Linden Lab rounds up and ejects a bunch of copyright infringers

This article was written by Tateru Nino

Now, we must admit that we find this one both amusing and appropriate. In short, Linden Lab has sent 50 or more Second Life users who were using the after-market NeilLife viewer on the spank-bus to ban-town. Not just for using the viewer, but for copying content that they shouldn't ought to have.

What's clever is how Linden Lab caught and detected them.

Now, obviously assets get transferred to viewers from the servers. That's the whole point of the server/viewer relationship. The servers tell the viewer what assets are around, and the viewer prioritizes and fetches the assets that it is interested in.
Not every asset is necessarily in the vicinity of the viewer (eg: profile pictures and some other things), but the ideal conformant viewer asks only for what it is supposed to get, and doesn't then immediately replicate in-world copies of it, or whatever, in ways that infringe on the rights of others.

In any case, it seems there was this particular asset that many users with... let's call them non-conformant viewers were grabbing and replicating. As we understand it, the Lab slipped the asset out from under the UUID, and replaced it with something (that we presume was quite similar) that called up the Lab and let them know who the naughty person who copied it was.

The NeilLife viewer creator (if 'creator' is the appropriate word as it was just another after-market viewer with some exploits added) and quite some tens of the users of that viewer had their accounts banned pretty much outright. Not because they were using a non-conformant viewer, but because they were using it to infringe (and apparently doing it pretty darn stupidly at that).

As a bonus, there would now be a documentation trail supporting US Federal criminal charges should the Lab find that any of the banned users are overly vexing or troublesome.

Well-played, Linden Lab. We – along with the vast majority of your users and customers – are rather looking forward to hearing about more actions like this.


PS. Comment from Anna Avalanche: I must agree with Tateru Nino. This was a very nice attitude from Linden Lab. Well done Linden’s!!!!

Linden Lab announces the end of piracy inside SL

There comes good news, I hope, for SL. Below is a clipping of the Linden Lab recently post on the measures taken to end the piracy in SL. Touch here to read the original post

Improvements to Our Intellectual Property Complaint Process

In the past year, we've committed additional staff and resources to our intellectual property complaint process, which many Residents know as our DMCA process (meaning the Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

The complaint process facilitates cooperation between Linden Lab and intellectual property owners. If owners identify particular uses of their content that they believe to infringe, they may send us a notification requesting removal of the uses.

In cases of severe or repeat infringement, we terminate the accounts of the infringer.

In response to Resident feedback about the time and effort involved in submitting notifications to us, we've been developing an improved process. In the not-too-distant future, intellectual property owners will be able to submit complaints to us electronically through an online form. The form will make it easier for intellectual property owners to submit complaints, and it will help us expedite their processing.

With the online form, intellectual property owners will be able to request that we search for and remove all copies of an identified item created by a particular Resident. Resident content creators have asked us for this capability, and we are working hard at developing tools to provide it. This is one of the most technologically complicated tasks we've ever undertaken because the tools must identify the content at issue in the complaint, search for instances of it inworld and in inventories, notify those with copies of it of the intellectual property complaint submitted, remove or disable access to those instances, and in the event of a copyright counter-notification, restore access to the content specified in the counter-notification.


We're excited about the progress made so far, and we're dedicated to making these tools a success, but as always with cutting-edge technologies, there's no guarantee that these tools will work for all situations or complaints. However, we are committed to developing sustainable and scalable solutions that empower content creators to better protect their intellectual property.

We expect to launch our improved intellectual property complaint process and tools later this year. As we get closer to launch, we will have additional information for you. We welcome your feedback and thoughts in the forums, which we will be reviewing and responding to as we can.

New Features for Content Licensing

As we move towards a future where virtual worlds are interoperable, Second Life needs new features to help Resident content creators better indicate how they allow their content to be used.

Second Life has technological restrictions known as the “permissions system” that can be set to impose certain limits on how content can be used within Second Life. However, the permissions system was never intended for and does not grant any legal permission to use content outside of Second Life. Furthermore, content creators may want more flexibility to allow their content to be used in ways that the permissions system does not readily accommodate, for example, the ability to permit non-commercial distribution but prohibit resale. To better indicate their legal permissions, some Residents currently post license terms in their inworld stores or in notecards distributed with their content.

