What the heck is a...

[Sephina Frostbite]

So one of my new friends (ex friend now) accused me of being a botter. I have no clue what that is. The only thing I do in sl is try and learn how to take pictures well, model, attempt to build (I can make a box so far) and talk to friends.. I have no clue what this botter business thing they are talking about. Its upsetting to be told to f off when I don't do anything but try and help people out who need it and keep to myself. I'm really sweet... just don't ask my enemies lol.. Thanks for the help anyone can give me.

[Drew Bhalti]

Botter=CopyBotter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CopyBot

[Dresden Ceriano]

A botter would be someone who uses copybot to copy other people's creations.  Perhaps you unknowingly had and/or have handed out some copybotted stuff, thus triggering such a reaction.  You say this was a new friend, so it's very possible that, not knowing you very well, they simply jumped to the conclusion that you knew exactly what you were doing instead of simply being clueless.  Those who know you better would most likely give you the benefit of the doubt and inform you about it, rather than just accuse you of it.

...Dres

[Sephina Frostbite]

I have no clue how to do all that however I did get some gifts recently for my birthday from a few people. Thats the only thing I can think of. Thanks Dres. I am not that type of person let alone not even that smart to know how all that stuff works. Is there a way to tell what gift I recieved might be botted.. I dont want people who dont know me thinking I am a criminal. Its upsetting.

[Ren Toxx]

Actually, a copybotter is someone who creates content by illegal means, not one who just receives it (knowingly or otherwise); therefore, unless your ex-friend saw you selling such content (or, far more improbably, in the very act of replicating it from original material), his accusation shows perfect ignorance. Dunno, as if he was accusing you of being a man in RL.

 

My point is, Sephina: do you feel like you need to care about the ramblings of an ignorant?

[Perrie Juran]

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Sephina Frostbite wrote:

I have no clue how to do all that however I did get some gifts recently for my birthday from a few people. Thats they only thing I can think of. Thanks Dres. I am not that type of person let alone not even that smart to know how all that stuff works. Is there a way to tell what gift I recieved might be botted.. I dont want people who dont know me thinking I am a criminal. Its upsetting.

---

Figuring out if something has been copy-botted could drive you nuts, especially if it was one of the gifts you received.  Usually the creators name on a copy botted item will not match the name of the original creator.  But that requires you recognise the original creators work.  One thing that is a big indicator is if the item you recieved was FULL PERM.  It's a very rare thing for a Merchant to sell something full perm, especially high quality items.

That said, as far as I am concerned, the Copy Botter Nazis can rot in hell as far as I'm concerned.  It's one thing to tell someone that something they own may be copy botted.  It's another thing to accuse some one of being a Botter. 

Honestly, seeing how many of us went through the Freebie Stores when we first started, I bet there are many people who have a Botted item in Inventory that the original creator never did file a take down notice on.  There is a lot of stuff out there like that.

[Jacki Silverfall]

These are people commonly known as "know it alls" I run into them all the time in my business. And they usually don't know their ass from their elbow.

Take it with as grain of salt and move on.

[Dresden Ceriano]

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Sephina Frostbite wrote:

I have no clue how to do all that however I did get some gifts recently for my birthday from a few people. Thats they only thing I can think of. Thanks Dres. I am not that type of person let alone not even that smart to know how all that stuff works. Is there a way to tell what gift I recieved might be botted.. I dont want people who dont know me thinking I am a criminal. Its upsetting.

---

Don't worry your sweet head over it for one more moment.  That idiot's scurrilous accusations were most probably based on nothing but paranoia or stupidity... or both.  No one who knows even the least, little bit about you would think you were a criminal and no one who would matters.  No sense getting upset over the words of an ignorant fool.

...Dres

[Sephina Frostbite]

Thanks everyone.. Really helped to put my mind at ease. I was really stressing over it but now I am just going to have a cup of tea and let it go. I know Im not stealing from anyone and if they were any sort of decent person they could have just asked me instead of being rude. So like you all said it's a waste of my time. Thanks for the information everyone and hope your week goes smoothly.

[Polenth Yue]

It may not be that you own something copybotted. Some people assume others are copybotting for behaviours which really aren't a problem. Like if you stand around in the same place for some time. Or you inspect items made by others with the build tool. Or you happen to be in a group with someone who was a copybotter. Or your name starts with the same letter as a copybotter. At the extremes, I've seen places that threaten to ban anyone who goes AFK or stands on the same spot for more than a couple of minutes.

It's hard to exist in Second Life without someone assuming you're a copybotter at some point.

