Second Life faces threat to its virtual economy

  • By Daniel Terdiman, News.com
  • Posted Nov 15, 2006 12:45 pm PT

Copybot cramps freewheeling style of virtual-world residents; did the gamemakers see this coming?

From News.com

Groups of Second Life content creators were gathering digitally Tuesday to protest the dissemination of a program they worry could badly damage the virtual world's nascent economy.

The controversy gathered steam Monday when Linden Lab, which publishes Second Life, posted a blog alerting residents of the virtual world to the existence of a program or bot called CopyBot, which allows someone to copy any object in Second Life. That includes goods such as clothing that people purchase for their in-world avatars, and even the virtual PCs that computer giant Dell announced Tuesday it is going to sell in the digital world.

Second Life users can purchase virtual items with a pretend currency called Linden dollars--named for game creator Linden Lab. But they use real-life currency to acquire that virtual coin. In fact, there's an exchange rate between the two: One US dollar will buy 271 Lindens, enough to buy a basic outfit for an avatar, which is the digital representation of a person.

Problem is, it's not clear yet if there's anything Linden Lab can do to stop people from using the bot. Linden Lab said Second Life content creators who had their wares stolen had few immediate options for stopping the thefts and that the best recourse for them could be to file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint--in the real world--against offenders.

Some virtual entrepreneurs now worry their livelihoods are at stake, and some are threatening to shut down their in-world businesses before they get fleeced.

"The problem with the DMCA is that it takes many weeks," said Jim Mallon, a Second Life content creator who has been in the virtual world since its 2003 beta. "By that time, someone's work could be [copied and stolen] and distributed all over the grid. I am so surprised Linden Lab did not see this coming and stop it."

Second Life is an open-ended, 3D, digital virtual world in which members can create nearly anything they can imagine, and in which anyone owns the intellectual property rights to what they create. As a result, there are hundreds of businesses selling clothing, vehicles, furniture and the like, all for Linden dollars. A complex and stable economy has sprung up around such commerce.

The reaction to CopyBot is not the first virtual revolt. Many Second Life residents recently complained when Linden Lab announced it was raising the price for the in-world "islands" it sells. As a result, the company said it would delay the price hikes for two weeks.

Residents have also complained about other issues, such as problems with the user interface and previous issues related to the security of created content.

On Tuesday afternoon, even as the controversy raged, Linden Lab posted a second blog entry addressing CopyBot and the resulting fallout.

Titled "Use of CopyBot and similar tools a [terms of service] violation," the post by Cory Ondrejka, Linden Lab's chief technology officer, attempted to ease concern that in-world merchants were at risk of having valuable goods stolen.

"Second Life needs features to provide more information about assets and the results of copying them," Ondrejka's post began. "Unfortunately, these are not yet in place. Until they are, the use of CopyBot or any other external application to make unauthorized duplicates within Second Life will be treated as a violation and may result in your account[s] being banned."

To "Baba Yamamoto," the Second Life name of one of the members of the group that created CopyBot, the uproar over the software is understandable but disappointing.

Yamamoto told CNET News.com that CopyBot was created as a tool for testing and demonstrations and was never intended to be used for illegal theft. But because the tool was created using an open-source license, some Second Life users have gotten hold of it and are now freely using and distributing it.

"It's not that the code is some kind of exploit," Yamamoto said. "It deals with legitimate client data that every client receives, but it takes that data and converts it to a packet and sends it back to the servers, duplicating the appearance of objects and avatars. It acts like an import/export tool."

LibSecondLife, the group that created CopyBot, lists as its mission statement being "an open-source effort to create a stable platform for third-party Second Life development." However altruistic its motivations may have been, the group appears to have lost control of its tool.

And many residents are very unhappy about that.

"The essence of the creativity in this world is largely because of creators and their work being protected," Mallon said. "This tool defeats all protection. So if you labor to build a business like we all have, your work can be stolen."

Another resident, Isabella Lazarno, agreed. "Everything that everyone has worked for in here is now affected," Lazarno said.

As an example, resident Damanios Thetan demonstrated how easy it is to use CopyBot to copy objects.

Thetan showed News.com that copying an in-world car took no more than a few seconds. Similarly, Thetan created a quick copy of the author's avatar.

"My [alternate avatar] is run by CopyBot," said Thetan, explaining the process. "It copies the complete car, or everything I have attached. After it's copied, [I have] full permissions, meaning I can make as many copies as I want."

Other residents think that the fear of CopyBot may be overblown. Eric Rice, a blogger known in-world as "Spin Martin," said that he has long seen Second Life content as digital artifacts that could be replicated.