As we develop our stand-alone, behind-the-firewall Second Life solution, we're aware of the opportunity it presents for talented and entrepreneurial content creators to reach more customers in a broad inter-connected 3D marketplace. To help facilitate this marketplace, we are developing the ability to attach “sticky licenses” to content sold to enterprise customers running a stand-alone version of Second Life. Content with these “sticky licenses” will have additional metadata such that the license information can “stick” to the content as it is distributed to the enterprise customer's server, and users of the server solution can review the license terms through the Second Life viewer.

Expect further announcements from us on our marketplace plans later this year. In the meanwhile, please comment in the forums on the licensing terms you'd like to see as well as any other thoughts you have.

Standard Industry Practices for Copying Tools

The flip side of indicating how content can be used is respecting the terms that have been indicated in licenses and under intellectual property law. This is where copying tools come into play. Recently Residents have asked us for our thoughts on tools that facilitate the copying of content from the Second Life virtual world. We believe that standard industry practices must be developed for copying tools to protect against intellectual property infringement.


As we've said before, copying tools do have legitimate uses. For example, intellectual property owners may wish to back up their own content or copy it from our hosted Second Life virtual world to a stand-alone, behind-the-firewall Second Life solution. However, copying tools can also facilitate infringement, and the devil is in the details.


To those developing copying tools, we urge the simultaneous development of standard industry practices that protect against intellectual property infringement. For example, consider the following standard practices for tools copying content from Second Life:


1. Check that the user of the tool is the Second Life “creator” of the content;
2. Do not facilitate the export of an entire Second Life inventory; and
3. Preserve the Second Life “creator” name and information that the content was originally created in the Second Life virtual world.


As we've discussed above, the Second Life “permissions system” does not grant any legal permission to use content outside of Second Life. Even content that is “full permissions” may only be used within Second Life absent a specific license agreement from the intellectual property owner(s) authorizing the content's use outside of Second Life. Thus, a check that the user is the Second Life “creator” of the content helps protect intellectual property because the “creator” is potentially the intellectual property owner of the content, while a user who is merely the Second Life “owner” of the content is not likely to have permission to use the content outside of Second Life.


A check against exporting an entire Second Life inventory helps protect intellectual property because most of us are not the intellectual property owners of all content in our inventory, but rather simply the Second Life “owners” of that content, meaning we only have permission to use it within Second Life.


Finally, preserving the “creator” name in content copied from Second Life as well as information that Second Life was the virtual world in which the content was originally created helps ensure attribution for content creators. It also potentially helps them identify and take steps to remedy content improperly copied to other virtual worlds.


We don't profess to have all the answers, but we believe in the wisdom of the community to develop sensible standard practices. We also believe that ultimately licensing solutions must be developed to allow content creators to better indicate their intentions regarding use of their intellectual property outside of Second Life, and copying tools must work with these licensing solutions to help protect against intellectual property infringement.


We are paying close attention to the issues around copying of content from the Second Life world. The advent of copying tools that allow mass copying of content for use outside of Second Life is of great concern to Linden Lab, as it is to you. In the paragraphs above, we have recommended several actions that developers of these tools can take to protect against intellectual property infringement. It is very important that standard industry practices are developed and implemented in copying tools, and we are reaching out to copying tool developers to discuss this further.

Intellectual property infringement is a serious matter, and we trust that those developing copying tools will view it that way. The penalties for copyright infringement under U.S. law include damages in amounts up to $30,000.00 USD per work and in cases of willful infringement up to $150,000.00 USD per work.

While we hope that cooler heads will prevail, and that copying tool developers will work in conjunction with the community on sensible industry standards for intellectual property protection, we will also act as necessary to protect the Second Life virtual world that our community has worked so hard to create. We will take a range of actions depending on the specific threat to our world or community. As we have said in the past, the use of CopyBot or similar copying tools to infringe others' intellectual property is a violation of our Terms of Service and may result in suspension or banning of infringers' Second Life accounts, including any alternate accounts. In the face of greater threats, our actions will be bolder. If we face a situation in which users or developers of copying tools are engaged in or inducing wide-spread infringement, we reserve our right to pursue necessary means to stop this activity, including technological blocking measures as well as legal action to protect against unauthorized use of Second Life.

Let's take proactive steps now and develop appropriate practices to avoid any situation like those described above. We encourage you to weigh in on this subject in the forums and propose standard practices and solutions for copying tools. We are looking for thoughtful ways to balance the tools' usefulness for intellectual property owners against the potentially bad purposes that they may be put to. We will be listening, watching, and reaching out to members of the community.

