group which has run a multi-year surveillance program on members of the Second Life community and compiled 1700 pages of files on other players - files containing often false and potentially libelous information.

To bring the excesses of the JLU to the public's attention, the Herald has quoted from the leaked JLU wiki under the doctrine of fair use. Meanwhile, the JLU has been running a vigorous program of copyright complaints, in hopes that site administrators will not notice the JLU is a group of avatars who wear super hero costumes that infringe on others' intellectual property.

Is Typepad aware of how ridiculous they will appear if they follow through on the threatened take downs [text after the jump] based on a frivolous copyright complaint from virtual spandex clad Second Life avatars? We may find out in the next few days, unless there is an outbreak of common sense at SixApart.

JLU Wiki Re-Indexed and Republished

Second Life Superman's Abuse Reports indexed and regions ranked

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

 

Sandbox superheros: Justice League Unlimited greatest hits for Abuse Reporting

Although Kalel Venkman has been playing copyright whack-a-mole to limit the spread of the leaked Justice League Unlimited wiki, interested parties continue to study the the Second Life vigilante group's internal database. A little birdy posting a comment on recent Herald coverage of the JLU  draws our attention to http://jlu.sl4.me/ where what appears to an indexed reorganized version of the raw pages of the leaked wiki is available. Of special interest is the index of the JLU's abuse report activites and top regions for AR trouble

With an uplifting mission statement, the site is sure to become popular - at least until the JLU attempts another copyright takedown - "This site is designed to demonstrate the sheer size of the JLU's little personal CIA database on every individual in Second Life, nothing more. It is to show how dangerous groups such as the JLU can be, despite their good intentions."

The Horror, The Horror: Prim-Baby Graveyard!!!

SLebrity Children Found - Satanic Plot Possible

by Pappy Enoch, Investigative Reporter

Baby Philip?

Now ya’ll thought—well, hoped—I might be dead, but I ain’t. I was just saving my strength and doing me some Woodward-and-Bumstead-style undercover reports on a terrible, awful thing. 

We all knows that Second Life’s fake world am full to the brim with floozy women, looser than outhouse doors after a hurricane, and lots of them is men in real life.  That explains to me why so many “gals” dumps fake babies as soon as some rascal knocks them up and their talkin’ tummies spits out the love-children.

Well, I been calculating where them poor babies goes to. I found out…and the truth (I never lie) ain’t pretty one damn bit. Don’t read no more if’n you got a weak stomach (talkin’ or otherwise) or likes them Lindens.

First, I started snoopin’ around some, and soon I come across a boy—looked like a real slick “player” to this-here ace reporter—who put me on the right track.

OpenSim Regions Predicted to Overtake Second Life in 2011

OpenSim growth rates shame Linden Lab

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Citing an annualized OpenSim growth rate of 177%, Maria Korolov predicts the OpenSim grids will overtake Second Life in early 2011 in an article in Hypergrid Business. Ms. Korolov made her prediction after comparing the 29% increase in OpenSim regions between September and December 2009 with an anemic 6% growth in Second Life resident-owned land in 2009. Are the projections sustainable - and believable?

The OpenSim grids claimed 7,246 regions in December 2009, up from 5,613 regions in September. In contrast, Second Life's 6% annual growth resulted in 23,900 regions at the end of 2009. Korolov's crystal ball tells her that if it might even be possible for OpenSim to overtake Second Life in 2010 if current trends accelerate - driven by low costs starting with free and very inexpensive.

Korolov points out that more control and backups are also appealing to land owners, noting that "OpenSim region owners can save backups of their entire region on their local hard drive. If they want to shut down a region — or keep a historical record of how a region evolves — they can do this, and restore the region later". But this sort of backup-on-demand function will be difficult for Linden Lab to match without nerfing the DRM system on which the in-world economy is based.

Second Life Sex Clubs Hide in Plain Sight

Linden Lab turns a blind eye toward furniture store n00b sex shops

by Senban Babii

Second Life sex club owners are now playing a meta-game using faux furniture stores to circumvent the Mature and Adult land zoning rules and run their sordid sex dens unimpeded - a situation first brought to our attention by Lillie Yifu in the 2nd Sex blog.

While investigating this issue, the Herald was contacted by a concerned citizen, who chose to adopt the codename "Deep Lag" to preserve their anonymity, so that they could discuss the issue openly.

new friends explore a mutual love of music - and furniture

Deep Lag first gave an introduction to the background to how these questionable sex clubs often operate; finding unlagged sims and buying small parcels to set up in.  The clubs then get swamped with visitors lagging the sim and using the sim's resources unfairly.  No doubt some unscrupulous club owners then sell their small part of the sim to the other residents for an extortionate fee which will be paid simply because other residents want to be able to enjoy their land in peace and without lag.  This variation on the donut hole strategy has no doubt been successful for many of these sex club owners.

Plexus Linden Gives Second Life Superman Copyright Dance Lessons?

Cozy, classified relationship and implausible deniability

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

Did Plexus Linden encourage Second Life's copyright-challenged Justice League Unlimited to tap dance around potential IP infringement issues with a wink and a nod, while promising the JLU in-game super powers? JLU leader Kalel Venkman's vigorous pursuit of whack-a-mole takedown actions against sites hosting the leaked JLU wiki are beginning to make sense, as a picture emerges of wannabe game cops desperate to gain favor with the Linden staff, and at least one Linden playing copyright favorites over the objections of his co-workers.

Readers are cautioned that it is possible the leaked chatlogs have been subject to tampering - or revisionist history and wishful thinking on the part of the JLU. There is certainly no lack of misinformation in the JLU’s formerly secret wiki. But Herald researchers point to troubling chatlog passages in several files (BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_260.html, BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_261.html, and BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_286.html) that suggest a cozy secret relationship between the volunteer virtual crime-fighters and the Lab staff charged with enforcing rules in-game.

