Rainbow Viewers for Virtual Worlds

The free software here is not provided, supported or approved by Linden Lab. No surprising or unexpected functionality other than listed in the releasenotes is included. No private data is collected. There is NO warranty or liability. Use at your own risk

Linden Lab's Policy for Third-Party Viewers and Immediate Consequences

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:33:59 AM

Some of you may have seen LL's new policy on 3rd party viewers that was coincidentally published together with the beta of the SL 2.0 viewer. Some of you may welcome that as it gives clearer guidance what is required to connect to SecondLife. Something that was missing for a long time or only existed in some vague form on their blog.

What happend now however is going way too far beyond a reasonable policy. Besides making some clear statements about content "backup" LL also introduced some funny terms they could not legally enforce previously. Such as not using the generic term "life" which one has to explicitly agree upon by signing LL's new policy.

Another rather funny thing is that LL requires a viewer to follow what LL determined to be "user experience" to be shared. Third party viewers were made in the first place exactly because those "experience" was not what users wanted. Now LL reserves the right to force a viewer developer to include or exclude certain features in a viewer. Ridiculous.

But unfortunately not all can be labeled "funny". To come to the (at least in my opinion) main point. LL introduced one killer clause:

7. Your Responsibility for Third-Party Viewers
If you are a user or Developer of Third-Party Viewers:

a. You are responsible for all uses you make of Third-Party Viewers, and if you are a Developer, you are also responsible for all Third-Party Viewers that you develop or distribute.


What this means is that a viewer developer has to take (legal) responsibility for any action of any viewer user. That's something GPL specifically allows to exclude, now LL forces such responsibility back to software developers. It is pretty much impossible for anyone to take such a responsibility. Besides many other questionable points this clause renders the whole 3rd party viewer policy unacceptable.

There are a lot more difficult to swallow clauses which you can read up yourself here:
http://secondlife.com/corporate/tpv.php

I as developer of Rainbow / Cool refuse to comply with the 3rd party viewer policy in it's current form. Please note that there is no date specified and for now it may be more like a public review rather than enforced terms. However LL has now all they need to do as they want to swing the big ban hammer. I however also believe that the last word about this policy, which looks like it comes from the marketing department and was not thought through, has not been spoken.

What does all that mean in summary? From now on you are not allowed to use any viewer that does not follow this new policy (see link above). In detail that reads:

All users and Developers of Third-Party Viewers must comply ... If you do not comply, you are not allowed to use Second Life through a Third-Party Viewer, and in severe cases Linden Lab may terminate your access to Second Life entirely.


This affects all and every 3rd party viewer out there including Rainbow/Cool. Right now you are not allowed to use any viewer other than the official SL viewer or Snowglobe to connect to the SecondLife grid. If you do LL may ban you. You have been warned.

Again, the last word has not been spoken, many people will scream, LL hopefully will adapt to raised concerns and likely there will be changes to this policy. For now though I can not recommend to use any of my viewers to connect to SecondLife. This does not affect OpenSims wink

Support Aussies in to say NO to censorship (and slow broadband)!Driver warning: Latest nVidia ForceWare (v196.75) overheating cards!

Comments

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:45:12 AM

kesseret writes: These requirements are ridiculous. I am not holding my breath that LL will see the light and change them. They listened so well regarding openspace sims and our project open letter. Thank you, for your work on your viewer. It's made it possible for many people to connect to SL and have a great second life.

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 3:55:00 AM

Thankful in Virtual writes: Tried to repost your post on Facebook and apparently someone has reported your blog for objectionable content. Linden Labs trying to suppress the news?

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 4:06:53 AM

Anonymous writes: Shrink-wrapped software licenses have been ruled unenforceable by the courts, multiple decades ago. And the SL TOS has been defeated in court, too. I think there is more to be seen on this.

Boy Laneboylane Wednesday, February 24, 2010 4:45:19 AM

Originally posted by anonymous:

Tried to repost your post on Facebook and apparently someone has reported your blog for objectionable content.

I have nothing to do with facebook, no postings, no links, no nothing. So who cares? wink

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 4:47:04 AM

Anonymous writes: What was the point of them making it open sourced if they were going to get upset others customized what they created?

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 4:55:12 AM

Gus Gant writes: thats rediculus ! the new chat interface is horible i wish they will make their new rules more humanlike so we can see sl2 viewes with the curent ui backported .... what about rlv users and all the products about it ?

