WELCOME TO THE NEW IRON CURTAIN

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

After having some time to re-examine the new SL TOS and reading insights from other informed and astute users, I've come to understand the new SL TOS is a not-so-craftily worded attempt by Linden Lab to take over absolutely everything on their system... including user properties.

I do not exaggerate one bit. What we are seeing is a virtual Iron Curtain mentality, in which Linden Lab considers all property as belonging to the company (regardless of what they publicize). The TOS basically gives them full authority to ban anyone they wish, at any time, without providing any stated reason, and most importantly... without legal cause. Basically, if Linden Lab wants you off the board, you're off, with no compensation. That is "Iron Curtain" mentality... and is to my understanding, blatantly illegal.


IRON CURTAIN POLICIES
Some readers may not be acquainted with the Iron Curtain. Check this reference for a general overall view of what happened back in those dark ages: IRON CURTAIN

Summarized: while the Iron Curtain started out as an idea of protection against perceived nasty forces... it itself turned into something far nastier. The Iron Curtain became a prime example of extremist totalitarian militaristic dictatorship, in which every aspect of people's lives were controlled, people were executed for speaking out against such things, and were literally shot to death for trying to leave the country.

Suffice to say, no sane individual ever wants such a thing to happen again, any more than we want Hitler's regime to resurface. There are some things that need destroyed, burned and deeply buried so that they never again deface the surface of this planet.


THE NEW SECOND LIFE TOS
The SL TOS (terms of service) includes some "interesting" terminology that some may find similar in concept to many Iron Curtain fundamentals. The TOS is available to read HERE, if you have the time to read such a lengthy tome. It's a boring and tedious read, which is something I am sure Linden Lab is counting on to hide its insidious nature.

Some areas of interest are these summarized statements:

* L$ are "licensed credits" which allow you to obtain licensed (not purchased) materials on Second Life. Anything obtained by L$ is licensed not purchased... meaning you don't own anything you buy. This conveniently eliminates any rights you might possibly have to such items.. say, to transfer such items-- even if full perm and public domain-- to a competitive grid.

* Despite past TOS permissions, anything you create or ever have created is only your "intellectual property" if you have personally created absolutely every aspect of that item yourself. This means if you have used textures, sculpt maps, megaprims, scripts, sounds or anything else that was created by another user-- even if those components are full-perm, public domain and freely licensed-- your item consists of "licensed" materials and is thus not your intellectual property. This holds true even if you have specific permission from said owner to distribute such components in whatever manner you wish. Linden Lab TOS overrides such permission.

* Despite the fact that Linden Lab has long allowed use of backup tools so that you can back up your own creations to your hard drive... you may now no longer do so if ANY aspect of your build consists of components made by another user. This effectively removes all rights you have to back up your own creations, because almost all builds on the grid contain at least some components created by someone else... be those components textures, megaprims, freebie sculpt maps, freebie sounds, animations etc. etc. Very few builders create absolutely everything from scratch.

* Linden Lab now claims the right to ban anyone they wish from Second Life, at any time, for any reason, without providing any compensation or reimbursement whatsoever. They don't have to refund fees you've paid for land, they don't have to compensate you for lost assets of any kind, and they don't have to provide a legal reason. Basically, they can MURDER your avatar, and supposedly there's nothing you can do about it. (Actually, there is, don't be fooled. But as Linden Lab is well aware-- such steps are time consuming and costly.)

* IF you are so banned... Linden Lab may still make full use of your creations. There is nothing you can do to demand removal of your builds, documents, or other assets from the system. Your creations may still be distributed or even sold by others, including Linden Lab itself. Basically, the company can kill you off and still profit from your hard work.


THERE IS MORE, BUT...
For sake of brevity, I'm going to leave it at this. This is just the tip of this deadly iceberg. These few points are highlighted here just to make residents aware of just how abusive this new TOS is. Linen Lab is in effect, forming a totalitarian state with militaristic enforcement, a one-sided government that removes virtually all rights of the population. CEO Mark Kingdon and Linden Lab are literally turning Second Life into an "Iron Curtain" state in which people are required to bow to the whims of the corporation, are forced to agree to an extremely abusive and one-sided TOS or be blocked from the system, and from which members can be removed at the slightest whim of the host company, supposedly without any legal option or monetary compensation due.