The first clue that Plexus was deeply invested in the JLU’s existence, despite potential trademark and copyright problems, is found on the page where Kalel Venkman discusses the JLU’s copyright problems and possible solutions (Periwink-whatmall/default_475.html):

“We have been asked by Socrates Linden to take steps to comply with rules about trademark and/or copyright infringement. We have also been told by Plexus Linden to please continue just as we have been, explicitly with respect to our use of well-known characters, as it may be used as a way to get DC Comics and other publishers to take a positive business interest in Second Life. These are directly conflicting instructions.”

Why would Plexus advise the JLU to continue despite the Socrates' copyright concerns? Kalel Venkman mentions that “other GTeam members are taking notice of his 'use' of us and considering the same” suggesting that during the fall of 2007 Plexus Linden had hopes of forming an unpaid player-based junior GTeam to assist the Lab employees. But Plexus was aware that the Lindens should not be seen directly endorsing the JLU, based on both charges of player favoritism and copyright problems - so with a wink and a nod a thin gauze of plausible deniablility was to be constructed.

JLU Wiki Leak: Second Life Abuse Report Frenzy

Real and imagined offenses against the laws of the Metaverse?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

Resident conflict in Second Life is to be expected as quasi-anonymous avatars with different meta-games and loyalties play off each other, but detailed information about the extent of the problems have been hidden -- until now.

A partial snapshot of the leaked JLU's incident reporting system [after the jump] is fascinating reading - although some may question the standards of evidence and judgment the superhero paramilitary employs. Despite evident JLU bias, the volume of incidents lends some credibility to JLU claims that they file approximately 1/6 of all abuse reports. But does the Second Life community really want - or need - spandex tights clad role players filing complaints on their behalf and in secret?

The potential for mischief is worrying. Apparently I have been classified as a griefer by the JLU after placing flowers for banned accounts at a memorial for the dead as part of an story on crowdsourcing grief. Do all superheros suffer from a serious irony deficit?

Incidents in the JLU database range from reports of "particle emitting penis objects" in a sandbox to "taunting and harassing residents at a Linden Welcome area" to "Memmer of Woodbury U. Keeping an eye on him." For those that wish to play virtual cops fighting crime - or at least particle spam - membership in the JLU must be rewarding police play work.

Perhaps the most telling incident report is "Day old female av, demanded help rudely, showed very negative attitude, was verbally unpleasant but not obscene. Demanded a lesson in buying lindens so she could buy an airplane. Did not like answer, was abusive but not obscene, could not AR".

Don't you just hate it when you can't file an abuse report on a day old player?

Role-Play Superman Tries Coverup Of JLU Wiki Leak

Kalel Venkman claims dozens of copyright takedowns -- says Chan community corrupts minors

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

According to correspondence provided to the Herald, Kalel Venkman claims to have succeeded with copyright complaints to several dozen web sites redistributing the Justice League Unlimited “Brainiac Wiki”.

The secret wiki was leaked after Venkman’s JLU faction was infiltrated by a Second Life player with ties to a rival group which Venkman’s JLU role play superheros fight using a program of mass abuse reports and ongoing surveillance - including collection and correlating real life information on enemies.

However, not everyone is accepting Venkman's copyright claims at face value.

A Canadian web site administrator who prefers to be referred to simply as “Sean”, says Venkman has harassed his ISP for 48 hours with what Sean believes are baseless copyright claims being used to coverup the leak of JLU’s 1700 page wiki. After examining the wiki contents, Sean is  unimpressed, telling Venkman, "It looks like you're using scare tactics and some stupid misinformation to protect some stupid wiki about some inane online game that's chock full of information you will never legally own. this claim is completely and utterly illegitimate, I have nothing more to say to you, you don't own the content”

What upset Sean? Perhaps Venkman’s complaint to the ISP is a bit overplayed, since it goes well beyond copyright issues. The threat of harm to minors through Chan and Anonymous culture and fear of gang DDOS attacks on the site are given as reasons to remove not only the wiki, but the entire site, as Venkman's complaint says in part:

Wallace Linden Outs His Alt Account -- Holy F.I.C. !!!

Alphaville Herald's Walker Spaight's secret alt is new Linden "Conversation Manager"

Special to the Herald by staff reporter Idoru Wellman

Wallace Linden shocked the metaverse with a tell-all Linden blog post acknowledging his close ties to the Alphaville Herald and his formerly secret alt account -- none other than Walker Spaight. The announcement sent shock waves through the blog-o-sphere as some worried that the Herald's well-know incisive analysis, independent voice, and cutting edge journalism might be compromised by association with the Linden game gods.

Asked to comment, Herald editrix Pixeleen Mistral said, "Maybe now there will finally be a Linden that will answer my calls - Plexus Linden seems a bit shy lately and M Linden has been almost completely hopeless since that unfortunate incident in the hot tub. Readers shouldn't worry though - there was a complex debt for equity swap that Urizenus and I executed a year ago which gave me the controlling interest in the Herald. But I do hope Walker Spaight will get around to interviewing Wallace Linden for the Herald at some point - maybe that will finally put those ugly F.I.C. rumors to rest - Walker should know exactly what to ask Wallace."

In addition to preceding Ms. Mistral at the helm of the Herald, Spaight also dabbled in writing from time to time in less prestigious venues including 3pointD.com, Wired, PC World, the Financial TImes, and the New York Times. With Herald founder Urizenus Sklar, Spaight also co-authored a must-read book about life in the metaverse: "The Second Life Herald - The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse".

Linden GTeam and JLU - Improper Conduct?

