[opensource-dev] FAQ posted for Third Party Viewer Policy

[Jason Giglio]

Soft Linden wrote:
> It's important to understand that one can discontinue use of Second
> Life at any point. On doing so, there are no further obligations
> imposed by the TPV policy. The legal consults cleared this as a
> resolution to all free license issues.

Is that the case though?  The policy claims to cover "viewers for
logging into Second Life".  It doesn't say anything about whether the
developer themselves is logging into Second Life.

It seems to me that you are still covered by this policy, including its
requirements for making changes that LL requests, leaving out features,
etc... if you just make an SL compatible viewer regardless of whether
you use SL or not.

> Anyone can make a derivative viewer that doesn't comply with the
> policy. That version of the viewer would not be eligible for inclusion
> in the Viewer Directory. The situation here is similar. Nothing is
> prohibited in terms of use of the GPL licensed code. The restriction
> is strictly placed on participation in the Viewer Directory.

Well this is obviously not the case, most of the clauses apply whether
you want into the viewer directory or not.