Chat relay

[deety Galicia]

Hi,

I've been renting from this landlord for a number of months now and for the most part have been extremely happy living at this place n the mainland. However, this morning I was extremely upset to discover a chat relay script on each of the parcels I rent from this person. I confronted the landlord in a nice manner and they did not deny placing the scripts on the two parcels. Her story is fishy though. First they said it was an old script, then a bit later they said it was something they had placed there within the past 24 hours. I thought spy scripts or bots were against the TOS.  I guess my question is, is listening in on your tenants legal?  What are my options if any? Thanks in advance for any advise you may have.

Happy new year!!

[Cinnamon Lohner]

deety Galicia wrote:

I've been renting from this landlord for a number of months now and for the most part have been extremely happy living at this place n the mainland. However, this morning I was extremely upset to discover a chat relay script on each of the parcels I rent from this person. I confronted the landlord in a nice manner and they did not deny placing the scripts on the two parcels. Her story is fishy though. First they said it was an old script, then a bit later they said it was something they had placed there within the past 24 hours. I thought spy scripts or bots were against the TOS.  I guess my question is, is listening in on your tenants legal?  What are my options if any? Thanks in advance for any advise you may have.

While the TOS and related guidelines are usually vague, this one is clearer than most.  Remotely monitoring conversations without consent is against the community standards.

As to what you should do about it, completely up to you.  You can AR your landlord.  You can go rent somewhere else.  You can ignore it.  You can demand your landlord remove it and hope for a positive outcome.  I guess it all depends on how much you like the place you are living.

--Cinn

Disclosure

Residents are entitled to a reasonable level of privacy with  regard to their Second Life experience. Sharing personal information  about a fellow Resident --including gender, religion, age, marital  status, race, sexual preference, and real-world location beyond what is  provided by the Resident in the First Life page of their Resident  profile is a violation of that Resident's privacy. Remotely monitoring  conversations, posting conversation logs, or sharing conversation logs  without consent are all prohibited in Second Life and on the Second Life  Forums.

[Irene Muni]

deety Galicia wrote:

 

I guess my question is, is listening in on your tenants legal?  What are my options if any?

No. TOS 8.3.(i): "(i)     Post or transmit viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, time bombs,  cancelbots, or other computer programming routines that may harm the  Service or interests or rights of other users, or that may harvest or  collect any data or personal information about other users without their  consent;"

You can fill an Abuse Report: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Abuse_report

[deety Galicia]

Thank you both for the quick response and great information.  I deleted the scripts already which caused them to be returned to the landlord so right away they knew they knew something was up, then I messaged them and asked them what was up.  They admitted putting up the scripts.   AR'ing them would serve no purpose unless it is to protect future tenants.  I really really like living there so moving is undesireable but I also feel quite violated by these scripts.  Up till now I have trusted this person as a landlord and as a friend.  She is not a big mega sim realtor but she is not small time either. Perhaps she has 20 lots.  At this point I am at a loss as to what to do.

[TC Short]

It's understandable if you like living there but keep in mind, other landlords arent into spying on their tenants. For me, there's no way I could live in a place that I know I have to be on the look out for spy scripts etc. I'd start looking for a new place asap. But there's one estate owner I've always rented from when I dont own my own land.

[deety Galicia]

I am already looking for a new place   As much as I love living there and as much as it hurts knowing that what I considered a friend is a spy, well.....

time to move on I guess

[deety Galicia]

So now the question is...........

to AR or not to AR.  What good would it do?  Do two wrongs make a right?  Is it wrong of me to AR her?  I informed the landlord that she was in violation of the TOS.  She did not seen to be aware of it and agreed that I was probably "right" in my statement that she was in violation of the TOS.  In the real world, not being aware of the law does not make you innocent and in this case it appears that the same is true about this issue.  I have a enough evidence to file a valid AR. She admits that she planted those scripts and was in fact listening in on me.  I just don't know what to do. One good thing about it, rent was due in 2 days so I can get out of there soon with no loss of money.  *sigh* I sure love that place though.

[TC Short]

I'll login and give you the name/LM of a great place to rent from. It's a fairly large estate/land owner but the staff is great if you ever have problems.

[deety Galicia]

Thank you TC. Logging in again now.

[Ariu Arai]

I believe it is allowed only if it's clearly stated in the land covenant/rental agreement that your chat on the parcel will be monitored.

[Irene Muni]

No. A covenant (or a profile, or a advice, or...) cannot be against the TOS and the CS.