BrainiacWiki papers claim Lab staff leaks to role play game cops

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

A troubling pattern of what may be Linden governance team staff collusion with the Justice League Unlimited is beginning to emerge after the JLU's BrainiacWiki papers were leaked to the internet at large by the Wrong Hands infiltration group. Linden staff coaching on abuse reports, sharing alt account identities, apparently using JLU's database and avatar scanners - the list goes on and on. Perhaps most telling are claims that the JLU accounts for 1/6th of all abuse reports on a weekly bases as of the summer of 2009. Have some Linden GTeam members decided to take sides in the game - and keep the volume of abuse reports artificially high by indulging the JLU with special favors and special access? Fueling the faction wars between the JLU "superheros" and the supervillain griefers might be a form of game moderator job security after all.

Given the volume of the papers - imagine trying to report on an encyclopedia - it is likely to be some time before all of the gems have been uncovered. For readers without their own copy of the JLU BrainiacWiki papers here are some highlights:

Plexus Linden using JLU database and wearing JLU avatar key logger

Justice League Unlimited's BrainiacWiki Papers Coverup?

Kalel Venkman now playing whack-a-mole with file sharing sites

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The leaked Justice League Unlimited "BrainiacWiki" papers have been yanked from 5 file sharing sites - an apparent coverup attempt by embattled JLU loyalists wielding copyright infringement claims - but it may be too late for this sort of damage control given how widely the wiki has spread. 

Kalel Venkman - an unhealthy interest in tights and surveillance?

The JLU is a spandex tights fetish and role play paramilitary organization which - if the leaked wiki is to be believed - compiles detailed dossiers on Second Life residents the JLU considers enemies. This is all part of the JLU's gameplay - a charming combination of ongoing surveillance of other players, a centralized database and enemies list, and a concerted effort at influencing Linden Lab staff and the in-game abuse report system into permanently banning other players.

Justice League Unlimited Secret Wiki Unmasked by The Wrong Hands

Roleplay police recruit copies, distributes 1700-page wiki  - JLU superhero threatens DMCA, legal action

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

The Justice League Unlimited's secret Brainiac wiki used to track suspected griefers, record JLU meeting chatlogs, and plot strategies to entice the Linden game gods into banning players was published to at least 5 public file sharing sites Friday. Based on what the Herald has seen of the 1700-page wiki's contents, this leak is a potentially crippling blow the the JLU, as the inner workings of the controversial anti-griefer group are on public display, along with significant amounts of misinformation and hints of what might be improper Linden Governance Team collusion with the JLU.

all ur JLU sekrets r belong to teh interwebs - thanks to Haruhi Thesbian and The Wrong Hands group

Word of the JLU papers' release has been circulating all weekend, but Justice League leader Kalel Venkman was unaware of this until Sunday when a new JLU recruit thanked the group for providing unfettered access to the gameplay superhero police manual. The recruit - Haruhi Thespian - tells the Herald that she was surprised to be allowed to join the JLU after a 4 day waiting period and then be given access to the Brainiac wiki - without a non-disclosure agreement.

Thespian says that this was part of what was apparently a planned operation by a group called "The Wrong Hands". Group infiltration followed by betrayal will be familiar to Herald readers as a standard part of virtual world gameplay.

Is Facebook Killing Avatars Again?

Shocking overnight account death toll!

by Senban Babii

Frightened Facebook users believe avatar hit squads are to blame for mysterious mass disappearances of e-friends from the popular MMO data mining operation social networking website's friends lists this week. This reporter can confirm that 45-50 people on her friends list vanished in the night - survivors who contacted the Herald report similar and sometimes far higher account death tolls. The mass account murders were discovered when Facebook players woke Friday morning to discover friends list sadly diminished. Had targetted accounts been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night by hit squads, taken out to a local area of wasteland, and quietly executed? 

It has always been Facebook's policy that an account must be for a real person using real life details. While there have been instances of avataricide in the past reported by Reuters, Facebook has largely allowed the Second Life avatar community to represent themselves on the site, perhaps because Facebook's owners felt it would be foolish that to deny themselves advertising revenue from potential clicks. Given the bad feeling that many Facebook users have towards the site's policy changes over the last twelve months including a recent privacy policy change, the unexplained account removals could be considered part of a self-destructive trend for Facebook as it continues to disenchant whole swathes of the community, many of whom are now seeking alternatives.

Second Life Losing Traction? Concurrent Users Slide

Massively details slipping online population - except for an in-world protest of LL policy

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

a year in decline: median concurrency graph courtesy of Tateru Nino

On December 25th, Tateru Nino of Massively decided to skip the Linden's Christmas present for this year and opted to hand the Lab a lump of coal with a barbed post detailing the falling number of players online in the Second Life virtual garden of cyber delights.

Ms. Nino explains that after reaching a high water mark of 88,199 in March of this year, the Second Life online population has been in decline - a change that may explain the Linden's belated concern with resident retention.

While speculating that  the slide in population could be caused by the a recent Lab policy change discouraging the use of bots and campers to artificially bot parcel traffic, Nino points out that "we haven't seen any noticeable decline in the presence of these bots on the grid". This mirrors my experience - and the implications are chilling. 

Try All Your Chance - Banlink Passwords Were An Open Book

Rainbow tables, SQL injection, and why you want to use a different password for e-mail

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The new Try All Your Chance blog details the frightening extent of the BanLink security problems that led to the Second Life ban list sharing site's apparent demise - and suggests that BanLink user passwords might as well have been stored in plain text given the lack of site security.

"Names, passwords, email addresses; 100% of the data the site had, anyone could view and even modify. Even without access to the members area of the site."

BanLink was a popular shared Second Life ban list service that was ultimately neglected by its creators and afflicted with fundamental serious security issues - a story the Herald broke in September after being tipped to the fact that certain URLs caused the BanLink site to share supposedly secret ban information with  world+dog on teh interwebs.