 

[Ethan Paslong]

some also call others a copybotter when buying the same stuff as they do and make a kind of lookalike, when you go for individualism seeing people/friends exactly do the same after you did buy a item it's bit like  you copy them. Doesnt mean doing it on purpose... could be having the same taste as them, but still... if that;s the problem....breath deep and move on

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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Jacki Silverfall wrote:

And they usually don't know their ass from their elbow.

---

With rigged mesh it doesn't really matter whether you attach it to your ass or your elbow.

[CheriColette]

I think the best thing you did was to dissociate yourself from that person. They didnt want to listen to you and seemed intent on accusing you for some reason they had. Nice people would have been helpful  instead. Dont take it  too badly. At least you can come here and tell us what happened

[Numpty Mistwallow]

I got accused of being a "copybotter because, as Polenth mentioned I used to "inspect items made by others with the build too" but at the time I was teaching myself to build. As it was the item I was inspecting was laughably simple and rather poorly built when I looked closely so my reply about copying "this piece of (expletive deleted)" didn't go down too well with the accuser who also happened to be the creator, though I'm using "creator" very loosely.

Ignore those that accuse you of copying stuff, you know you didn't and if you do have any "botted" items that's hardly your fault, nor do you need people in your SL who are so quick to hurl accusations, there's enough stress in RL without having to put up with it in here too.

[Pussycat Catnap]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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Sephina Frostbite wrote:

I have no clue how to do all that however I did get some gifts recently for my birthday from a few people. Thats they only thing I can think of. Thanks Dres. I am not that type of person let alone not even that smart to know how all that stuff works. Is there a way to tell what gift I recieved might be botted.. I dont want people who dont know me thinking I am a criminal. Its upsetting.

---

Figuring out if something has been copy-botted could drive you nuts, especially if it was one of the gifts you received.  Usually the creators name on a copy botted item will not match the name of the original creator.  But that requires you recognise the original creators work.  One thing that is a big indicator is if the item you recieved was FULL PERM.  It's a very rare thing for a Merchant to sell something full perm, especially high quality items.

---

Its not all that hard actually.

I used to go to a club all the time in SL that was frequented by several women members of a popular third party forum. A DJ there once gave me a copy of the hair her avatar was wearing - and I noticed it was rather nice for a fullperm freebie.

On examining the item I noticed every prim shared the same exact creation time, varied only by a few seconds. This is a warning flag but not itself enough - after all flexi skirts are often made using a script that replicates the initial prim around a circle (got that script myself in 2009 from a class at NCI on 'basic building').

- But in the hair were a few hundred prims all laid out in different directions and sizes. So I just asked people if they reconized it... and soon enough I was in a shop looking at rather similar hair, and eventually; an exact replica.

I knew the shop I found was the maker, and not the name on the item - from the overall theme. Everyone has a style to their work and this creator was very stylistic. So I gave her the hair, deleted my own copy, and attached a notecard explaining it all, naming all the parties, and so on. I then bought the actual hair from her because it was in the style I preferred in 2009 (and then found myself buying a number of her other items for the same reason, and bringing some friends by).

 

These days it might be easier...

I would go about it like this.

1. Hmm, this item seems odd... edit and examine object properties. If all the items have almost the exact same creation time... red flag.

2. Look up the name(s) on the object by profile, and on marketplace. And try to find their inworld store.

3. If the name(s) have blank profiles, or no store on MP or inworld - major red flag. If only a MP store, moderate red flag as some legit people do this now. If there are stores, but the products in them have highly inconsistent design... major red flag. You might be the next Picasso or Rembrant; but you are NOT both - and even if your skill is immitation, a critcal eye will tend to spot that. Moreso in SL than in RL.

- All of that just gives you red flags, strong hints, but is not actual proof. For that you need the real maker.

 

- Marketplace searching on keywords that describe what you have well enough might very well land you on the real creator, even if the thief has no store presence. Sometimes its so easy to find who really made something, that you can do this long before you actually have good hints that your copy was stolen.

Marketplace is also a good way to verify that what you have is not a stolen copy, but a product made using a template. Got a wonderful mesh jacket people think looks just like the one from brand X. search for it on Marketplace and find 37 different shops selling various colors of it... Yeah brand X doesn't look so original either anymore now.

 

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Polenth Yue wrote:

It may not be that you own something copybotted. Some people assume others are copybotting for behaviours which really aren't a problem. Like if you stand around in the same place for some time. Or you inspect items made by others with the build tool.

