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

[Fleep Tuque]

I wanted to throw one other thought out there before I head off for a
Friday full of meetings.

A few months ago, I made a blog post encouraging Second Life users to move
beyond that platform if they wished to see the Metaverse we imagined become
a reality.  I suggested exploring Opensim as a first step in that process,
in part because it's an easy transition from SL to Opensim due to
their similarities, but also because in my view, the Opensim community is
far more forward thinking and dedicated to the Metaverse concept and ideal
than Linden Lab probably ever was, and certainly more than Linden Lab is
now (which is to say, not at all!).  I won't repeat the post, but feel free
to read it if you're interested:

http://www.fleeptuque.com/blog/2012/08/why-anyone-who-cares-about-the-metaverse-needs-to-move-beyond-second-life-now-not-later/

I was shocked, flabbergasted really, by the huge response to that post.  I
just don't see 100+ comments on my blog posts very often, and while many of
them were nostalgic about the early years of SL, if you were to read
through those comments, you would see the terrible impression that many
Second Life users have about Opensim all boils down to perceived (and real)
content theft.  In the US, they talk about large entitlements being the
"third rail" of politics - meaning the topic is electric and any politician
who goes near it is likely to be killed.  Copyright/IP and exporting
content to other grids is the "third rail" of Opensim.  The mere mention of
the topic generates enormous amounts of passion on every side of the issue.

Nevertheless, these are the hard problems that innovators and pioneers must
solve.  If it were easy, anyone could do it and we'd already be further
along down the Metaverse path than we are.  But it isn't easy, it's
complicated, and fraught with not only legal concerns, but ethical and
moral ones too.  The only way to move forward is to try new things, to make
best efforts to address as many sides of the issue as possible, and to keep
the channels of communication and dialogue open.  Demonizing those on any
side of the issue is likely to get us no where and only furthers the
perception that the problems are unsolvable.

>From my view, Snowcrash has identified a legitimate area where Opensim
needs more development, more eyes on the problem, and more efforts to
achieve workable solutions.  I don't know that the tool he has designed is
the best solution, but I do appreciate that he has asked for feedback, I do
appreciate the commitment to open source his attempt at a solution, and I
definitely would hate to see him killed on sight for having the gumption to
try to approach the third rail. Someone needs to!

I might suggest, Snowcrash, that when you're ready, perhaps you could
release the tool in a limited pilot phase first and allow some of the
developers and end users here in the community to test it, see how it
functions, and give you additional feedback before you release it more
widely or open the source.  It isn't just hysteria or knee-jerk reaction on
the part of those with concern, many of us have been fighting the
perception that Opensim is all about content theft for years, and in part
because there HAS been a lot of theft, and it IS a tricky problem to solve.

I'd like to think the community has the capacity to find a good way
forward, even if we can't solve every problem immediately or with a single
tool.  Still, a step forward is a step forward, and I'd be happy to
volunteer as a pilot tester if you're open to that idea.

Sincerely,

- Chris/Fleep


Chris M. Collins (SL/OS: Fleep Tuque)
Center for Simulations & Virtual Environments Research (UCSIM)
UCIT Instructional & Research Computing
University of Cincinnati
406A Zimmer Hall
315 College Drive
PO BOX 210088
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0088
chris.collins at uc.edu
(513) 556-3018

http://ucsim.uc.edu

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 6:56 AM, Marcus Llewellyn <
marcus.llewellyn at gmail.com> wrote:

>  On 11/16/2012 12:56 AM, Snowcrash Short wrote:
>
>  Users have right too, you know?
>
>
> Absolutely. Believe me, I'm a huge supporter of user's rights. These
> include things like (as they're known in the U.S.) fair use and first sale
> doctrines. But I ask you not to forget forget that the ability to exercise
> copyright or enter into a contract is *also* a user's right.  This isn't a
> "Them against Us" issue. It's an _ALL of us_ issue. Fighting for one set of
> rights while disregarding or undermining other rights is not a tenable
> position.
>
> I've would adore it if someone were to step up and pull people together
> into finally wrangling a framework that allows for people like Fleep to
> share her creations freely across virtual worlds in a user friendly format,
> while also allowing commercial creators to have a reasonable expectation of
> the preservation of their licenses and copyrights. That should be the real
> project here. There's too many missing pieces at the moment. Getting an
> export flag implemented on the server and in viewers, although an imperfect
> solution, would be an excellent way to get the ball rolling.
>
> Any other action, I think, will tend to be perceived as a, "I want what I
> want, and I want it now, damn the consequences," response to the community,
> whether or not that perception is warranted.
>
> Marcus
>
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