The Try All Your Chance coverage is notable for a lucid discussion of the moral dilemma that is responsible disclosure of exploits - followed by a hands-on detective story that explains exactly how poorly protected BanLink user passwords were and how the BanLink web site was ultimately put in perma-maintenance mode.

Script Limits Coming to Second Life

by Jessica Holyoke

In the Official Linden Blog, Babbage Linden outlines one of the goals for the next release of the Second Life viewer, soon to be followed in the third party viewers, the concept of script limits.  Instead of asking people to look at their avatar rendering cost as a way to reduce lag on a sim, the Lab will be showing people how much the scripts that they use as part of a parcel and as part of their attachments cost in terms of memory used.  The shining example of the "unused script that eats away at memory" are the resizing scripts used in shoes, hair and clothing when a creator makes those items no modify but needs to allow for people to change the size of the shoes. 

The general reaction to the announcement appears to be positive.  Lag would be reduced because blingtards and people who do not understand script efficiency will have to change their behavior in order to come in under the limit for scripts, reducing the load on the servers that everyone depends on, and thereby reducing everyone's lag.  Consumers would start to be able to buy off of XstreetSL based on the memory of the scripts used, as well as prim counts. 

However, what Babbage's blog post doesn't explain is how the script usage would be determined. Attachments are fairly easy to determine as belonging to an avatar.  What I wear to a club or an event would effect server load.  What isn't clear is the accountability of a person's script foot print across the grid and whether that factors into script load.  

Trilling on Trilling on The Tallest Thing in Second Life

Will mega-phallic build impress oldbie Linden babes?

Freelance SL writer Mariner Trilling interviews SL builder Mariner Trilling

Mariner Trilling:  Hello Mariner.  I appreciate this opportunity to sit down and discuss your latest project.
Mariner Trilling:  Project?  What the fuck are you talking about?
 
Mariner Trilling:  I mean your latest structure, “The Tallest Thing in SL”
Mariner Trilling: ok dickhead, first off, it’s not a ‘project’ it’s not a ‘structure’.  It’s just a stack of prims.  Second of all, I’m not a ‘builder’.  I was just out surfing the grid one night doing tequila shots and found these parcels on the mainland with fucked up auto return settings.  I just started stacking prims and the next thing you know, it’s over two miles high.
 
Mariner Trilling:  Wow! Two miles!  That’s very impressive.
Mariner Trilling: … and stop fucking calling it ‘The Tallest Thing in SL’.  It’s the tallest thing I could find in SL.  …way taller than any buildings and shit.  You start calling it THE tallest thing and I’ll start getting IMs from assholes all over the grid who want to tell me how fucked I am and how much taller their thing is.  If word gets around that you got a really big dick, every other freak starts waving his dick at you trying to show you up.
 
Mariner Trilling: How many prims is it?
Mariner Trilling:  eh, I don’t know.  … probably around three hundred.
 

Second Life Holiday Gift Guide: Bondage Xmas Tree, Spanking Santa

Santa gropes, strips, spanks avatars - eggnog bukake surprise awaits

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

This holiday season, a bondage Christmas tree and Spanking Santa illustrate the boundless creativity of Second Life residents. While we don't expect an official mention in the Lab's holiday promotions, the scene at the Something Spunky store in Tovaris sim was quite festive - both Santa and the tree are available for demonstration and sale and a small crowd formed to sample the delights of Santa and his bondage tree - a fine example of metaverse holiday spirit.

While the Herald was unable to immediately verify claims that avatars running the Restrained Life Viewer can be involuntarily stripped by the randy Santa, several residents - including Tizzy Teardrop and Dirk Talamasca - were spanked by Santa, while I was left struggling on the Christmas tree. We also witnessed a Santa eggnog bukake after the jolly old elf had became overly excited by a player who agreed to be Santa's good girl.

Hopefully this example of user generated content will not  give the US Congress, FTC, or unsupervised child avatars the wrong sort of ideas.

Restrained Life - A Vile Perversion, Masked by a Gentle Name

An alternate Second Life viewer reviewed

by Miss Petunia Amaryllis Courtney Taliaferro, Second Life League of Decency

Beware, innocents! I had such hopes when I transferred the so-called “Restrained Life Viewer” to my personal computer. I do not use the crass term “download,” since it can have a sexual double-entendre.

Once I had installed the viewer, I obtained a dubious sounding “Bunnehs Tied Down in Writing Agony Relay”. The donor, some chuckling stranger at the Ahern Welcome Area, dressed like a theme-park animal, also provided me with a destination where I could “start ur RL fun good. LOL.”

So armed, if slightly wounded by his atrocious grammar, I began the search for others who live a life of restraint in Second Life's vast moral wasteland.

Kokopelli Racetrack Owner Killed In Copybot Abuse Report Collision!!!

Greg Drayman executed by Linden Lab - racetrack closed

by Millennium Sands - pictures courtesy of Caz Fresc

The world of Second Life motorsports suffered a severe loss when Greg Drayman, famous race driver and owner of Kokopelli Raceway Park (KRP), was banned from the grid by Linden Lab at the end of November. Greg's appeal to LL was denied on December 2 and Kokopelli was closed on the following day.

Greg Drayman was banned for the use of CopyBot or "another means to circumvent the permissions system", as an e-mail from LL puts it.

In a lengthy statement that can be found in the Kokopelli Forums, Mr. Drayman admits that he used CopyBot, but claims to have used it only for private purposes. Mr. Drayman's deep dissatisfaction with the Lab's handling of his case may be seen in a Kokopelli  Raceway Park forum entry titled "Greg Drayman's Final Words to Second Life".

Second Life metaLIFE Market Grows at XStreet's Expense

by Coke Supply

Ever since XStreet was taken over by Linden Lab, there has been a demand for independent sites that offer the same services due to resident fears that Linden Lab would run their site into the ground. Now that the Lab appears to be doing just that with the introduction of their new "XStreet Roadmap" pricing policy, a mass exodus of merchants is looking for a more customer-friendly service with which to conduct their business.

