Second Life Bleeding Into CNN’s Real Life

It’s absolutely wild and weird.

For some reason, my traffic has been spiking lately, and a lot of it is due to two articles I’ve written:  one on the custom Droxine gown I commissioned from Hanalyn Ferrer — understandable if people are looking for photos of the original — and one commenting on the Grid banks closure last year.

The big one right now is the bank article.  I had 32 looks at it yesterday, and 56 to this point today (noon SLT).  And I wondered where the burp in traffic was coming from, since we have mostly weathered the financial storm in world as far as I know.  WordPress keeps good statistics, so I poked through my blog stats, and found a link from CNN Search.  The rest of the items on the search page tied in to bank closures — Real World bank closures.

Folks, I’d suggest you don’t come to me for RL financial advice.  I can barely keep my own RL finances in trim at times.

The good thing:  it’s driving my traffic closer to 10,000 (grin).

Logins Restricted Last Thursday

Linden Lab confirmed to Eric Reuters last Thursday that it had restricted logins briefly to Residents with (apparently) some RL financial record on their books.  The login block lasted for approximately seven minutes, and was laid down to Grid issues.

Linden reserves the right to restrict logins in such manner, as announced by them in 2007 on the Big Blog:

When you open your log-in screen and see in the upper right hand corner “Grid Status: Restricted,” you’ll know that only those Second Life Residents who have transacted with Linden Lab either by being a premium account holder, owning land, or purchasing currency on the LindeX, will be able to log-in. Residents who are in Second Life when this occurs will only be affected if they log-out and want to return before the grid returns to normal status.

At the same time, new account registrations will be closed.

I was not active most of the day, as I recall, but I was not blocked when I logged in.  However, as I usually keep a balance in my wallet by buying on the LindeX, I may have been within the exemption charter.  Were any readers here affected?

Land Prices Depressed from Increase in Available Linden Plots

Catching up on the in-world news….

According to Eric Reuters, land prices have been depressed quite successfully by Linden Lab in their recent moves to quench the accelerating land market.  According to Linden’s April announcement, which I paid little attention to at the time, the Lab was getting interested in the growing land price (up to around L$ 11/m), and chose deliberately to release more land in an effort to bring the prices down.  They also decided to drop opening auction prices on whole regions to US$ 750 (L$ 199,500) from the previous minimum bid of US$ 1250.

As noted, the effort has been quite successful.  I check figures on the land auction site myself, and found an average price of approximately L$ 4.50/m.  Linden was aiming for a target figure of L$ 8-9/m, and so they are throttling back their plans somewhat.

None of this news is really good for the despised “land barons” who’ve been taking advantage of the supply, of course.  But, for the average avatar who just wants a plot of “ground” to call their own, the chance for a bargain is terrific.  If you’re a paid member, able to own mainland plots, now is the time to get into the market.  The opportunity is also good for nascent land barons to start their rise, of course, so I’d suggest that actual prospective homesteaders should check their pocketbooks and take a good look at the plots available before the prices start rising again.  Of course, you should teleport to the lots in question and take a good look at them, see if they’re free of annoyances and so on, before you plunk down a bid; remember, caveat emptor.

Almost makes me wish I had a paid account; but I’m satisfied with renting for now.

Trademarkgate — AT LAST!

(With thanks to Dusan Writer, who put me on to this while I was tag-surfing the WordPress.com blogs)

Rather late, but at last, Linden Lab has published an article (by LauraP Linden) on the Big Blog, addressing most of the questions SLoggers and others have raised about their now legendary (read: notorious) branding policy changes. Anyone who writes a SLog, or is thinking of creating one, make sure to read this!

The pity is that it took so great effort on the part of the SLogosphere, and the raising of much bad blood toward LL, to get clarification of matters that should have been addressed back in March, when the policy was first revised from the old liberal-use mode.  Linden Lab has had to endure in that time the castigation of a number of influential bloggers — I don’t necessarily rank myself in this category (grin) — the belief by large amounts of the remainder of the Residents that they were wasting time on stupidity when they should focus on Fixing the Grid, and a three-day protest action by said prominent bloggers to draw attention to the question.  Even now, some worry that this is no improvement (I see it as much clearer, myself), or that key questions still need addressing.  The published E-mail address for trademark and brand questions, tm-questions@lindenlab.com, is going to be very busy for some time to come.  I hope they give better answers individually than we were receiving at large and at first.

Ah, well; for my part, I think the main problem is solved.  After placing a finis opus on this article, I intend to enjoy a few well-earned fingers of Bushmills and water, and then collapse in preparation for cleaning my house in the bright of morning — and my store inventory in RL on Sunday night!

