[opensource-dev] Third party viewer policy

Argent secret.argent at gmail.com
Thu Feb 25 09:31:56 PST 2010


Sorry for not editing this in detail, Opera is SLOW as hell in a thread this
long in gmail.

I understand why they're asking for a MAC address. I'm pointing out that a
viewer may be running on a device that HAS NO MAC ADDRESS.

On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 8:28 AM, Scott McCulley <smcculley at gmail.com> wrote:

> Argent,
>
> From a network standpoint, the mac address is a layer two address that is
> not seen when crossing a router to a new network. So, therer is no way to
> see your mac address from the network packets. LL is using the mac address
> as a unique identifier of your computer. When you use the SL viewer, it can
> read your mac address locally, then send it along to LL to be used to
> identify you on the grid. So if you have multiple accounts that you use from
> the same computer, they know it is you, no matter what your IP address,
> proxy server, or other network layer protection is used.
>
> In the case of known griefers, LL could simply disable access from that mac
> address that is reported by the viewer, and the person cannot get back in to
> the grid, regardless of IP or SL account. The only way is to use a
> completely new computer with a different mac address.
>
> That being said, if the developers mask the ability to read and report the
> mac address to the LL grid, they lose the abilit to block the bad guys.
>
> -Scott
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
> On Feb 24, 2010, at 5:49 AM, Argent Stonecutter <secret.argent at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>  Admittedly this is not likely to be a common scenario, but the whole
>> idea that a MAC address is a unique identifier for a device is based
>> on a deep-seated confusion about the network stack.
>>
>
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