---

This is also true. There is some crazy paranoia in SL. And just going AFK in a place can freak some people out, or so these forums imply. Its a common thread to see: "OMG X banned me, and all I did was try to click on their product 3 times because lag prevented the first 2 from working" or "I was shopping at Y and then got into an IM conversation and suddenly I was banned for 'copying their stuffz' when I was just AFK". - Variations of these pop up on the forums all the time.

That said, I think 'being in the same group' IS a good indicator, if that group is a community. If its 'the product group for brand Z' then no, but if its 'all the mentors at hangout A' then yes - that's a good sign because those people work together, socialize, and peer groups DO tend to get involved in things together.

 

[Perrie Juran]

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Pussycat Catnap wrote:

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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Sephina Frostbite wrote:

I have no clue how to do all that however I did get some gifts recently for my birthday from a few people. Thats they only thing I can think of. Thanks Dres. I am not that type of person let alone not even that smart to know how all that stuff works. Is there a way to tell what gift I recieved might be botted.. I dont want people who dont know me thinking I am a criminal. Its upsetting.

---

Figuring out if something has been copy-botted could drive you nuts, especially if it was one of the gifts you received.  Usually the creators name on a copy botted item will not match the name of the original creator.  But that requires you recognise the original creators work.  One thing that is a big indicator is if the item you recieved was FULL PERM.  It's a very rare thing for a Merchant to sell something full perm, especially high quality items.

---

Its not all that hard actually.

I used to go to a club all the time in SL that was frequented by several women members of a popular third party forum. A DJ there once gave me a copy of the hair her avatar was wearing - and I noticed it was rather nice for a fullperm freebie.

On examining the item I noticed every prim shared the same exact creation time, varied only by a few seconds. This is a warning flag but not itself enough - after all flexi skirts are often made using a script that replicates the initial prim around a circle (got that script myself in 2009 from a class at NCI on 'basic building').

- But in the hair were a few hundred prims all laid out in different directions and sizes. So I just asked people if they reconized it... and soon enough I was in a shop looking at rather similar hair, and eventually; an exact replica.

I knew the shop I found was the maker, and not the name on the item - from the overall theme. Everyone has a style to their work and this creator was very stylistic. So I gave her the hair, deleted my own copy, and attached a notecard explaining it all, naming all the parties, and so on. I then bought the actual hair from her because it was in the style I preferred in 2009 (and then found myself buying a number of her other items for the same reason, and bringing some friends by).

 

These days it might be easier...

I would go about it like this.

1. Hmm, this item seems odd... edit and examine object properties. If all the items have almost the exact same creation time... red flag.

2. Look up the name(s) on the object by profile, and on marketplace. And try to find their inworld store.

3. If the name(s) have blank profiles, or no store on MP or inworld - major red flag. If only a MP store, moderate red flag as some legit people do this now. If there are stores, but the products in them have highly inconsistent design... major red flag. You might be the next Picasso or Rembrant; but you are NOT both - and even if your skill is immitation, a critcal eye will tend to spot that. Moreso in SL than in RL.

- All of that just gives you red flags, strong hints, but is not actual proof. For that you need the real maker.

 

- Marketplace searching on keywords that describe what you have well enough might very well land you on the real creator, even if the thief has no store presence. Sometimes its so easy to find who really made something, that you can do this long before you actually have good hints that your copy was stolen.

Marketplace is also a good way to verify that what you have is not a stolen copy, but a product made using a template. Got a wonderful mesh jacket people think looks just like the one from brand X. search for it on Marketplace and find 37 different shops selling various colors of it... Yeah brand X doesn't look so original either anymore now.

 

---

Polenth Yue wrote:

It may not be that you own something copybotted. Some people assume others are copybotting for behaviours which really aren't a problem. Like if you stand around in the same place for some time. Or you inspect items made by others with the build tool.

---

This is also true. There is some crazy paranoia in SL. And just going AFK in a place can freak some people out, or so these forums imply. Its a common thread to see: "OMG X banned me, and all I did was try to click on their product 3 times because lag prevented the first 2 from working" or "I was shopping at Y and then got into an IM conversation and suddenly I was banned for 'copying their stuffz' when I was just AFK". - Variations of these pop up on the forums all the time.

That said, I think 'being in the same group' IS a good indicator, if that group is a community. If its 'the product group for brand Z' then no, but if its 'all the mentors at hangout A' then yes - that's a good sign because those people work together, socialize, and peer groups DO tend to get involved in things together.

 

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I did say "could," conditional. 

Not everyone is going to go through all the work you do.

I function on the basic premise, if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.