Slapt.me and metaLIFE are two of XStreet's leading competitors and, as a direct result of the Lab's latest error, residents are signing up to these sites in droves. In the last week or so, both sites have experienced a phenomenal growth rate which can only be a direct result of the Lab's recently announced policies. Indeed, according to Robbie Kiama, one of the founders of the metaLIFE merchant system, Linden Lab's recent actions have been hugely beneficial to his business.

RK:  When Xstreet made their announcement, it sent ripples across the Second Life community. Of course, news of LL's new policy reached metaLIFE very fast. And so it started - we got coverage across many blogs and websites, and people started comparing all of the available alternatives, metaLIFE included, and so lots of people discovered us during this period. So, we had an unexpected growth of people coming to our website and to our inworld HQ, trying our services. Users grew by 33%. We already had a lot of users who had tried our system at some point, but this time over a thousand new users joined MetaLIFE. Vendors more than doubled, growing by 56%, and currently 1200 vendors have been rezzed on the grid in the last 24 hours.

HRH Princess of Yaximixche Starts 90 Day Virtual World Tour

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The Princess of Yaximixche is embarking on an ambitious tour of virtual worlds beyond Second Life from December through February 2010. The tour marks Her Royal Highness's first major public appearances since failing gravely ill during the summer of 2009, according to the Royal Press office.

Over the next ninety days, Her Royal Highness will visit 9 Virtual Worlds focused on content creation and other sectors, including stops in Twinity, Blue Mars, HiPiHi, i-Citizen, ActiveWorlds, VastPark, Mycosm, Multiverse and Opensim grids.

Is the Princess hedging her bets on Second Life? 

Hard Alley Protestors Issue Press Release

16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence visits Hard Alley in Second Life

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Yesterday, about a dozen ham shaped avatars staged a protest in Hard Alley - a notorious role play sex sim - to warn against the objectification of women in the virtual world of Second Life. Could this the beginning of a wave of activism in the virtual realm - or will the Hard Alley property owners simply smile and enjoy the traffic boost?

Here is the text of the press release Scylla Rhiadra sent to the Herald's iMojo3Gs newswire:

---

WOMEN ARE NOT MEAT: A PROTEST AT HARD ALLEY IN OPPOSITION TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.

---

As a part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, a series of events to promote an end to violence against women being held in Second Life from 25 November to 10 December, a broad coalition of activist groups in SL staged a performance protest at Hard Alley on 27 November.

Linden Lab to Volunteers, Small Merchants: Screw You

by Mammon Linden

In case you didn't already know it, Second Life wouldn't be anywhere near as cool as it is today if it weren't for our volunteers and small merchants who have vended their creations at low prices.

That's why we just fired a bunch of volunteers and taxed the losers who give their stuff away or sell it cheap. Second Life can never become Suit Life™ if it's too helpful or inexpensive. Moreover, Suit Life will never attract the blood-sucking yuppies who wrecked the real world economy if they see anything for sale at less than L$ 1000 spacebux.

The problem is huge for us. Here's our plan:

Egghead Studies Second Life Chickens - Clucks To Shocking Conclusion!!!

The Web Ecology of Sion chicken society explained

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Patrick Davison is part of several performance groups including What We Know So Far and MemeFactory and is also involved with the Web Ecology project at Harvard - exactly the sort of scholar that can bring meaning to the Second Life Sion Chicken phenomenon. He has graciously agreed to allow the Herald to publish slides from his talk titled  "On Chickens" - a groundbreaking work presented earlier this week  illustrating the problems perceptions create in the online realm - and the awesomesauce role of the Herald plays in the new media metaverse.

 

LL To SL Mentors: Your Services Are No Longer Needed

"All official Linden Lab sponsored communication channels related to the Second Life Mentor group will be discontinued"

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desks

Citing scalability issues, Linden Lab announced the end of the volunteer Second Life Mentors program on Wednesday evening with a wiki post on wiki.secondlife.com. Some observers were confused by the references to scaling issues and the implication that SL has a growing population. Have we been missing evidence of growth in concurrent users? Even Hamlet Au has been silent on peak concurrent users of late, after breathlessly touting growth in the Sunday afternoon population last year.

Meanwhile, mentors surprised at the end of their special relationship with Linden Lab should recall that scalability is an abstract, mystical concept with quasi-religious overtones invoked whenever the Lab feels the need to change course.  Mentors who have invested their free time in assisting noobies should also remember that sustainability is important. As the wiki states, "Volunteers have been very successful and helpful. We appreciate all they do. They have been so successful that the official program was not enough to showcase all the contributions and allow growth in a sustainable manner."

So perhaps excessive Mentor success was to blame? I contacted SL Mentor Orange Planer for comment.

Opinion: I'm a PG

by Jessica Holyoke

When the creation of an Adult Content policy first started being discussed by the Lindens, a campaign started saying "I am Adult Content."  Residents were up in arms about losing their access to Adult Content.  And it has happened more than once since I have become a resident here.  But if everyone is Adult Content, are we losing out on being PG?

There are a large number of adult experiences on SL, most of which you have read about in the Herald.  But there are also a large number of PG experiences on SL.  One of my favorites is going to a church service with a vampire.  But having a policy come down from the Lab changes things. 

What I see now are people making stringent rulings on their land on what is or is not PG.  

Bikinis are not allowed in a sandbox, people are upset over a bit of tush sticking out from under a skirt, ads for bikinis are being torn down.  And what's worse is I've seen this as a complaint:  a person has a pick or a classified ad in their profile for Adult or Mature content.  If they go to a PG sim, some are saying that should not be allowed because they are bringing adult or mature content into a PG sim because its in their profile. 

