[Opensim-dev] Global identifiers

[Robert G. Jakabosky]

On Monday 30, Melanie wrote:
> While you have a case with using a central table, rather than
> storing the URL string, and therefore the name, all over the place,
> your request schema would not work.
> 
> First off, it overcomplicates (IMO) things if you even attempt to
> show the current name of an identity. My plan has been to show the
> name AT CREATION TIME on a prim, e.g. the displyed creator name of a
> prim will not change, even if the underlying identity changes their
> name. This removes much complaxity.
>
> Second, your system breaks when a prim is taken to a new grid after
> the grid it was created on has vanished from the internet. In that
> case, even the initial lookup will fail and you have no data to display.

If grids don't verify the Creator URL when receiving a prim from another grid 
(not the original grid where it was created), then anyone can spoof the 
prim's creator to be any creator from any other grid.  A spoofer would only 
have to create there own Hypergrid enabled region that they control and make 
spoofed prims (with griefer content) then hypergrid to another grid and rez a 
copy of the spoofed prim there.  Now they can grief people on other grids and 
tarnish someone else's name.

hmm, there might still be a way to spoof the creator of a prim, even if 
the "Creator URL" is validated with the grid that creator is from.  How would 
Hypergrid validate the original creator for a prim that comes from some other 
grid?  Lets say a prim is created on grid ABC, then copied to grid XYZ, then 
copied to grid Acme.  How would the last grid "Acme" validate the prim's 
original creator?  It received the prim from a third party grid, which might 
be run by a spoofer.

One way to stop spoofing is to add a public/private key to the creators 
profile (only the public key would be available to other grids) and have all 
exported prims be signed with the creators private key.  Then any grid 
receiving that prim could verify that the prim hasn't be modified using the 
creators public key (which would have to be requested from the "Creator 
URL").

> Therefore, I'd prefer to go with my initial recommendation and
> indeed store the URL, including the name, "all over the place". The
> client view can always decide to ignore that part and to a table
> lookup, or even contact the grid of origin.
>
> It seems that a lot of people here are all for omitting information
> that would be helpful for the 90% case in order to make their
> particular corner case the norm. 90% of avatars never change names.

You can still get most of the speed-up you are looking for with a table that 
caches the URL -> display name.  I am not trying to argue against putting the 
display name in the URL, just against using it without verifying it.

-- 
Robert G. Jakabosky