A Content Seller Program for Better Content Purchasing Experiences
As our community grows, Second Life needs a content seller program to help the community trade content safely and trust one another. By “content seller program,” we mean a program that sellers may participate in if they meet certain eligibility standards intended to show a level of trustworthiness and quality of content. For example, we currently offer the Gold Solution Provider Program for Solution Providers with a demonstrated track record of successful Second Life projects and client satisfaction.

At some point we will offer a program specific to content sellers with criteria devised to indicate a level of aptitude in Second Life content transactions. Sellers' participation in the program will then be publicly indicated to potential buyers.


A seller program benefits both content buyers and sellers alike because it helps provide greater transparency in the content purchasing experience. Many Resident content sellers have built successful brands and reputations within Second Life, but this may not be readily apparent to buyers when they are shopping for or purchasing content. Giving buyers more information about sellers not only helps protect buyers against the inadvertent purchase of potentially infringing content, it helps keep Second Life a safe, well-lit place to trade in virtual content. By encouraging open, honest, and accountable content transactions, a seller program helps attract more content buyers and consequently helps create more opportunities for content sellers.
We are starting the process of planning a content seller program, and we would like your input on possible program criteria. At a minimum, participation in the program will require that the selling Resident:

1. have identity and payment information on file with Linden Lab;
2. be in good standing and not have been suspended for any violation of the Second Life Terms of Service;
3. meet a minimum threshold for content transactions; and
4. affirm that all necessary intellectual property rights and licenses have been obtained for all content that the Resident has for sale.
Join the discussion in the forums and tell us what other criteria you believe should be in a content seller program. We are in the early stages of planning such a program, and we would like your feedback on possible criteria in advance of our planning and implementation.

Improved Policies and Educational Outreach To Promote Awareness of Intellectual Property
We are committed to clarifying and updating our policies to promote awareness of intellectual property and protect against infringement. We believe that informative and educational policies often help people do the right thing.


We have provided general background information on the Second Life Wiki about intellectual property, including copyright, trademark, trade dress, and the celebrity right of publicity.


In the near future, we will be updating the Listing Guidelines for the Xstreet SL marketplace to help clarify permissible uses of brand names and branded items in listings. It has always been the firm policy of Second Life and the Xstreet SL marketplace that Residents may not infringe others' intellectual property. The goal of the updated Listing Guidelines is to provide clear guidance on listing practices that are not allowed because they can be misleading and can lead to intellectual property infringement. When we launch the updated Listing Guidelines, Residents will have thirty days to make any necessary adjustments to their listings and content to bring them into compliance. We will have more information for you on this shortly.
We will also be updating some of our existing “help” material on our policies to help clarify the significance of the permissions system and issues around copying content outside of Second Life. We expect that over time we will build a library of “help” material on intellectual property, including useful tips and resources and possibly a video tutorial from Torley Linden on the subject.

Philip Rosedale on interview to Portuguese radio station

For who don’t know, Philip Rosedale is the Second Life creator. Watch his idea about the present and future of second life.

Dream of the Year: Second Life 2.0

I found this youtube video publish in a blog by Gwyneth Llewelyn

It's obviously fake (especially the release date — "late 2009") but it certainly makes us dream about the future of virtual reality. On the post below there is an invitation about real life x second life or, better, like Ed named “about the future of media and mixed reality collaboration”. Maybe the future is what the video shows and, if it is will make the artist shows in SL so much real. Won’t they?

Linden Lab Goes Shopping, Buys Virtual Goods Marketplaces to Integrate Web Shopping with Second Life

Strategic Acquisitions of OnRez and Xstreet SL Shopping Web Sites to enhance e-Commerce Functionality for the Virtual World were announced by Linden Lab some days ago. Below I reproduce the announcement.

San Francisco, CA – January 20, 2009 - Linden Lab®, creator of the virtual world Second Life®, today announced a key milestone in its expansion of the Second Life platform: acquiring two Web-based marketplaces for virtual goods, Xstreet SL and OnRez. These acquisitions join several other recent strategic initiatives, including enhancements to the experience for new users, which will enable Linden Lab to reach a broader global audience for Second Life in 2009. Linden Lab is consolidating the two marketplaces on the Xstreet SL platform, offering one online shopping experience for customers and merchants. This will make it easier for Second Life Residents to find virtual goods to purchase and will provide merchants broader channels to sell their products.

The global market for virtual goods is estimated to be approximately USD $1.5 billion a year,* and Second Life plays a significant role in this market. In 2008, Residents of Second Life purchased and sold more than USD $360 million of virtual goods and services. Shopping for virtual goods has become one of the most compelling and popular aspects of the Second Life experience. The acquisition of these e-commerce sites will aid the continuing growth of the Second Life economy by making it even more convenient for buyers and sellers to transact virtual goods and services online.

