Ripped mesh- Can LL add a new feature for reporting?

[ChinRey]

Sorry if my paintbrush reply sounded a bit flippant, I just couldn't resist it.

The answer is of course that all copyrights have some sort of expiration date. It simply wouldn't be possible to enforce them throughout the centuries.

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shaniqua Sahara wrote:

copyleft is freedom not freeloading.

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This started as a thread about ripped content and I don't really think you should mix copyleft into that because as you well know, respect for copyright is one of the most fundamental principles of the copyleft ideology. People should be allowed to, but never forced to, give their works away for free.

I have the deepest respect for the copyleft movement and I've certainly contributed to it myself as a musician, reasearcher, curator, 3D modeller, texture maker and even as a programmer. In-world I've probably given away more of my own works than I've sold, I'm the host and curator of one of the three complete Arcadia Asylum libraries and I've uploaded and give away for free all the official Linda Kellie texture packages. I can't tell you what I've done outside SL since I'm not rpepared to give you my real name or any of my other internet aliases here so you have to take my word for that. Except, I do actually use the Chin Rey name at Filter Forge too. If you want to, you can take a look at the few filters I've contributed to public domain there.

Since I mention Filter Forge, it is slightly annoying to see PAT and Peeps and Skye and Timeless and Toolshed and Kismet and whatever they're called those countless sellers of hastily created FF textures make good money from the work my fellow filter creators have done (afaik nobody's uploaded any of my textures from there yet). But it's part of the deal. You know when you click on that upload button that others may do whatever they like with your work, even sell it as their own. If that's not acceptable, don't submit your filter to the public library.

It's a very different story when it comes to what skilled 3D modellers try to make commercially. Making a substantial amount of content at that quality level is so time consuming that uness you are rich, are living on a pension or have somebody else to support you, you have to ensure some sort of income from it. And Second Life really need content of that kind. Not all the time. There's more than enough room for less optimized amateur and learner builds in SL but only if the backbone of content is efficient enough there atcually is computing resources to spare for those less efficient builds and the overall lag level is low enough the happy amateurs don't have to spend more money on hardware than they are prepared to to actually get in. And it's so easy to cheat. Put together some clumsy attempt at a hedge with Mesh Generator, take a delicate picture for MP, sell for 500 Lindens, get yourself profiled at a video blog that isn't at all sponsored by LL. A few resource hogging items won't make mcuh different to a sim, let alone the grid as a whole. But take thousand of copies of one of them and spread all across the sims - it doesn't take many of those before we have a significant performance drop, excluding a significant number of people from SL and reducing the overall experience quality for us all.

Oh wel, this turned into a rant again, when will I ever learn. All amateur orchestras I know of hire professional musicians for bigger events, not to replace the amateur members but to support them and helpt them shine. We need something like that in Second Life too and IP protection is essential for recruiting and keeping those professionals. It's worrying that LL doesn't seem to understand that. Or maybe they understand but jsut can't find a solution

[Codex Alpha]

In our false-scarcity, money-based, living-expenses system, I need copyright to protect my IP and income against others who would take it away from me, along with possible income that I need to survive.

I've had IP stolen from me in the past from sounds, images and files, and though I may have the pride that they had to steal, and I still have a vast fountain to create new works regardless, it is little to no consolation to me when I live in a world where I rely on my IP, or work ethic in order to feed myself.

In a world where I had a dedicated income, and no living expenses, perhaps I could and would be a little more lax with what I share with the world, as status would now be associated with craftsmanship and originality, and one's fame or success would be from the admiration of others who recognize it.

It wouldn't matter if my living expenses were met, then I could dedicate my life full-time to making this world better for all involved.

I'm very much an advocate for 'facilitating' others and removing barriers they may have from entry into things, be it education, software and livelihoods. Opensource applications, free education, even 'warez' is a public service imo, empowering those who may not have opportunity as others do. A system based on aptitude and attitude, rather than financial ability.

However as long as greed and money run our system, the same system we hate we must contend with by protecting and sometimes hoarding our ideas, creative pursuits and IP - BECAUSE IF WE DON'T WE ARE HOMELESS.