The Morning Coffee Mix In Second Life

Stroke awakened the radio passion

by Alessandra Narayan

Did you know there’s a live radio show going on SL every day? Me neither.

Jameslarken Supply, a former musician in real life, suffered a heart stroke which led him to discover the magnificent new world of Second Life. At first, he started DJ’ing, a live experience that made him take the next step: having his own live radio show, a way of keeping him in contact with music and the audience.

After one year doing streaming radio, Mr. Supply wants to reach more public, driven by the listener’s reactions, determined to help people having a nice time, every day of the week, from 8.00 to 10.00am Pacific Coast time/SLT. 

Alessandra Narayan (AN) – Is it true you run a famous SL radio show?
Jameslarken Supply (JS) – I don’t know about famous, but yes I have a radio show.

AN – When did you start it?
JS – I've been doing it for a year, around September 2008.

Pink Linden's Commerce Survey Scares Merchants

Pink points out Apple takes 30% of iPhone App revenue - will LL follow suit?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

 

Pink Linden

It is hard to blame Second Life merchants for being concerned about the virtual goods' retail landscape - the Lab has a long history of changing the rules of the game on what seems to be a quarterly basis, and for some players the stakes are high. So as fragments of a by-invitation-only qualmetrics.com survey began circulating on the grid friday (text of the leaked survey questions after the jump), it was no surprise that speculation about the Lab's intentions was the order of the day.

Has the Lab built a Mall island? Is the survey real? Will the Lab provide official in-world vendors?

I contacted Pink Linden for comment:

Pixeleen Mistral: Hi Pink - I'm a writer for the Alphaville Herald and I understand that there is a survey that you guys sent out to some of the merchants. I'm interested in your comments on that survey - I understand some people say it is like a phishing attempt or something
Pixeleen Mistral: is the survey real?
Pink Linden: yes it's real

Suit Life Enterprise™ & Suit Life Work Marketplace™ -- Now in Beta

We're listening to the gullible with money

Posted by Mammon Linden


 
Over the last few years, the number one request and core business requirement of many of our money-grubbing, soulless and wealthy customers has been the need for a behind-the-firewall solution. In other words, they get the firewall and the cattle (our former user base) known as artists, educators, blingtards, and perverts get lined up against a wall and our CEO yells “fire!”

The extra layers of security and administrative control in a product that panders to the overlords of the cubicle-enslaved would allow them to exploit virtual workers with a powerful and effective collaboration and communication tool, divorced from the baby furs, Gorean slavegirls, and fag artists of the main grid. This would have the advantage of keeping Biff from Accounts Payable from showing up at a virtual meeting decked out as a supermodel with talking breasts.

Given how badly we need to avoid bankruptcy, we listened to intellectually bankrupt, but cash-rich greedheads who helped make the world economy collapse. Last year, after the notorious griefer Philip Linden was ousted and sent to play with maps, Mark “Nice tie, Mr. K!” Kingdon (SL: M Linden), Linden Lab's CEO, announced that we were working on Suit Life, in response to needs of boring and well heeled customers.

Less Equals More for the Restrained Life Viewer

Better bondage in Second Life

by Jessica Holyoke

When you hear about a new Viewer, usually you hear about the new things you can do with it; it will run faster, it can encypt your IM's, it can make your boobies jiggle.   (And honestly, I would be worried about a company complaining about not being able to read your private messages.)   But there is a viewer that provides less experience for the user, the Restrained Life Viewer or RLV.

RLV is an addition to the main SL viewer that allows for other items and people to control your SL experience.  If you wear the right attachments, then you can be forced to sit on a poseball.  You can be not only stripped nude but made to wear skin or other attachments.  You can be frozen and unable to move, intentionally, not because of lag.  You can be gagged and unable to speak in main chat, understand main chat, or be able to see peoples' names.  You can be trapped and unable to be teleported or teleported against your wishes. 

Alexa Linden's Pre-Halloween Treat - Viewer 2.0 Feedback

Second Life 2.0 viewer feedback leaked to world+dog

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Players eager to try the super-secret new Second Life 2.0 viewer may want to hold off a bit after reading what appears to be early resident feedback Alexa Linden accidentally sent to the Battery Street Irregulars mailing list October 30th. The Battery Street Irregulars are a group of players who test the nightly builds of the alpha version of the Second Life viewer - a battle scarred group willing to risk lost IMs, damaged inventory, and carpal tunnel syndrome documenting problems in the official viewer.

As best we can tell, someone with a copy of Alexa's mailing had a bit too much to drink at a seedy bar somewhere in the Zinda adults-only continent, lost track of time, then rushed off with a well endowed escort for a private pose ball testing session, leaving a notecard containing Alexa's mail on the bar. The provenance of the document is not entirely clear thereafter, although it does show evidence of having been in the hands paws of more than one babyfur, and about half the grid.

After carefully disinfecting the document, Herald analysts agreed that the comments in Alexa's e-mail suggest the Lab is intent on reinventing the chat interface from first principles, risking recapitulating user interface mistakes of the past along the way.  Pithy comments such as "trying to follow group chat ... is an experience roughly equivalent to trying to read a newspaper through a telescope" pepper the feedback.

LL Slaps XStreet Competition With Selective Copyright Enforcement?

Lindens can't tell the difference between Gorean slave silks and CONVERSE shoes

by Coke Supply

 

Lindens see CONVERSE shoes here - do you?

As we all know, Linden Lab has introduced new rules on their XStreet site that state that copyright-infringing items will be removed under new guidelines. I was recently contacted by Constanza Amsterdam, one of the residents behind the slapt.me merchant website - a competitor to the Linden's own XStreet marketplace. Ms. Amsterdam was dismayed to find that the Lindens had removed of two of her items from XStreet, claiming an alleged case of copyright infringement.

