Some virtual entrepreneurs now worry their livelihoods are at stake because of a Software recently introduced into Second Life called CopyBot.
Copybot is making it possible to copy any object, including its textures, regardless of whether such action interferes with someone’s intellectual property rights.
The Copy Bot allows a user to copy any object in Second Life. That includes goods such as clothing that users purchase for their in-world avatars, and even the virtual PCs that computer giant Dell announced Tuesday it was going to sell in the digital world.
Groups of Second Life content creators are gathering digitally to protest the dissemination of a program they worry could badly damage the virtual world’s nascent economy.
Second Life users can purchase virtual items with a virtual currency called Linden dollars (named for game creator Linden Lab). But they use real-life currency to acquire that virtual coin. One U.S. dollar is equal to 271 Lindens, enough to buy a basic outfit for an avatar.
Linden blog said that Copying does not always mean theft because some people allow their content to be copied. But if the user thinks their work is illegally re-created by users with CopyBot, one option is to file a Digital Millenium Copyright Act complaint and that Linden Lab will assist in such processes.
via CNet
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