Similar to e-commerce sites for real world goods, such as Amazon and eBay, Xstreet SL provides an online catalog, where Second Life Residents can browse, purchase and sell Second Life-related virtual goods and services. Just as e-commerce Web sites provide a complement to shopping in real life, Xstreet SL complements how Second Life Residents shop inworld – visiting 3D stores, shopping centers and malls to purchase virtual services and goods from the Residents who created them. Linden Lab will integrate the Xstreet SL marketplace with Second Life, making virtual goods easier for consumers to find on the Web. The enhancements to the e-commerce experience will also drive Residents inworld to collect and use the goods they purchase online, enabling Second Life merchants to further promote their inworld stores. Merchants will also gain additional ways to market the more than 680,000 Second Life goods currently listed for sale online, including apparel, animations, vehicles, buildings and furniture.

"Linden Lab is expanding its footprint in the virtual world industry through four major initiatives – localizing the Second Life experience in key markets around the world, simplifying the 'first hour experience' to broaden consumer adoption, enhancing the platform for enterprise users and building our virtual goods marketplace," said Mark Kingdon, CEO of Linden Lab. "Content creators and merchants are pillars of the strong Second Life economy. With these e-commerce acquisitions, we will now be able to offer content creators and merchants an opportunity to substantially improve their businesses, while enhancing the Second Life experience for all of our Residents."

"The vibrant inworld economy is part of what makes Second Life such a compelling experience for Residents," said Jay Geeseman, founder of Xstreet SL. "Just as e-commerce can enhance the shopping experience for real life goods, so it can for virtual goods. With the Xstreet SL marketplace integrated more closely with Second Life, Residents will be able to find goods more easily and shop more conveniently, while merchants will have broader channels to sell their creations."

For the immediate future, Xstreet SL will continue to function as it has with only minor changes. OnRez will remain active for a few weeks to give customers and merchants an opportunity to migrate their accounts and product listings over to Xstreet SL.

Dear readers, do you think this will be a good strategy for Second Life? Will this affect your business? How will affect your Second Life? Please leave your comments on what you think about this announcement.

What is Second Life? How to download Second Life? How to sign in Second Life?

I know the majority of readers from this blog known Second Life very well. But I have notice that some readers don’t know this platform or let’s say browser 3D. So I wrote this article for those who don’t know the metaverse, maybe some are your friends. If someone don’t understand what is Second Life invite them to read this article or make a commentary here. I will try to answer as soon as possible. At the end of this post I included some links for you to download Second Life and make your registration at Linden’s Lab (the creator of Second Life) to try this virtual world experience.

But what is Second Life? Second Life is a real life simulator in a virtual world totally 3D. We can also say it is a 3D browser too, analogous to Internet Explorer. Therefore, people can interact with others avatars from other countries. They can also create objects, business and personalize their avatar everything in a 3D ambiance. Residents can travel all around the world and meet people. Second Life is something like the combination of a simulator, web site, Orkut, and MSN all mix in a 3D environment.

What are the minimum requirements for me to run Second Life?
Your computer must meet these minimum requirements, or you may not be able to successfully participate in Second Life.

For Windows:
Internet Connection*: Cable or DSL
Operating System: 2000, XP, or Vista
Computer Processor: 800 MHz Pentium III or Athlon, or better
Computer Memory: 512 MB or more
Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
Graphics Card for XP/2000**:
• NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4 MX or better
• OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250 or better
• OR Intel 945 chipset
Graphics Card for Vista (requires latest drivers)**:
• NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better
• OR ATI Radeon 9500 or better
• OR Intel 945 chipset


For Mac:

Internet Connection*: Cable or DSL
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or better
Computer Processor: 1 GHz G4 or better
Computer Memory: 512 MB or more
Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
Graphics Card**:
• ATI Radeon 9200 and above
• OR ATI Radeon X Series
• OR NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4
• OR NVIDIA GeForce 5000 Series and above

Is it Second Life the web future platform?

I think Second Life definitely is a new concept platform. Obviously other innovations will make this concept better in the future. Others browsers similar to Second Life are here to prove my question. Other programs such as Smallworlds, Popmundo, Maplestory and Kaneva are analogous to the Second Life concept. Even the powerful Google yield to this idea.