Raising the Red Flag

In my last article, I linked to Rheta Shawn’s ongoing article listing known participants in the bloggers’ protest strike to encourage Linden Lab to clarify its new trademark/brand policy.  The comments to her post show that the bloggers are approaching their concern with a sense of humor as well as seriousness — and not a little grasp of the classics, as well.  A painting by Delacroix, invocation of Victor Hugo and the musical Les Misérables that derives from Hugo’s masterpiece; it’s all there.

One writer, Laetizia Coronet of Virtual Village Voice, took it to the next level.  Revolutionaries have used the red flag as a symbol of revolt for years, and that includes, of course, revolutionaries of a more recent vintage.  In her comment, Laetizia did a bit of light filk — to the Internationale!  In the same vein, I responded that if we were going to be subjected to Marxian polemics next, I’d be putting in a phone call — to the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover.  (The modern FBI doesn’t worry too much about Commie plots….)

All that reminds me of my college days.  I have a Bachelor of Arts in humanities (hail the Seven Liberal Arts!), and was, of course, required to take several core classes.  In the one dealing with the 1800s, we were required to either write one major paper on a topic of our choice, or several smaller papers from a list of suggestions.  One classmate chose the mini-papers, and one of the suggestions was Karl Marx.  She purchased copies of Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto, and was reading them at work during lunch time.  They were laying on her desk, out in plain view, as the boss walked by.  According to my classmate, he took one look and winced, and begged her (jokingly, I’m sure) to put those things away in a drawer!  I think he was afraid she was planning to set off the revolution there in his company….

“Allons, mes enfants!! Man the barricade!”

At this press time, 23 Second Life bloggers have gone on a three-day virtual strike in protest of Linden Lab’s introduction of their new Brand Center trademark rules.

As reported here and elsewhere, LL has changed their rules from an open, easy to read and understand set of guidelines that encouraged bloggers to write about the virtual world, to a set of rather opaque rules that have left many writers uncertain what the status of their blogs will be at the end of the 90-day grace period. Many writers are wondering if they must pepper their articles with ™, ® and © symbols every time they mention the words “Second Life” or “Linden Lab” in an article; others fear being forced to change domain names that contain “Second Life” or “sl.” There have been some legal concerns that, having been compelled to agree to revised Terms of Service that include the new branding rules, any failure to comply completely will result in a shutdown of an account.

Gwyneth Llewelyn, one of the best-known SL bloggers, has demanded a clarification of LL’s new policy beyond the second article posted in their Big Blog (the official SL blog), which is considered essentially a rehash of the actual Brand Center page without any true explanation of what the Lab’s intent toward bloggers is. At the end of her article, she stated that she would “go on strike” for three days if no full explanation was given by LL. Other bloggers have now chosen to join her in this. A list to date of participating blogs can be found at Rheta Shan’s blog, Rheta’s World, along with a nice touch of humor that raises the image of a Les Misérables-like stand on the virtual barricades, raising the red flag of revolution.  A protest stand in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Clementina is planned for Sunday, at good times for both European and American participants.  Interested participants should contact Gwyneth Llewelyn for more details.

=====

Linden Lab is still botching its public relations with a group that has done it more good for free than any amount of paid publicity could have done. The appointment of a new communications manager, Katt Linden, is a positive step for the future; but they should address the present as well, which includes this situation.  That they have not, in a form that is clear and satisfactory to the Residents concerned, does not augur well for their future communication ability.  While it is quite possible that Second Life could have grown in similar ways from paid advertising, nothing beats the advertising of satisfied customers — the legendary word of mouth.  Someone who likes what they see will try to get more people involved in it to share the fun; they will talk it up to friends and strangers alike.

Similarly, though, a dissatisfied customer can also express their dissatisfaction — and many studies have shown that the words of a dissatisfied customer affect more people in the long run.  Those studies were done years ago, in the days before public use of the Internet.  Imagine now how much reach this powerful communications tool can have.  The current customer base outside of the concerned bloggers are mostly unworried at this time; but potential future customers can run across all the negative press generated by the controversy, and be turned away by concerns over a potentially tyrannical situation.

In their second blog writeup, Catherine Linden also seems to believe that we don’t understand why trademarks are important to companies.  She fails to realize, apparently, that there are many professionals, corporate types, Highly Educated Persons, and just general smart people that understand quite well what value a trademark holds.  Few or none of us have any objection to LL’s protecting their rights — provided that they do not step on our rights in the process.  The newly restrictive attempt at trademark enforcement, coupled with a failure or disregard to explain things adequately to satisfy our concerns, makes LL look even worse in the eyes of an increasingly estranged customer base.

The ball is in Linden Lab’s court.  How will they respond now?