"Their [businesses are] in the digital space, which may or may not have been obvious in the sense [that] data [has always been] copyable from day one," Rice said. "We just live with that truth."

But Rice added that he understands why content creators are worried the rug may be pulled out from under their businesses.

"I'm fascinated about the RIAA-ish angle--content people protecting their stuff passionately," he said.

Meanwhile, as content creators continue to meet throughout Second Life, Linden Lab is trying to put the controversy in context.

Ondrejka wrote in his blog post that anyone who feels their content is being stolen using CopyBot should inform Linden Lab in addition to filing a DMCA claim. Presumably, the company will take action on behalf of such content creators.

But Ondrejka also tried to explain why Linden Lab isn't able to immediately halt the use of CopyBot and other such tools.

"Like the World Wide Web, it will never be possible to prevent data that is drawn on your screen from being copied," he wrote. "While Linden Lab could get into an arms race with residents in an attempt to stop this copying, those attempts would surely fail and could harm legitimate projects within Second Life."

60 Comments

  • Cloud737

    Posted Dec 29, 2006 5:57 am PT

    Sigh...This should have been expected, as anything that is digital can be copied with ease. That`s why I think that virtual economy will never happen if people`s attitudes towards one another don`t change.
    Oh well, that`s life.

  • KuroriKenshin

    Posted Nov 28, 2006 6:22 am PT

    Its understandable that people want to protect their "assests" considering that these virtual assets can be turned into real world cash. Of course people would want to protect their ability to make money while playing a game.

  • mskittykat

    Posted Nov 27, 2006 12:15 pm PT

    I don't actually play Second Life (honestly just learned about it a few days ago) but it's kind of disappointing the seemingly lck luster attitude the developer has against the issue at hand. -- For those out there claiming it's just "virtual stuff", it's no different than taking a hobby that you worked so hard to maintain, and have some one come by and snatch it from you....speaking as a modeller myself, no different than a modeller selling his virtual creations for use in very real games. Bottom line of how fun or serious the gamers take this game, this is a very serious problem, one that needs to be rectified. Honestly there's too much at stake not to for the gaming audience out there.

  • Sam_Lowery

    Posted Nov 27, 2006 11:16 am PT

    Too bad I don't play MMORPGS. If I was into this game, I'd make a car that looked like a cow, and make a milion copies and leave them everwhere.

  • _Sam_

    Posted Nov 23, 2006 2:50 pm PT

    "CopyBot" what an original name

  • gozalo

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 7:08 am PT

    so this is another one of those, oooh i look so pretty kinda games?

  • nhavas

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 12:51 am PT

    i don't understand why everyone here is constantly blamming Second Life. It's a game just like any other, but when someone insult WoW people pitch a hissy fit. I've been playing SL for over five months and i love it. it's a fantastic way to socialize, meet new people, learn new skills, and generally just have fun. The copybot thing is, in my opinion, far too overblown, and i am keeping my stores open just to prove that it's only a small thorn in people's sides.

    The only thing that scares me is: one scared person is simply afraid. thousands of scared people are a mob, and mobs have a tendency of screwing things up...

  • MichaelMorbid

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 10:33 am PT

    maybe more people will stick to their first life instead.

  • zero9167

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 7:42 am PT

    wow this game sounds so interesting. it sucks to see it being ruind by hackers. i would actually look into playing this game if the graphics were better

  • Erebus

    Posted Nov 17, 2006 2:48 am PT

    I am intrigued.

  • UrbanMessiah

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 6:34 pm PT

    I've never tried Second Life out, but it seems like an interesting case of life imitating fiction, as we are getting closer to the virtual worlds that William Gibson likes to write about, or like something out of Ghost In The Shell. Anyway, what I don't understand is this; How are you, videogame players, console and PC alike, going to make fun of and insult people that play Second Life? You realize that the things I've read in these comments, the negative ones, sound a lot like the things that people that don't play video games say about video game players like you? Get the hell over yourselves already... -=p

  • AncientDozer

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 3:53 pm PT

    I sense someone got rejected and disrespected on Second Life.

  • hybridusaker1

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 12:55 pm PT

    lol lindens pyramid scheme.

  • LordAndrew

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 8:50 am PT

    Can the DMCA really help stop this?

  • ZEELIX

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 6:38 am PT

    wtf would play this $#!+?