If anyone reading this blog doubts any of these things, read the TOS. Take the hour or two it will require to study it, and verify this information. Then... just hang around and wait. Watch what happens. This new TOS is far beyond anything Linden Lab has done before. It's far more abusive, infringes far more on user legal rights, and even imposes into areas of Federal Copyright law... something I feel pretty sure Linden Lab is going to have brought to their attention the hard way.

In the meantime good readers, be very much aware: as of this TOS, Linden Lab is intentionally and directly denying you most of the rights and privileges you have enjoyed on Second Life. We should not be so naive as to believe otherwise. This is no longer "Your World".

As of April 30, 2010, when the new TOS goes into effect, Second Life becomes an "Iron Curtain" virtual world in which you, the user, the one paying the bills, will have no rights.



--o--

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

A follow-up comment here, copied from a comment I made on another blog site:


I have to agree with above sentiments in general. I have long been a crusader against Linden Lab abuse of customer rights… mainly because I still thought there was a chance that Linden Lab might wake up, wise up and turn around. With their latest TOS however (http://elfclan.ning.com/profiles/blogs/welcome-to-the-new-iron curtain)… it is obvious that this is one corporation that does not learn from major past blunders.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that there is no hope for Linden Lab. Their management focus is consistently and repeatedly customer-abusive, narcissistic and ultimately self destructive. These things are now obvious.

So such things being obvious, it has increasingly occurred to me that rather than writing endless blogs trying to get Linden Lab to clean up its act… I’m going to be changing my blog theme to warning my group members (and anyone else who cares to read) about what is to come, and preparing for the eventual mass-exodus.

Elf Clan now has lands on two external grids: Reaction Grid and Inworldz, both of whom I consider to offer special benefits to the community. We are now seeing more and more self-hosted mini-grids tied in to the HyperGrid. That can only be a good thing. The power is slowly leaking from Linden Lab, and while they try to make increasingly totalitarian grabs at re-gaining that power, the predictable eventuality seems fairly unavoidable.

Comparing Linden Lab to AOL is I think, an apt comparison, especially considering who is at the wheel of LL at this time. Like AOL, Linden Lab will fade into obscurity while the World Wide Grid takes off. Despite considerable flaws, in-fighting, personal profiteering and egos, OpenSim is slowly, slowly taking shape. If such fails, there are always the “big dog” companies in the shadows, already working on their own projects specifically designed to take over Linden Lab’s market share.

These are things that I and a small handful of users have been telling Linden Lab for years. Now, it seems that most hard-core users of SL are very aware of these things. That fact alone should have Linden Lab shareholders shaking in their boots.

[Zauber Paracelsus]

Correct me if I'm wrong Wayfinder, but wasn't it always the case with the TOS that they could terminate your account for any or no reason?

[Cinnamon Raymaker]

Bring on the HyperGrid!

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

"wasn't it always the case with the TOS that they could terminate your account for any or no reason"

Yes... but if I'm correct, it was never directly stated, "... and we owe you zip".

[Balpien Hammerer]

I recall that upon termination you had the chance to process out your credit. This is no longer the case under the new TOS. The new TOS has 'takings' language in it. Pretty much it means that people should not maintain either large RL credits or large linden balances on their accounts. Two reasons become apparent: 1) arbitrary termination is possible. Someone could file an AR against you, wrongfully or not, and you could lose access and lose everything without expensive recourse; 2) the company could declare linden/dollar exchanges null and void and you'd instantly lose your hard earned credits. There.com did exactly the latter to people.

So, just to minimze one's exposure to those possibilities, maintain the smallest working balance of cash or L$.

As for ownership of works, I now see utility to develop all my stuff using outworld tools, outworld purchased textures, outworld scripting apps, and then importing my works into SL. In that way, albeit a bit messier to do, I retain rights and full control of my products. Yes, they can take it away later (and yes that would be immoral and unethical on their part), but I can then move on cleanly should that juncture arise.

I recommend others protect themselves similarly, enjoy SL to the extent that it is feasible and remain fluid and, most importantly, minimally invested to uninvested. I haven't owned land since the openspace SIM debacle.

[Rose Sak]

*grabs a barrel of mead* runs.......

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

You make valid points Brumble. There are indeed many one-sided TOSs out there. Many are designed intentionally to be over the top, not because the company intends to use such measures... but so that they're there in case someone decides to force their hand. That is totally understandable. "We are God" is a typical attitude on corporate TOS documents. That doesn't make the TOS abusive, mainly because the company itself isn't abusive.