The interesting part is that the items do not infringe upon anyone's copyright whatsoever.

The email alleges that the two products in question infringe upon the "CONVERSE" trademark (Converse is a trademark for trainers and shoes). The email also alleges that Constanza is guilty of "keyword spam".

Quarter 3 Results, no QPC, but introducing TPH

by Jessica Holyoke

The Lab'ts latest economic blog post by T Linden promised an in-depth look at the their quarter 2009 economy.  However, the Herald's economic friend, Positive Monthly Linden Flow, was not reported.  PMLF as its known,  reports in-world business profits on residents who have earned more money then they have spent the previous month.  Its the numerator in the Herald's Quarterly Profit per Capita or QPC.  Using the QPC, the Herald's economic offices were able to measure the strength of the in-world economy by comparing how much people were earning with how many hours people were spending online.  

To compensate, the Herald's offices are introducing Transactions per Hour or TPH.  Even though I don't like User to User Transactions because it includes transactions with banks, ATMs, automated Zyngo gam(bl)ing machines, and other exchanges, and even single players when you exchange money between alt accounts. By looking at the numbers, you see a much larger variation in values of TPH than you do with QPC, with a relative leap in Quarter 3 2008 which relates to the drop in user hours during that quarter.

Coverage of Second Life Suspended for 48 Hours

Metaplace a mostly harmless substitute

The Herald has joined http://theartistsvoice.org/ in an almost entirely symbolic SL content creator sympathy strike November 4th and 5th and 6th.  While taking a break in tracking the transition of Second Life into Suit Life, we will look into the Metaplace fashion, party, and e-dating scene.

Naked Post 6 avatars, class action trademark and copyright legal battles, flaws in SL's digital rights management system, and the Lab's amazing perpetual drama pump coverage will resume this weekend - unless we get lost in Metaplace.

Tepid Life 2009: A Tasteful Success

by Miss Petunia Amaryllis Courtney Taliaferro, Second Life League of Decency

Herald readers will no doubt recall my prediction of the impending doom of all that is wicked, obscene, and crass in the cesspool of vice known as Second Life. 

At the time, I issued a manifesto of sorts to spur the righteous onward to victory. I am delighted to report that the revolution has begun! This year, in response to the fountain of naked debauchery known as Burning Life (where only loins, not the soul, grow inflamed) my fellow aesthetes and I began a counter-festival, Tepid Life 2009.

Events were crowded with throngs of visitors to witness the brilliance of many events, including:

The Wall of Doilies: Oh, my heart patters faster as I think of the brilliant handicrafts made by geniuses such as Miss Clytemnestra Oliphant-Jones, whose lacework carried the day for the Anita Bryant Medal of Uplifting Art. 

Lab Responds to Eros and Nomine

Lab's Naked Trademarking and Copyright Preemption defenses explained

by Jessica Holyoke

On Friday, Linden Lab filed its response to the suit filed by Eros, LLC and Shannon Grei.  Most of the responses are unsurprising as most answers admit or deny what the other side is saying.  The affirmative defenses are also not that unusual except for naked trademarking and copyright preemption.  

Naked trademarking is when a trademark owner loses certain rights to the trademark when they don't exercise control over the product when it is sub-licensed out.  In Linden Lab's case, it would appear that they are saying that either Eros, Grei or a class member lost the right to enforce their trademark due to their not ensuring that sub-licensees made the same quality of product as they themselves produced.  It would be interesting to see if they are exerting a defense if the products are sub-licensed through XStreetSL and that if they don't work as well, the sellers lost the right to enforce the contract. 

Copyright preemption is a bit trickier.  Preemption is a constitutional concept where the U.S. government wants their law to override a state's law.  What the Lab would be arguing is that certain goals of the Copyright Act override the state law claims that the plaintiffs are bringing.

Next up are discovery motions to see what each side has for evidence.  Protective orders have already been filed in order to protect the confidential information each side might have. 

Linden Research Denies Eros/Nominee Trademark/Copyright Complaint

Lindens admits Copybot is bad - denies 155 other claims

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Linden Research has filed a denial-filled response to Eros, LLC and Shannon Grie's intellectual property rights complaint against the maker of the Second Life. The complaint alleges the Lindens have violated the content creators' trademarks and copyrights, materially contributing to and supervising the infringing conduct of others within Second Life - but the Lab's lawyers disagree, and throw down 16 affirmative defenses of their own.

For readers unwilling to wade through the complete response [included after the jump], some highlights:

Linden admits that Second Life includes a Digital Rights Management (“DRM”) system, and upon information and belief, that persons have used third-party programs to circumvent that DRM in the past. On information and belief, Linden admits that CopyBot is a third-party program that allows users to circumvent the Second Life DRM system and copy digital content that is used with Second Life without regard to the copyright or trademark status of that content. Linden admits that such use is prohibited by the Second Life Terms of Service, and denies the remaining allegations of this Paragraph.

Linden admits that on or about June 17, 2008 LR inadvertently disabled some content within Second Life, and that promptly thereafter LR stopped that disabling. Linden lacks sufficient information to admit or deny the remaining allegations of this Paragraph, and on that basis denies them.

Linden admits that LR controls some of the technology and systems that comprise the Second Life platform, that some information related to Residents’ activities is stored on LR servers, that Residents may acquire virtual land within Second Life subject to the Second Life Terms of Service, and that LR charges service fees. Linden lacks sufficient information to admit or deny the remaining allegations of this Paragraph, and on that basis denies them.

Historic Hyperborea Sim On the Block

Irreplaceable archeological artifact threatened by sim sale - Herald to relocate HQ?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Ending months of speculation, Wandering Yaffle confirmed he is seeking a buyer for Hyperborea sim - home of the Herald’s in-world corporate offices, _blacklibrary, and the most civilized sandbox in Second Life.

