[sldev] [AWG] [META] {EMERGENCY WILL ROBINSON] Jira for meta-grid
permissions change
Lawson English
lenglish5 at cox.net
Wed Jun 11 14:00:14 PDT 2008
Yesterday, I submitted this jira for a new permissions feature, which
launched a firestorm of discussion, some of which showed that many
people had either not read, or at least, had not understood what I was
proposing.
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-1272
I submitted it yesterday because of last week's demo of the test-code
that Zha Ewry IBM wrote for OpenSim to implement the new Open Grid
Protocol login, which allowed Zha and Tess LInden and Layla Linden to
log into the Linden Lab Aditi test grid via the prototype Agent Domain
server and end up on a private IBM-hosted OpenSim using the code written
by Zha.
This, as I've called it, is the "dawn of the new virtual world
internet," which is, IMHO, pretty darned groundbreaking.
http://zhaewry.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/happy-jumpy-ruths-interop-takes-a-step/
Historical issues aside, it points out the fact that the new inter-grid
will soon be upon us and that we need to start serious discussion of
what asset sharing (or non-sharing) will be like on the new VW Internet.
However, LL's public discussion, letalone implementation, of asset
permissions is way behind reality and falling further behind as we speak.
Already, copying systems are available that allow people to copy full
permissions content from Second Life to some arbitrary OpenSim. On my
part, I assumed that this was perfectly OK, but Lillie Yifu, in
AWGroupies IM, pointed out that owners of a copyright generally don't
give up all rights for their intellectual property to be distributed via
new venues and methods, just because that venue/method didn't exist when
they made their original agreement.
Therefore, strictly speaking, even the copying of full permissions items
to another virtual world like an OpenSim, without explicit permission,
is a violation of copyright law.
The following jira tries to address the issue in the most conservative,
uncontroversial way, by making explicit the legal situation that [I
believe] already exists with the current TOS concerning trans-grid copying.
IOW, as per Lillie Yiful's suggestion, a new permission system has to be
implemented as soon as possible that applies one of the following three
options to each existing set of permission flags:
Creation Grid Only [name of grid goes here]
/Trusted Grid [not currently defined, may end up being an explicit list
or pointers to one or more lists or names, such as "name: Trusted
Linden Grid Network" or "name: avatar-name's garage GRID-ID: blahblah"
/any grid.
The default for this new, emergency system, must be "Creation Grid Only"
and all new content and all existing content gets this permission
applied automatically. In other words, NOTHING can leave Second Life
without the explicit permission of the content creator. NOTHING. The
fact that many builds and items might be open permissions and the
creator is no longer involved in Second Life doesn't change the legal
reality: they haven't given permission for their content to leave the SL
grid and therefore it must remain in Second Life until they log back
into their account and say differently.
I flagged the jira as "critical" because I believe that it is. I said it
had to be done immediately because, it really should have been done
months ago in order to prepare content creators for the reality of the
new meta-grid.
A further provision of this new flag system should be to allow the
ability of all content creators to bulk change the grid permission
flags of every existing content that they have created, once per item.
If they slip up and open permissions on something they didn't mean to,
oh well. It may be impossible for LL to implement this feature, but I'm
certain that if it is possible, it will create havok to let it be used
more than once per item.
Obviously many details have to be worked out about what nested items
with differing flags mean, etc., but that should have been discussed and
vetted and tested months and months ago. The fact that we have a window
of a few months before cross-grid TP goes live doesn't give us months of
time to discuss these issues. The truly public discussion needed to
start within weeks of the first AWG meeting last year and it didn't.
Now, programmers acting in good faith, have written products and sold
them that violate the existing TOS and copyright law, and it is no
longer a simple "SHOULD" but a "MUST" to have these discussions and
implement at least a minimal grid-permissions system. as soon as possible.
Two months ago would have been about right.
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-1272
Create a set of permissions flags immediately that identifies "creation
grid only [grid name]"/"trusted gird"/"any grid" to apply to all
existing permissions settings with "creation [grid name] grid as the
default setting
With the demonstration last week of logging into a private OpenSim from
Second Life, the permissions issues of a "meta grid" are now real and
have to be addressed immediately by Linden Lab. The simplest case will
be to assume that a content creator did NOT intend for his or her
creation to leave the Second Life grid, and the permissions system must
reflect this for all existing and future content. If the creator does
not set the permission explicitly, the setting is "Creation Grid Only
[grid name]" In other words, all existing and new content created in
Second LIfe must now be flagged "Creation Grid Only [Second LIfe Grid]",
until the creator explicitly changes the flag.
References:
http://zhaewry.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/happy-jumpy-ruths-interop-takes-a-step/
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/AWGroupies-2008-06-10
10 June 2008 Zero LInden Office hour chat log
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