Both Second Life enthusiasts and a fair number of other people have become aware of what’s called a “CopyBot”. I became aware of this pretty early on and have been watching things develop and I have to say I’ve not been disappointed: it’s a nice mess.<\/p>\n
I’ll dispense with the technicalities behind “CopyBot” and simply call it what it is: a tool for replicating digital content inside the Second Life<\/a> virtual world. What’s interesting to me is that this is, in some important ways, a virtual doppelganger of future rapid manufacturing systems. There’s not that much difference between a virtual device that can replicate and a real world rapid prototyping device that uses similar digital data and some basic raw material.<\/p>\n For those who never quite understood why I’ve tied some topics together, the CopyBot story and the fallout surrounding it should help clarify my thinking. In any event, there are a number of sites carrying the story and I thought I’d post some links that might be of interest. Clones Pwnd?<\/a> And a few pieces elsewhere, on some of which (denoted by an *) I’ve posted comments. I figure it’s better than posting my thoughts here. If you only have time to read one, I’d recommend Koster’s post as it’s pretty good imo. Anyway, they are:<\/p>\n SL Universe forum: Chat log from #libsl from November 10, 2006<\/a><\/p>\n Official Linden Blog: Copyrights and Content Creation in Second Life<\/a><\/p>\n Official Linden Blog: Use of CopyBot and Similar Tools a ToS Violation<\/a><\/p>\n Tao Takashi: The CopyBot controversy<\/a><\/p>\n *Raph Koster: CopyBot<\/a><\/p>\n *Clickable Culture: “Second Life” Copier Controversy<\/a><\/p>\n *Eric Rice: RIAA-styled rage in Second Life… by everyday people<\/a><\/p>\n New World Notes: Copying A Controversy<\/a><\/p>\n C|Net: ‘Second Life’ faces threat to its virtual economy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Both Second Life enthusiasts and a fair number of other people have become aware of what’s called a “CopyBot”. I became aware of this pretty early on and have been watching things develop and I have to say I’ve not … Continue reading
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\nFirst up, a whole slew of entries on the Second Life Herald<\/a> which has been following this from their own particular vantage point. In chronological order (earliest to most recent):<\/p>\n
\nIs LL’s Copy Protection Pwnd?<\/a>
\nHundreds of SL Stores Shutter Doors!<\/a>
\nMass Unrest in Manitoba!<\/a>
\nCopyBot Store Closes; So Does Linden Thread<\/a>
\nCopyBot: “Prim Dong Without Functionality”<\/a>
\nCory Linden Stands With Crowdsourced Libbers<\/a>
\nEddy Stryker Banned! Erm…Wait a Minute!<\/a>
\nThe Day After: Bot Back-Lash and the People Speak<\/a><\/p>\n