Although he was not willing to commit to a definite timeline, Mr. Yaffle told me he hopes for “a preferential buyer - one who will keep the faith, whatever that is”. We can only hope a sensitive buyer will emerge, although it seems likely that the character of Hyperborea will change and the community scatter.

Historically significant Leninade bottle at the entrance to the Herald's Hyperborea office

Meanwhile, metaverse archeologists are deeply concerned about the fate of an extremely rare Leninade soda bottle owned by perma-banned resident Tizzers Foxchase. The priceless bottle was unearthed on the Herald’s property and is almost certainly the only way to call up the profile of late Ms. Foxchase, along with a pick that points to the original Woodbury University sim before Linden Lab destroyed the island.

Brain-Eating Linden Billing Support Zombie Haunts Cornfield

Residents warned to avoid abandoned Game God penal colony

by Pixeleen Mistral, Irrational Affairs desk

Residents can visit the Corn Field without an account suspension now that the Second Life player prison has been opened to the public - at least for Halloween. However, players may be faced with the spectre of Linden billing support staff who have turned into zombies and roam the sim looking for brains - or credit lines - to eat.

 

Jules Linden - Billing Support and Customer Outreach - wants your money or your brain

While I managed to escaped with my brain and credit mostly intact, I was less successful with Kyle Linden, who  admitted he does not have a Linden bear to share - even after I gave him the Herald's secret lime/cilantro turkey taco recipe as a gesture of good faith.

Trust me, Kyle will not be not getting any more cooking lessons until he has a freebie Linden bear to share.

Is ToToM the Metaverse Soundtrack?

Balancing creator, mixer, and consumer rights

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

While I was visiting Soviet Woodbury Saturday, the resident communists took time away from building their new workers’ paradise to rez a brightly colored dance floor and an impromptu worker’s dance party took place to an audio stream from http://www.maxxhitsbootlegs.com - a French mashup site that seems to be  on the way to becoming the metaverse soundtrack of choice for both Second Life and Metaplace. At the Metaplace Fashion Show event on Friday we were also dancing to a stream from the site, and I can confirm maxxhitsbootlegs is an in-theme choice for user-generated content worlds in either 2.5D or 3D.

I've begun to wonder if audio mashups are the aural equivalent of the W-Hat goons' and Woodbury /b/tard's builds - unexpected juxtapositions of diverse elements to create a new and typically ironic work - sometimes for fun and sometimes as social commentary. A mashup like Black Butterfly Busters combining Smashing Pumpkins – Bullet with Butterfly Wings + Ram Jam – Black Betty + Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters seems to be saying something, but can the copyright laws and the sampled content creators keep up?

Stolen Goods Free-For-All At Burning Life

Who is the culprit - what will LL do in response?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

 

a wonderland of stolen content - courtesy of the Neillife viewer?

Tenshi Vielle at Shopping Cart Disco just broke a shocking story - a huge cache of pirated content has been passed around at the Burning Life. Yet despite frantic reports of ongoing theft by Stroker Serpentine and Tenshi, LL seems powerless - or unwilling - to do anything other than suggest filing of more abuse reports.

How is this possible? The SCD story says the stolen items retain the original creator name and information, but are transferable and many items include a blank box, suggesting the use of an exploit - and so the search for culprits begins.

The box holding the cache of stolen goods was created by Damen Hax - a long time SL resident and Open Source advocate. When the Herald contacted Mr. Hax for comment he denied involvement and suggested  he has made more than a few enemies who might be eager to frame him.

XDeth Absent & Bearsy Bloobury - Sim Crashing PN Griefers!

Interview with Post 6 Party crasher!! Exclusive!!!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

"in a world of user generated content where you can remain anonymous, people are bound to find exploits... like a fun sport, you know?" - XDeth Absent

It was no surprise that XDeth Absent was pleased that Linden Lab finally got around to banning his account, but I was sad to see the alt account he used next - XDeath Portal - lost the glasses that XDeth Absent wore. Consistent griefer fashion statements are so hard to find.

For those who missed it, the later stages of the recent Herald Post 6 party were enlivened by the sort of meta-game that is all too common at well-publicized Second Life events - surprise sim crashes as a certain segment of the population levels up in the stupendous ironic bad-ass race standings. If Linden Lab can't keep Robin Linden's farewell party from being sim-crashed, why would a Herald party - or any other event - fare better?

The griefing game is all about being taken seriously, so for real validation griefers are more than happy to take a ride on the ban-wagon. Luckily, the Lab is more than willing to play along once the blinking red lights on the game god console draw their attention, and a futile round of account bans is played out. This pleases both the griefers and the Linden Governance team, who can both point to their "accomplishments". With an endless supplies of free, anonymous accounts, what else would you expect? It all started cordially:

[13:20]  XDeth Absent: excuse me.
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: you are that reporter correct?
[13:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: yes - I edit the Alphaville Herald
[13:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: why?
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: I have read this newspaper many a time
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: I must say it is an honor to grief a party with you attending
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: please enjoy.
[13:21]  Pixeleen Mistral: thanks - I think

[--the Greenies sim crashes and we are all logged out--]

Sea of Drama to Link Soviet Woodbury to W-Hat Goons

More artistic mashups now possible?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk


 
A new sim - Soviet Woodbury - appeared on the map just south of the W-Hat goon’s WHAT sim Saturday, marking the end of a forced migration for one group of residents displaced by the collapse of Intlibber Brautigan’s BnT land empire.

Woodbury community organizer Tizzy Teardrop tells the Herald the WHAT and Soviet Woodbury sims are to be connected by a sim to be named “the Sea of Drama”. Negotiations are also underway to connect the Digital Worlds community to form a trifecta of meta-gameplay and virtual world artistic pursuits with significant synergies hoped for from the cross-community virtual and artistic connections.