In the case of Linden Lab however, we have every right to believe they totally intend to implement such things. Why? Because they have done so in the past and continue to do so. Because they company hasn't shown a thread of ethical behavior in the 5 1/2 years I've been a member of SL. Because they have gone into direct competition with their customers in the past and show a trend of intentionally taking over customer-generated creations.

A kitchen match is merely a tool in the hands of a responsible person. There is very little danger. Put that same tool in the hands of a madman, and the potential for danger increases several thousand fold.

There's also one major difference between SL and other online service providers: most board don't have customers creating and selling items on their system.

To make Linden Lab's position more obvious, we might consider Ebay (who btw, is a significant investor in Second Life). Imagine Ebay sending out TOS that basically said, "We can kick you off Ebay at any time for any reason, any money you have in our co-company PayPal is ours to keep, and any products you have listed to sell with Ebay immediately become our property-- and we owe you nothing."

That in effect is what Linden Lab is doing. So in reality their TOS, while perhaps similarly worded to other systems... goes far beyond due to simple nature of the business. Second Life's scope and depth goes far beyond that of most other online companies.

The wording of their TOS, by very nature of the business... is far more alarming than initial appearance. That's why when I first read the TOS I wasn't all that concerned. It was just typical legal wording. But the more I thought about it, the more I read general commentaries on other blogs, the more I remembered the nature of Second Life and exactly who it is we're dealing with here... the more I realized their choice of wording in their TOS reaches far beyond the norm. This is nothing less than empowering a company that is neck-deep in monopolistic and historically abusive, self-serving practices.

A hunter can use a gun and feed his family and friends. Put that same tool in the hands of a murderer, and it becomes something entirely different.

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

Bumble, I don't think any reasonable person would believe I was actually comparing Linden Lab to mass murderers. I was using a hyperbole to make a point.

But I will say this: Linden Lab themselves have stated that banning a user from Second Life is the equivalent of "killing" their avatar. The connection I think, is obvious.

In 2008-2009, that is exactly what Linden Lab did. They stepped over the line, even for Linden Lab. They callously and cold-heartedly, without any concern for their customers whatsoever, raised the price on OpenSpace sims beyond what their users could afford. Then they stood by for months as thousands of sims were forced to shut down.

Any decent, ethical company would have started taking notice when the first 100 sims shut down. Certainly by the time 500 sims shut down. Linden Lab waited until over 5,000 sims shut down before they decided to back track and declare existing sims "grandfathered". Why over 5,000? Because that's was when they went beyond the "break even" point-- the point at which they started losing money by the truckload. They plainly didn't care until the exodus started costing them money. Even then, they still raised the price by 27% and still charged new sims 67% more. With them people don't seem to matter; they are all about money, total self-involved.

So in effect, Linden Lab "mass murdered" thousands of users and nuke-bombed approximately 5,500 sims. They made a profiteering decision with absolutely no concern for the impact such would have on their customers, no consideration for what that decision would do to real people.

So to be honest, I think my illustration-- while intentionally exaggerated to make a point-- is fairly apropos. They don't care about their customers. They don't care about people. They have totally discarded the dream of creating a virtual web. As far as I've observed, Linden Lab is a soulless monster of a corporation that cares about one thing and one thing only: $$$money$$$. And they really don't seem to care who they hurt to get more of it.

I think your points are valid. I agree that people need to wake up and question spending any more money on virtual goods. This TOS makes it quite plain that any money invested in Second Life from here on out is pretty much a waste (outside community and friends, of course). Linden Lab has repeatedly gone back on their word, cheated and defrauded their customers, and now is very visibly creating an environment where customers no longer own their own creations. Frankly, I don't see much difference between Linden Lab and common criminals... except maybe the criminals are a little more direct about their occupation.

(Reminds me of the movie "The Thief Who Came to Dinner")

[Brianna Lioncourt]

Just thought you would like to know: When There.com closed, Makena told us developers that we would be refunded the US dollar equivalent of Therebucks we have earned selling our designs. Since then, we have indeed been sent checks reflecting those amounts -- I consider this to be especially honorable considering what is happening in SL!
--Brianna (Basya in There)

[Zauber Paracelsus]

I don't really think they can retroactively convert ownership into a "lease" or "license", though I may be wrong. One thing's for sure: they're sure as **** going to try!