[Opensim-users] Announcement of inventory tool (MyInventory), mostly of interest to grid operators/grid nauts

Thu Nov 15 13:42:32 UTC 2012

On 11/15/2012 6:50 AM, Snowcrash Short wrote:
> Before this gets out of hand, let me clarify, this is not a backup 
> tool, at least no per se, one of the features is the ability to backup 
> content from an existing account (a backup which is governed by a policy).

If, by getting out of hand, you mean before this gets into details that 
complicate what is an otherwise (relatively) simple premise that allows 
users to manage content, I'm afraid that you'll find it's already 
complicated. I think you're being very brave here, and risking some very 
real, possibly very nasty consequences. It is my intention only to offer 
a note of caution. :)

> The primary goal of the project is to move the inventory and the 
> assets to their rightful users and to empower the users to use the 
> assets as they want - within legal limits.
>
> In an ideal world - except for special cases, the inventory and the 
> assets backing the inventory is controlled by the user, and that is 
> the goal of the project, to bring the inventory under the control of 
> the user.

In an ideal world, those same users would know and respect the rights 
that content creators retain over those inventory items. You may not 
like it, I may not like it, and some ideologies might discount those 
rights, but they exists anyway. The majority of users I interact with 
seem to have the mistaken belief that full permissions items are the 
same as having been placed in the public domain, and that they can take 
them anywhere and do anything with them when this simply isn't true. And 
when some content creator or grid operator needs to knock on someone's 
door to discuss ideological differences, yours will be at the top of 
their list.

> To this purpose it currently has two input streams supporting it (one 
> more is planned), the first is client side access to .iar files, the 
> second is download from the users existing inventory, to the extent 
> allowed by law and agreements made between the user and grid operators.

I have to freely admit that I'm basing my statements on a preconceived 
idea of what this software is and does. I suppose that won't be 
completely clear until an actual binary is available which clearly 
exhibits it's abilities and functions.

> Knowing that only a few of the grid operators using Open Sim has 
> policies in place, this email serves as an invitation to make these 
> policies public, and to implement - to the extent possible - these 
> policies in MyInventory.

I think it's admiral of you to try to notify grid operators of this, but 
that you'll find that a message on this list isn't sufficient to reach 
all grid operators, or even that all grid operators will become aware of 
your project before some user uses it in a manner that someone does not 
care for. I retain the opinion (an opinion with no legal expertise) that 
the safest option for you is to default to a policy that matches that 
set by LL for SL unless otherwise indicated by those who own a grid.

> The question of attribution is only relevant when the assets are being 
> distributed, MyInventory has currently no functionality for 
> distribution. The as yet unfinished and only hinted at third input 
> stream deals with distribution. The current implementation does not 
> distribute any data, it only grants a user simpler way access to the 
> assets the user has rightfully access to.

I suppose it depends on whether the software allows inventory from one 
grid to be moved to another grid (I find I'm unclear on this) and just 
how you define distribution (a point where a lawyer would be pretty handy).

Again... I'd love an easier, dependable method to manage my various 
virtual world inventories. I look forward to seeing the actual 
implementation of this in action. And you should, of course, feel free 
to tell me to take a hike and take my two cents and the horse I rode in 
on with me. :)

Marcus

>
> Best regards
> Snowcrash
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 1:19 PM, Marcus Llewellyn 
> <marcus.llewellyn at gmail.com <mailto:marcus.llewellyn at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Melanie speaks sense. Consult a lawyer before someone else's
>     lawyer contacts you. If you're willing to brave the legal worries
>     this could cause you, the only sound policy to default to is one
>     that respects how the content is licensed. This includes OSGrid,
>     which respects user's copyrights.
>
>     Right now, there is no export permission. There easily could be,
>     but it would require support from both the server and viewer side.
>     Support for it would need to be virtually (heh) universal, or have
>     a default that was agreed upon. A mantis for this feature request
>     on the server side of things exists [1]. Supporting this on the
>     viewer side would take a great deal more effort. You'd at least
>     want those viewers with specific support for OpenSimulator on
>     board (Kokua, Zen, Firestorm, Teapot, Singularity, Cool VL, and
>     Radegast all come to mind). There will of course be legacy viewers
>     (like Imprudence and Phoenix) hanging around that may not ever get
>     patched for it, necessitating the need for the legally safest
>     export flag default.
>
>     Things can get even messier. Even with an export flag, will this
>     software preserve the creator name when the content is exported to
>     another grid? More than a few licenses require attribution to be
>     preserved. Will it allow upload to a grid or standalone where
>     permissions have been disabled? I'm sure many content creators
>     would be unhappy to hear they could be. With more caffeine in me,
>     I might think of a few more important questions, and I have no
>     doubt that others who follow this list will be able to supply them.
>
>     I don't want to give the impression here than I'm against the idea
>     that a user should be able to backup their inventory. I would
>     opine that most users would love this ability, and that many would
>     respect creator's rights. But many of those same users want their
>     copyrights and licenses respected as the law requires, and steps
>     taken by software like this to ensure this was so.
>
>     Marcus
>
>     [1] http://opensimulator.org/mantis/view.php?id=5892
>

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