Trademarkgate© — Latest Newslink

Check this week’s issue of the Metaverse Messenger for a Perspective piece — essentially an editorial or op-ed — by Phoenix Psaltery on the trademark and branding situation; or what, for short, I believe I shall begin referring to as “Trademarkgate©.” [1] Two key paragraphs:

You know, I totally understand LL’s desire to protect their branding. I know it’s important for a company to protect its trademarks, its logos, and its intellectual property, but for Linden Lab to have permitted residents to use domain names such as SLExchange, SLProfiles, SLTrivia, and SLBoutique (now OnRez.com) for the last four years, and then to suddenly try to say that they’ll all have to change their established business names is cutting the throats of the very people that helped to popularize Second Life as a platform, a game, a social networking site — however you look at it.

What’s worse is how it affects residents who have worked long and hard to establish their businesses and were very careful to follow Linden Lab’s previous branding guidelines to the letter, only to now be told that they aren’t in compliance with the new regulations because their URL has “SL” in it. Talk about changing horses in midstream!

Please read in full; the article starts on page 5, and jumps to page 19.

=====

Additionally, Hamlet Au has completed the survey he was running at New World Notes, and he publishes the results, along with a distillation of 10 questions concerned Residents are wanting answered by Linden Lab.

=====

[1] “Trademarkgate” is a copyrighted term of the avatar known as Harper Ganesvoort, and all rights are reserved in perpetuity, unless you are a fellow Second Life blogger. Linden Lab will have to pay royalty through the nose for the right to use this term (grin).

Gwyn Sets Up a Petition to Linden Lab

A quick note before I head off to bed, as I’m finally feeling tired. Gwyneth Llewelyn has written another detailed article on the trademark rumble. While I’m not sure I agree with all of her conclusions in law, I definitely support her requests for redress as a need for Linden Lab to meet on behalf of we SLoggers.

Gwyn’s Home » Petition to Linden Lab on the Policy of Trademark Enforcement

Linden Lab Releases Trademark Statement

Revised and updated April 2, 8:11 a.m. local:

Catherine Linden has published a fresh article on the official Linden blog concerning the trademark policy changes. Comments have closed on the article, but reading them will show you the predominant reaction to this “explanation.” I quote from it here:

1. Can I use the Second Life Eye-in-Hand logo in a press story?
Yes! If the story is about the Second Life world, you can use the logo in the body of the story. You can’t, however, use the logo to identify your blog — why? Because it looks like you’re a Second Life or Linden Lab vetted project. You can read more about this here.

2. Can I discuss the Second Life world on my website?
Of course! You can — and should — call our products and services by their names. For instance, it’s ok to say you’re “running a business in the Second Life world” or that you bought “Linden dollars through the LindeX exchange.” You can read more about that here.

3. Can I use SL with my product, domain or organization name?
Yes, under our special license to use “SL.” You can use “SL” with your own trademark. So, if you own the “Dell” trademark, you could call your presence in the Second Life world “Dell SL.”Or, you can use two common nouns with “SL.” For instance, SL Ballet is not ok (only one common noun) but SL Ballet Troup works. And SL China Portal is not ok (”China” is a proper noun), but SL Chinese Residents Association works. You need at least two common nouns so others don’t think you’re an “official” Second Life organization or website. Read more about this license.

4. What if I have a domain name that uses “SL” with only one common noun?
We’ve given you 90 days to transition to a new domain name that works with our special license. If you need additional time, please write us at tm-licensing@lindenlab.com and we’ll consider giving you permission to extend the 90 days or to forward the old domain name to your new one. For more on submitting a licensing request check out the FAQ.

5. I’ve got more questions, who can I ask?
We’ll be glad to help you. You can email us at tm-questions@lindenlab.com with specific questions. Keep in mind there are MANY of you and only a few of us, so please be patient.

(More after the break.)

If you think your chain’s being yanked….

…so does Hamlet Au; or at least I’m suspecting he does. The title of his latest article on New World Notes is, “Trademark Update: The Waiting Game Sucks, Let’s Play Hungry Hungry Hippos ™.” You see, Linden Lab promised to give a statement to their former house blogger concerning the fun new trademark rules they have devised — and set many an SL house into a tizzy with — and that they would release it no later than Monday (yesterday). It is now nearly closing time on the West Coast Tuesday, and nothing has been given him yet. They are now saying (through their PR flack):

Due to a high volume of inquiries on the topic, Linden Lab plans to address these questions in another blog post which should be up soon…

I’m getting the feeling that “soon” means the ever-legendary Real Soon Now.

I’m normally the tolerant sort when it comes to the peccadillos of Linden Lab, but that comes with coping with the problems of a very young technology. But your word is supposed to be your bond, and LL’s bond is now shaky at best. I still wish peace to them — but I, along with others, am also getting impatient.