  • princeofgames90

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 5:31 am PT

    Hahahah All that because of lindens

  • nitrog

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 2:52 am PT

    "CheddarLimbo
    "content creators who had their wares stolen had few immediate options for stopping the thefts and that the best recourse for them could be to file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint--in the real world--against offenders. "

    Wrong. The first option is to stop playing this game. Once their revenue is affected, the developers will find a way to stop this. "

    Obvoiusly you don't really understand whats going on here. It's counterfeiting. Do you understand why that is illegal when it comes to real money? Do you hear about people making dollars in their basment and say oh well I just won't go to work tomarrow? This is a working economy reguardless of what your personal opinions of how pathetic it is to spend "real life" money on "virtual" money. This is still an economy working and stable. There is also by the way something called a Global Economy that is a theory by which when one econ fails it has a domino effect on econ around it. If Dell is actually Taking the time to make virtual computers for people to buy in game.....don't you think that might be just a little investment of time and money on their part? If this goes under they will take a loss. The only question is how much has second life intergrated into the american economy or the british economy or any of the worlds economy. If this tanks now it actually could have effects on the "real world". Ok think about it this way what if World of Warcraft just up and closed off everything tomorrow never to be reopened again. thousands and thousands of people would be out of a job. Blizzard would have a major chunk of it's revenue gone and may never recover from it. Blizzard goes down all of it's shareholders just lost fortunes. the effect keeps going from there but becomes highly speculative. My point is these are real economies just like the one you live under no matter how "virtual" they seem people are doing work getting paid and spending that pay on items. In what way was that not like what you did when you got up this morning?

  • nitrog

    Posted Nov 16, 2006 2:33 am PT

    "Corvin
    I just can't feel too sorry for these people. They create content and objects for a digital, fake world. I don't care how real or immersing it may be its still just a computer program run by some company. If they like digitally designing objects so much why not go work for a company that does it for real? Honestly these "digital economies" kinda scare me. Do we really need to bring all the retarded crap of our real world economics to our games and virtual worlds? "

    The thing you have to realize is that the real economy is actualy no diffrent anymore then a "virtual" econ. Think about it this way. You do work in real life. Do you go to work for 8 hours then they give you a 32" television to take home? no it's a virtual payment. The money they give you only has value because everyone says it does. The same as the money in the "virtual" econ. That's why exchange rates work and the econ is stable. Because people are doing work in game (creating new code for items in the game) and they make lindies the way we do it here in the real world. They sell the items they make, for a profit. I have played this game.......and yes it does blow harder the paris hilton on nightvision. But reguardless you can't be afraid of the econ in this game or any other MMO because guess what we have exactly the same system going on in every day life your just more used to it. I am however against free exchange of american dollars for any "imaginary" currency not because it does not have a value. But entirly because it's a bad idea, you do not own the money you just bought. You can create code and become owner of that code but without the running software I.E. the program it's running in, it is no good at all. It's like buying a next gen console for your friend so you can play it. You may think it's the most stable relationship in the world but guess what if for some reason he decides to stop letting you use it it's in his house he is the owner and there is nothing you can do about it.

  • Talgrath

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 9:33 pm PT

    You know, you'd think Linden would've seen this coming and made sure their code was as rock-solid as possible; ah well, hindsight is 20/20.

  • pencilpusher69

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 9:23 pm PT

    I'll stick to Animal Crossing and W.o.W., which are about as virtual as I think I want to get.

  • Stolen_Kuniva

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 9:20 pm PT

    I tried that game out, it sucked big nuts.

  • namdar

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 7:22 pm PT

    the Virutal World gets a taste of the Real World
    AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

  • runstalker

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 5:58 pm PT

    -quote - 'In other news: making a living off of a video game is probably a bad idea.'

    Heh, so true. I'd suggest making a living off making video games instead...but wait (brace for existential mind-shag) now, isn't our friend below making 1K real dollars a month off a game by creating and selling mini-games within that game?

  • Corvin

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 5:42 pm PT

    I just can't feel too sorry for these people. They create content and objects for a digital, fake world. I don't care how real or immersing it may be its still just a computer program run by some company. If they like digitally designing objects so much why not go work for a company that does it for real? Honestly these "digital economies" kinda scare me. Do we really need to bring all the retarded crap of our real world economics to our games and virtual worlds?

  • aldrenar47

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 5:11 pm PT

    In other news: making a living off of a video game is probably a bad idea.