Like I Said I believe this concept is the future of internet. Beyond all possibilities Second Life facilitate people relationship, business and learning. Also SL is a good 3D software. The most impressive thing in SL for me is the possibility to go inside a shop and talk to other customers. This is something very difficult to be seen in a 2D website. There are also unlimited possibilities to create pictures, movies and 3D objects. Actually there are more than 15 million accounts open and Sl economy grow about 35% an year. If you bet Second Life you will do well.

To login Second Life you need to follow these steps:

01- Click the image (Login Second Life) on the blog left column. After that touch “GET STARTED” on your right upper screen at Linden Lab website and fill the application form. When you finish that you will receive the link by e-mail. Next you need to download the Second Life software.
02 - Download here the Second Life software if the other link don’t work.

If you still have doubts click here for Second Life and make the software download

First teleportation out of “world”. Small step for Ruth, a giant step in metaverse!

After months of development, the Opem Simulator community has a lot to celebrate. There was a first teleportation for an open grid. I think this is good news and a step forward in the Web 2.0 and Metaverse

Even with a lot of controversy this is a really important step. The community's open source developers got to accomplish a great progress and plus, with the employees' of Linden Lab behind. This contradicts the first impression that Linden Lab doesn’t support the initiative of maintaining private servers a part from the main SL gird.

This week Zha Ewry and two Linden employees (Layla Linden and Tess Linden) completed a successful cross domain teleport from the official grid (managed by Linden Lab) to an external private grid!

However just the primitive avatar format got transported. Everyone arrived as Ruth (the generic, default avatar). The inventory and the finance system don’t cross the barrier among the worlds. That is due to configurations still in development. But this is a huge step forward. In a sense, someone said; “it’s the virtual world equivalent of the first Moon landing”. Maybe a small step for Ruth, a giant step for metaverse!

This means that in the near future anyone can have a private sim on your own house server computer connected to others. If you don’t know about OpenSim there is a brief on the post below.

What you think about this news? Please leave your comment about OpenSim, if you wish.

About OpenSimulator

The OpenSimulator Project is a BSD Licensed Virtual Worlds Server which can be used for creating and deploying 3D Virtual Environments. It has been developed by several developers. Out of the box, the OpenSimulator can be used to create a Second Life like environment, able to run in a standalone mode or connected to other OpenSimulator instances through built in grid technology. It can also easily be extended to produce more specialized 3D interactive applications.

Read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSimulator

OpenSIM video example

LifeSecond: First impressions of a newcomer to the world of Linden

I like when readers enjoy my writings and my blog. I like much more when they help making our blog better by giving impression about our Second Life World.

Like my great friend Wildstar Beaumont, that became one of my best contributors. Naomi Finesmith, a very intelligent friend, is giving me the satisfaction to publish her first article in our blog.

Hope you all enjoy. There is more to come I am sure.

LifeSecond: First impressions of a newcomer to the world of Linden.

By Naomi Finesmith


I am what most would call, a noob, a newbie. I have only recently entered the world of SecondLife, and have only glimpsed the smallest fraction of its residents and areas, and yet, here is a place I feel comfortable. I have a good bit of experience with communities of this sort, but only in pure text. To me, SecondLife is like taking a cartoon, pulling him up off the static reality of his life on paper, and setting him down in the real world. I find myself supremely grateful I had someone to show me the ropes, lest I become hopelessly lost in the digital ocean of SL.

I've known about Second Life for several years now... heard of it in forums, read articles about it in magazines, seen snippets of it on Television... but there's nothing quite like diving in with both feet, immersing yourself in another world... where who you are is who you want to be, no more, no less. Any reservations, any hesitancies, any hangups that exist in one's first life, are merely things of whim in one's Second. Everything is choice. It's a mind-boggling concept to begin with, but once the reality (virtual or otherwise), sinks in, there's a sense of incredible freedom that comes with it. The world is at your fingertips, and so long as you stay within the confines of politenesss, no one will stop you.

SecondLife has something for everyone, be you hippie, emo, goth, furry, punk, indie, street, professional, looking to escape life, or looking to make one. Second Life isn't just simulation... it's an entire virtual reality. All one needs to do is carve out a niche, and enjoy yourself. There are even those who make a living in Real Life off of transactions in SecondLife. it's incredible, the level of impact it can have... a virtual economy that affects the real economy. It's almost scary to think about.

Ultimately, it comes down to a question of identity. With so much freedom, one can get lost in the glamor of the scenery, but the core of Second Life is clear: your life is what you make it. You can look how you want, act as you'd like, and indulge in whatever suits your fancy. Second Life is your oyster, and the pearl of Freedom lies at your fingertips.

