[opensource-dev] Third party viewer policy: commencement date

[Boy Lane]

@Darmath

You wrote you are a law student and this is certainly a very interesting subject to explore, without getting really involved. Unless you make your own viewer.

I think we agree here about the underlying common sense and the good intentions of everyone in this discussion. I believe we can also agree that the reworded TPV is way better than the previous attempt by giving clearer statements.

Having said that; there is one unambiguous statement in 7.d of the TPV that very clear says "You assume all risks, expenses, and defects of any Third-Party Viewers that you use, develop, or distribute. Linden Lab shall not be responsible or liable for any Third-Party Viewers." 

There is absolutely *NO* room for interpretation here. It is straight forward and clear.

1) A user of a third party viewer assumes *ALL* risks, expenses and defects.
2) A developer of a third party viewer assumes *ALL* risks, expenses and defects.
3) A distributor of a third party viewer assumes *ALL* risks, expenses and defects.

That is *ALL*. Unabiguous. Period.

Interesting in this context is point 3. A distributor that hosts a 3rd party viewer on their website with the capability to connect to SL also falls under TPV (if agreed upon by clickwrapping on 30 April) and assumes universal responsibility. This would mean LL has legal leverage against most OpenSim grids that host a viewer on their website if their host is also a SL resident *after 30 April*.

So again, there is a clear term that leaves absolutely no room for interpretation and as Joe Linden said in his legally not binding comment, one does not need to connect to SL, one only needs to design the ability to do so to automatically accept universal guilt.


Back to your car leasing example which is a not really suitable illustration anyway, for the simple reason there is no such thing as GPL for cars and they come with a manufacturer warranty (plus many other things like traffic law, I don't assemble a car after renting etc.).

But for the sake of it. In your construct there would be two things, that is first the renting agreement, or in SL terms ToS. And there would be another usage policy or TPV for that car. The latter would imply that if I rent that car I would automatically assume full responsibility for manufacturer defects (which the renting company, or LL explictely disclaims) and I would in addition assume full responsibility for accidents caused by 3rd parties like someone that crashes in my car while DUI or running a red light (or any user action in SL).

Pretty ridiculous, isn't it? I would certainly sign this renting agreement and instead go to a competitor.
Bad example anyway...

Boy
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