  • IVIic

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 4:38 pm PT

    Lol i don't even know what this game is but this........Exploit......so to speak sounds freaking awsome >=)

    ^_^

  • Skippyj9

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:49 pm PT

    Wow... I stopped playing--well I downgraded to basic(no monthly fee)-- Second Life because I got bored... but this is terrible. I mean really bad! This could really kill Second Life. One resident I know of sells planes that cost from 3000-10000 L$ (10-30 real dollars), he makes, I can't remember exactly but I know it was at least, $1000 a month off of making and coding these planes for Second Life. So by copying these items any ordinary person could make themselves a quick $1000 a month as well without having to go through the work to code and model these in-game objects. It's almost scary.

  • Timbydude

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:46 pm PT

    OK. Few of you actually understand the magnitude of this.

    I'll explain how SL's currency works. L$ (Linden dollars) are the in-game money. As has been said, you can buy about 270 L$ for 1 US dollar. Now, Second Life was created by Linden Labs. They provided an engine, a UI, and put a couple thousand US $ in the game (converted into L$) to start it off. That's it. EVERYTHING is player-created. And by everything, I mean EVERYTHING. The music, the avatars, even the graphics. This is meant to be a simulation of real life; because, of course, in real life we don't all hail some company that made everything; we use what other people make.

    Now, people make L$ by selling whatever they make (literally anything from a portable game you can carry around to a flying monkey that you can sit on) to other interested players. BUT REMEMBER, these are L$ that are paid for by US dollars. Still, who cares, right? So some people wasted a few bucks on a game, right? Wrong. There are two main issues here.

    First, remember how I said that you can pay for US money (and by the way, it can be your country's money too, thats why they use L$; different exchange rates)? Well it works vice versa as well. This is the really important part. AT ANY MOMENT, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR L$ INTO REAL, COLD HARD CASH (well, it goes to paypal but the point is it's real money). People make their livelihoods off of this game. There was an article in TIME about this game and WoW (or the selling of its accounts). Some people make $200,000+ every year just from playing this game. Others lose the same amount because their real life is so miserable that this is basically "real" to them, so they are willing to spend real money to obtain virtual fun. Of course, this also makes every shopping decision difficult, because you are in actuality spending real money. In short, this game is a glorified online merchant. It's like 3-D eBay with stores instead of auctions and instead of different currencies there is one common one: L$. I myself run a business from which I net $1000/month (not joking). I sell random stuff; like little minigames that I program in Java and then integrate into SL, usually Mario-style platformers and Final-Fantasy style RPGs. Therefore, this seemingly insignificant bot really has the capability to destroy livelihoods. If people use this, a real-world economy is disrupted. PEOPLE WILL LOSE REAL MONEY (AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF IT) IF COPYBOT IS NOT STOPPED. Linden Labs needs to fix this problem. If they don't, then the whole "make virtual things for real money" concept on which the game is based is destroyed, because no one will make anything. Nothing stops some random guy now from taking one of my games which I worked so hard on and selling it as his own at a lower price and pocketing the money himself.

  • Bgrngod

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:45 pm PT

    Ohnoes! A bunch of people put their money into an MMO and now they are getting screwed!!

    *SHOCKER*

    It's funny to me that people seem to think that because money is involved that all of this content is guaranteed to be "protected".

    The best part about this is that I bet there are going to be lawsuits left and right and they are all going to be thrown out..... good times to come...good times....

  • runstalker

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:43 pm PT

    If I want free online roleplaying, I'll play Guild Wars. At least I can kill monsters and be on even ground with others for a one-time cost. The way micro-transactions are being handled in most PC games now (especially the quicky-port Asian hybrid MMOs) is pretty unfair, targeting the most basic, power-level-grinder mentality. That may be ideal for a zillion internet cafes in China and Korea, where they want to keep players glued to the screen, buying drinks and snacks, but it's not ideal for most yanks and cannucks. Companies need to look at the cultural differences. And that was sort of off-topic.

  • sircyrus

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:28 pm PT

    "im not really getting it...people are copying real money on a game?"

    People are copying objects created in a game world. These game world objects would usually be sold for real money, so the creators of those objects will be out the money if people can just basically dupe the item.

    It's a ridiculous situation but will be interesting to see if it kills Second Life.

  • omgwtfsonofab

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:26 pm PT

    I can't resist laughing at news like this. Why are people so serious about this, and if you're going to tell me to look at this as real and not a game, then you need a reality check. It IS a game, just as The Sims is a game, it tries to simulate life. I have no idea why games like these can prosper, especially this one as it costs real money to get in game currency. If you're not doing well in life and want to escape to a fantasy world, where do you get the money to even do that?