New SL site rankings may signal end to camping

From Reuters: New SL site rankings may signal end to camping
Text: Eric Reuters

Linden Lab is working to revamp its current traffic ranking system, which has long been manipulated by landowners who pay users to camp out for hours or days at a time in an attempt to climb to the top of the “Popular Places” list.

“It is clear that the current Traffic system is not an effective means of determining the success or popularity of a parcel, nor does it provide useful information about Residents visiting those parcels,” Linden executive Jeska Dzwigalski said in a blog post.

The “Popular Places” tab is often one of the first places that new Second Life users look when exploring the virtual world. But the sites listed almost never offer the rich educational and social content beloved by Second Life’s dedicated users. Due to property owners gaming the system, the top results often offer “free money” or adult-themed content.

Linden is seeking input on how to change its site rankings as a first step in improving Second Life’s in-world search engine. Dzwigalski said Linden will offer a “Second Life Showcase” of content it feels best represents its virtual world.

The current system gave rise to the Second Life phenomena known as “camping”: in order to boost their listing on Linden’s traffic rankings, landowners pay avatars called “campers” simply to visit the sim and spend time there. Camping benches, which pay cash to an avatar simply for sitting on them, are ubiquitous at top ranked sites.

“The system was completely gamed and useless,” said Taran Rampersad, author of “Making Your Mark In Second Life: Business, Land and Money.”

Surprisingly, many owners of sites currently listed on the “Popular Place” list say they don’t mind the change.

“We all knew that the popular list wouldn’t last forever, and it will force some of the islands to reconsider their whole marketing strategy,” said Doug Sievers (Second Life: Doug Pau), whose “Freebie Island” currently ranks as the sixth most popular place in Second Life.

Sievers and other camping site owners complain that even as they’re gaming Second Life’s rankings, users are gaming them. The past few months have seen a rise in “bots,” software-controlled avatars that take up every open camping chair. The bots have forced camping sites into an arms race of open seats and pushed camping rates down from as high as L$24 per hour to under L$3.

“One of my associates and I worked out how much the ‘camping bots’ could be potentially making if they just ran 3 PCs on a 24 hour schedule and it was well over a few hundred dollars a day,” Sievers said.

While the absolute sums are trivial — L$24 translates to less than nine American cents — within Second Life’s economy they can represent significant pocket money. Many avatars have no access to credit cards and no way to purchase in-world currency, and in Second Life’s inexpensive economy, many virtual goods are priced from L$1 to L$10.

If the traffic rating is eliminated, one unexpected result may be a decrease in Linden’s population metrics. It’s impossible to measure how many of the roughly 60,000 avatars typically online in Second Life are campers or camping bots, but it is widely considered to be a significant component of Linden’s population. Second Life’s total hours may also fall sharply.

The camping sites say bots poisoned the old model anyway, and they’re ready to adapt.

“Things change and the system needs to be changed,” said Kenneth Boone, whose Second Life avatar Tray Dyrssen runs the number three and four ranked places in Second Life, “Money Island” and “Money Tree Island.”

“I am not worried about the popular places,” Boone said. “We are able to build interesting things to bring in the traffic.”

Dear readers what do you think about the end of camp? Will that be good for the SL economy?

SL Statistics for Mach 2008

Base on the official information from Linden Lab, we present an exclusive summary with the main statistics, on the Second Life.

• Total of hours spends by users: little more than 30.7 million hours, a growth of 9.5% in relation to February;

• Increase of the total population: they had been opened 408,499 new accounts, 3.22% increment, rising for 13,080,137 residents (historical mark, above of 13 million). However in percentile terms, it was to the worse mark of all times;

• Premium accounts: in March a fall of 1,656 accounts was registered , from 91,531 in February to 89,975 in Mach (-1.81%).

• Brazil active resident registered a fall of -2.22% avatars(about 575 residents less), finishing the month of March with 25,236 avatars active, and keeping 6ª world-wide position (with a representation of 4.64% of world-wide the active population in the SL).

In world-wide level the March month registered increase in the total active users (breaking the increase of fall in the last month), about 17,375 new users, what corresponds to 3.29% increase. The month of March closed with a total of 544,290 active users in the world.

• TOP 10, they represent 80% of all activity in the SL:

1º U.S.A. (194,899 active users) – same position as last month
2º Germany (44,908) - 1 position up
3º the United Kingdom (43,859) - 1 position down
4º France (27,130) - 1 position up
5º Japan (27,081) - 1 position down
6º Brazil (25,236) - same position as last month
7º Italy (23,577) - same position as last month
8º Canada (18,279) - 2 positions up
9º Spain (17,868) - 1 position down
10º Holland (17,202) - 1 position down

• Total area of grid (world-wide map of the SL) grew about 5.24% and it reached the mark of 1,093. 42 Square kilometers

• Total regions (islands) about 16,600 .

• Total L$ circulating in the system went up 4.9%, reaching the total mark of L$4.8 billion (new historical record, beating the previous month), equivalents US$18.4 active millions in the financial system.

• There was an increase of L$ trades in the official market (LindEx-Linden Exchange), from US$8.4 millions to US$9.1 million (8.33% growth).

• The Linden Lab invoiced US$ 884,000 in March, with direct sales of L$ (Linden Dollars), at LindEx market.


Analysis:
The Second Life is really an interesting system. If compared with a country in real world, it would be among the fast grown country. The growth projection for this year is 40% disrespecting the users with only one access, those that open account and never connect again.

This growth projection is superior of many countries in terms of USD$. Therefore 40% in revenue return is fantastic.

The growth in the indices of the virtual economy is more solid. This confers to the system a status of bank, as a result of more than USD$18 millions inside Second Life! This amount of money is equivalent to a GDP of USD$215 million /year. Corresponding to a developing country economy with a potential for grow and rising funds. An excellent scene for who knows what to invest in the world domestic market. Lands and commerce are the business investment suggestion.

With the contract of Mark Kingdon - career executive in the technology area - Linden Lab confirmed the changes in board. In terms of history, he has a background in art, economics, and business. he has been in successful and highly regarded leadership roles at two companies that are bigger than Linden Lab: PricewaterhouseCoopers and Organic. Kingdon is a weight name to conduct the critical internal changes in the company, moving away the possibility from an I.P.O.

The problem of retention of new users is critical in the Second Life. If it was not for the constant growth in North American users, the system would have a considerable fall in this month.

The constant instabilities had not been enough to knock down the volume of used hours. They grew about 10%. Could grow even more if, there wasn’t many problems in the Linden Lab servers this month. The installation of gravitational system Havok 4 is speculated to be the cause of server problem. In general terms, the perspective is very good for Second Life.

Dear reader, what is your opinion about Second Life business?

Based on: mundolinden.com
Translation and adaptation: Anna Avalanche

Linden looks outside the company for new CEO

SECOND LIFE, March 20 (Reuters) - Philip Rosedale, the founder of Linden Lab who is stepping down as chief executive, told Reuters on Thursday he was looking to bring in someone from outside the company rather than promote from within.

He also said the new CEO would have the freedom to change elements of Linden’s quirky culture.

“Companies always talk about the fear of losing their culture because parts of their culture are lame,” he said. “It would be inconsistent of me to bring someone in and say ‘Listen, buddy, you have to use the love machine.’”

Rosedale spoke at length in a Second Life interview about what Linden Lab was looking for in a new chief executive. He is leading the search and will become chairman of Linden’s board once a replacement is found.

The most important criteria, he said, was to find someone who’s had experience growing a small company into a global player. No one at Linden Lab brings the right résumé to the job.

“We need someone who’s done this stuff on a organizational scale we haven’t,” Rosedale said. “We’re all relatively junior.”

In describing the skills he was looking for in his replacement, Rosedale said the new chief should already be a passionate user of Second Life. They also have to be “a great coach” who will work well with Linden’s staff.

“And they have to have complementary skill sets to mine,” he said. “Because I’m staying and will still be involved.”

Experience operating in a global information technology market is necessary. Rosedale pointed to Second Life’s large non-American resident population and the company’s confusion last year as it began to charge VAT to European Second Life users.

“Me, I’m a California guy, all the way,” he said.

Looking forward to the year ahead, Rosedale expressed optimism about the new “HTML-on-a-prim” feature in development, but said his company’s top priorities remain making Second Life easier to use, and improving the stability of the software.

He said Second Life is currently able to turn between three and five percent of new registrants into committed users, compared with ten to fifteen percent for sites like Facebook or LinkedIn.

“I want my new role to be about getting that retention up,” he said. “I don’t want the community thinking I’m reducing my hours.”

By Eric Reuters from Reuters

I will love to have the community comments on this information.