  • Postmark_Jensen

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:26 pm PT

    Baba Yamamoto is too smart for our own good

  • CheddarLimbo

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:24 pm PT

    "content creators who had their wares stolen had few immediate options for stopping the thefts and that the best recourse for them could be to file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint--in the real world--against offenders. "

    Wrong. The first option is to stop playing this game. Once their revenue is affected, the developers will find a way to stop this.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:16 pm PT

    im not really getting it...people are copying real money on a game?

  • greks224

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:11 pm PT

    Wow... interesting article, well researched and well written

  • tr00pa_26

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 3:03 pm PT

    weird

  • KorJax

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 2:39 pm PT

    http://www.activeworlds.com

    Active Worlds DOES still exsist, although the citizenship membership was raised to about $70 a year rather than $20 when I used to use it.

    Although as far as visual quality its dated, you can do anything, for free. And seriously, its free. But if you sign up for citizenship, things you create will be protected from being deleted, you will be able to enter contests, ect.

    AW is kinda like a next-gen console. Its very powerfull and can do alot, but unlike Second Life, it requires a good programmer or a single good modeler to create a buitifull landscapes or interaction (if its imported in the game, anyone can use it). It doesnt give you everything avalable, and require you to pay redicoulous money to do it.

    Although the only reason why much of the AW universe looks dated in graphics is because it was designed to work as an on-demand 3D internet, so as such alot of the things can be bad quality, as the models and textures were designed to fluidly be downloaded to your computer on dial-up.

  • thebrazenone

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 2:33 pm PT

    second life is a creative scam, that's about it

  • surrealme

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 2:32 pm PT

    @Sigma8 Of course people can be creative without charging money, but when you have people devoting thousands of hours to creating professional level content it goes beyond a hobby. Few people can devote that kind of time without there being something in it for them besides the novelty of creating. If you look at content in SL, especially texture based content like avatar skins and clothing, it rivals (and in many cases exceeds) what you'll find in any other game or online world.

  • jaredgood1

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 2:32 pm PT

    Not totally related, but since Dell is making virtual computers for SL, you theoretically could be using your computer to play SL, while your avatar is using his virtual computer to play SL, while his avatar is using his virtual computer to play SL, while his avatar is using his virtual computer to play SL, while his Avimufla sdfhsd......p..... 601

  • sigma8

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 2:16 pm PT

    ''' "The essence of the creativity in this world is largely because of creators and their work being protected," Mallon said. "This tool defeats all protection. So if you labor to build a business like we all have, your work can be stolen." '''

    So, without being able to charge people, people can't be creative? That's a pretty stupid assessment of where creativity comes from. I sincerely hope that creativity doesn't come from money. And I doubt it comes from exlusivity either. I disapprove of SL's entire paradigm.

  • runstalker

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 2:11 pm PT

    GG Linden Labs coders. The very basis for the company's continued survival, and you botched the security on virtual items? GG!

  • JBiker51

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 2:09 pm PT

    I care. I play this. And Active Worlds no longer exists. I like this a lot better, since I have a business, and its fun to fly around, riding in awesome jet cars and such. If anyone wants some freebies or wants to buy some Master Cheif armor, PM me.

  • Kazona

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 1:58 pm PT

    Bored1ed, you are COMPLETELY wrong about having to pay money before you're able to do anything. There are plenty of places where you can create your own content, and also plenty of places where you can sell that content for free. This means you can actually make money if you're willing to invenst some time and create quality 'products.' And building isn't the only thing you can do. In fact, up until a few weeks ago I was a DJ in that virtual world, something which I did for months, and didn't cost me a dime to do so. In fact, I got paid to spin my tunes.

    Then there's still all kinds of other fun activities in which you can participate, free of charge. Sky diving, flying, interacting with people, fighting, shooting, roleplaying, and more.

    Of course almost anything you want in the game costs Lindens--the virtual currency, but you do not need to spend a single penny of real life money to obtain this currency. You just gotta be smart about it ,and be willing to put some effort into it.

    Second Life is not the best game ever made--far from it--but despite its flaws it has alot of appeal and there's fun to be had for almost everyone. It just has its flaws, and this latest exploit (yes, I consider it an exploit) is one of them.

  • Sealord13

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 1:50 pm PT

    "I copied a table in the Sims, whats the big deal it's just a game." - tomagreen


    people spend real money in this game, not virtual money

  • qiwihead

    Posted Nov 15, 2006 1:49 pm PT

    From the posts I've seen here, clearly most Gamespot readers (and, I would assume, most gamers in general) don't understand what Second Life is. It is NOT a game by the traditional definition of that word. It is a virtual world where you can basically do just about anything you want. There are games in the world, but they have been created by users. If you stop thinking of it as a game, you'll understand it better.

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