The first days of Second Life

The following is a book summary that originally appeared on Reuters.com.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When executives from San Francisco-based Linden Lab built Second Life, they had a sense they were doing something historic. So, to keep tabs on their creation, they contracted their own journalist to chronicle the growth of the Internet’s first virtual world.
Now that chronicler, Wagner James Au, has released a comprehensive history of Second Life’s early days in his book “The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World” (HarperCollins, $25.95).

Second Life has lost some of its buzz in the past year. Growth has leveled, and media investigations have highlighted possible fraud and child pornography within its borders. Early hopes of Second Life’s potential to market real-world brands largely failed in practice. But with 1.2 million active users, it is still the dominant player in a rapidly expanding virtual worlds industry, with the most content and a highly loyal fan base.

It may surprise readers of Au’s book to find that Linden Lab originally wanted a simulation of the natural world. What actually transpired is quite different.

While many people have a Second Life character — called an “avatar” — that looks like them, others pick talking cartoon animals or blinking robots. The environments are similarly varied, from reproductions of European cities to areas with a fantasy or science-fiction theme.
Repeatedly, Linden Lab set out to offer one product, only to find a combination of financial restraints and input from their customers pushing them into marketing something very different.

ACCIDENTAL FLIGHT

For example, one of Second Life’s most distinctive and memorable experiences is flying. With the click of a button, an avatar will soar gracefully into the stratosphere, exactly as one might imagine Superman does it.

But flight, as Au recalls, was practically an accident. In a virtual world filled with hills and buildings, no one had the time for the more difficult task of programming an avatar’s ability to climb.

Similarly, Linden Lab assumed it would create an in-world experience for avatars to play in. It was only after programmers started using their own product they realized it would be better to allow their users to build their world for them.

Linden’s users quickly began constructing their own buildings, clothing, and nightclubs. Pleased to have their users create content, Linden tried to encourage the practice with a system of ratings. An avatar could register an endorsement of a particularly attractive home with the click of a mouse.

“It’s fair to say the voting boxes began to be abused almost the very moment they were introduced,” Au writes.

Cliques of users banded together to vote positively or negatively en masse, in exchange for favors or to pursue petty vendettas.

The ratings system was eventually abandoned. Like so much else in Second Life, including the in-world currency called the “Linden Dollar,” the ability to buy and sell land, or the popularity of adult-themed virtual goods and services, users had their own ideas about the technology and what best to do with it.

Au dedicates his book to those creators of content. “They’re more important to the world’s success than the company which actually owns it,” he said.

As new virtual worlds come online and try to lure some of Second Life’s users and hype, the story of how Second Life came to be may provide a road map for others.

“Second Life isn’t the only model, but ultimately I think it’s the only reliable one,” Au said. “Otherwise, a company will be forced to produce content to an ever-demanding audience of largely passive consumers. That’s destined to fail.”

(Reporting by Eric Krangel; Editing by Eddie Evans)

from Reuters

If you have a history about the old times of SL and would like to share with us please get in touch with me (Anna Avalanche). I would love to publish it!

Linden Lab bans extortionate “ad farms"

SECOND LIFE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Linden Lab has banned “ad farms,” the small plots of land with gaudy advertisements that are designed to extort neighboring landowners.


“Whilst advertising in itself is okay, where it crosses the line into harassing behavior or visual spam, where the intent is purely to compel another resident to pay an unreasonable price to restore their view - then this will be covered under Harassment in our Community Standards,” Jack Linden wrote in a blog post.

“It will obviously be difficult for us to define exactly where example A is an abuse issue as compared to example B where it is not,” he added. “‘Ad Farm’ will apply specifically to advertising or content that is intended solely to drive an unreasonable price for the parcel it is on, usually by spoiling the view of others.”

Early reaction from Second Life residents was largely positive, but concerns over what will be considered an “ad farm” linger. “It’s imperfect, but it’s a start,” said Taran Rampersad, who writes about Second Life under the avatar name Nobody Fugazi. “Linden Lab taking this step indicates a willingness to deal with the harder questions to come.”

Jeff Strohman, a Second Life land trader known in-world as Stetson Rail, was so exasperated by ad farmers he said he considered a lawsuit, but opted not to take action due to the costs of suing an avatar physically located in another country. He estimated ad farms lower the value of adjacent land by 20 percent.

Beyond the economic damage ad farms cause, there’s also the aesthetic one, Strohman said. “They only hurt Second Life and make it look like a damn junkyard,” he said.

(Image courtesy of Carl Metropolitan)

By Eric Reuters

From Reuters