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 6:38:35 AM

Anonymous writes: If LL wanted to stop third party viewers, why did they make SL open source in the first place? You claim here that LL says they want to make a shared experience for all users, and that third party viewers only give a unique experience to those select few users who are looking for something default SL doesnt have. So to unify everyone, they are trying to stop third party viewers and force people to use their own default viewer and provide ALL users with the content they switched to third party viewers to in the first place.... But that makes no sense. Third party viewers are basically doing the work FOR LL. Why would they bother stopping them when it means someone else is making users happy FOR them? I'm sure we all know how well LL deals with work and making their users happy. (They dont.) This new SL 2.0 looks like garbage, and the few good features "veteran users" will "really like" are features that have already been in SL but are merely moved to a place they SHOULD have been for ages. But LL never made any of the tiny changes to just make those features more accessable. And the NEW features they have are mostly things people have been screaming at LL to put in for years, and only NOW do they finally put them in (another skin layer, landmark favorites, alpha layer mesh, etc). The only thing completely new I never even thought of was the "shared media" and in-game browser, mostly because its not essential and no one asked for it. I've read the requirements for third party viewers and honestly they arent anything that dont make sense from LL's standpoint. So LL can stomp around all they want (or so you claim) but I'm still going to use Emerald Viewer and any other viewer I want, because it does what I want, and does what SL SHOULD do. You can reply to this if you wanna, but I'm probably not going to check on this ever again. I'm just putting my two cents in and proving my point. Take care. Maybe I'll see you around on my part of the tubes some day.

Boy Laneboylane Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:35:33 AM

Originally posted by anonymous:

So LL can stomp around all they want (or so you claim) but I'm still going to use Emerald Viewer and any other viewer I want, because it does what I want, and does what SL SHOULD do.


Hmmm...not exactly sure if you argue with me or against me smile. Basically I agree with what you wrote.

The thing is you can certainly use any viewer, legitimate, registered or even malicious if you want. That's fully up to you but you have to bear any consequences.

It's not so simple for a viewer developer as the new policy implies that I would have to take responsibility for *your* actions with a viewer I made. And amongst other pretty ridiculous demands in this policy I do not nor will I ever assume any responsibility for any user activities. That's absolute and 100% BS and completely unacceptable.

As a result of not being able to comply with LL's new policy I have to warn users of viewers I made to *not* use them anymore to connect to SecondLife. That has to do with trust, open information, understanding and reputation I'm not going to throw in a bin for a ridiculous policy made by someone who did not take her or his pills.

So again, you are free to use any viewer, but it's your own decision. If this policy will remain in place as it is there will not be any more viewer releases from me.

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 5:30:15 PM

bloodsong writes: oh great, just kill cool, the leanest viewer with the only good interface. just as i was all excited to develop stuff for the RLV api, too! geeze! anyway, boy, i have to say... i'm not sure exactly what is wrong with the new 3rd party policy in particular. i don't see anything that your viewer is NOT complying with, unless it is possibly in conflict with henri's viewer's name, and thus not having a unique identifier. as for being responsible for the viewer you develop and distribute, i believe you already are. it does NOT say that you are responsible for what other people do with your viewer. it might imply that, but honestly, that's like blaming the maker of kitchen knives when someone decides to stab someone else with one. the big problem i see is this enforcement of junk ll wants to submit us to. i presume they mean crap like having the search box on the title bar (something i have blessedly done without for years), and of course, this new slx integration crap i've been hearing rumors about. forget the older, more sensible interface and readable icons... ll probably doesnt care about that, as long as they get their commercial content in our faces. next they'll tell me they're deprecating the --novoice command line option, and i MUST 'share the user experience' of hearing people talk at me and make noises of varying vulgarity over their microphones. greaaaaat. boy, thank you for the years i have not had to suffer with the crappy official viewer. i hope this time is not at an end, but.... ::sigh::

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 5:44:43 PM

Thomaste Koskinen writes: A friend of mine in world gave me the heads up on this new LL policy. I was honestly shocked. I have been using GreenLife Emerald Viewer for a good while now and was loathed to even CONTEMPLATE going back to the official viewer coz Emerald had so much more to offer...more awesomesauce skins...more attatch points for all my stuff...not to mention the bouncing...female chests...

Anonymous Wednesday, February 24, 2010 5:51:13 PM

Thomaste Koskinen writes: (Continued coz this site cut my post short for some reason) ...here's hoping LL will have a MAJOR re-think of this new policy and only restrict all those viewers I've heard about that allow users to copy stuff from other users without the need for permission (or "copybot" viewers as some people call them). One thing I know for certain is that LL just went up a couple of notches on my hate-o-meter...and they were pretty high up as it is.

Boy Laneboylane Thursday, February 25, 2010 5:28:23 AM

Originally posted by anonymous:

i don't see anything that your viewer is NOT complying with...

It's not the viewer itself, no issue with that. But what is unacceptable are quite a number of clauses in the policy, the responsibility being only one thing. Gigs made a wiki page with a list of concerns: http://wiki.secondlife.com/w/index.php?title=TPV_concerns

In it's current form I can not accept this policy and as a developer I do not comply with it. As such Rainbow/Cool are not allowed to connect to the grid anymore.

On a sidenote I'm pretty fed up and tired of LL's continued crap they throw at the hands that feed them for many years. Again, this policy will not do anything to fix the underlying problems, it will not stop copybotting, it will not improve anyones experience.

Anonymous Thursday, February 25, 2010 8:19:24 AM

Anonymous writes: I have yet to read the policy change but it does sound as though they are trying to stop viewers having griefing facilities such as a Quantum Core, therefore making the developer responsible for the features contained in the viewer. I am afraid that legalese is always a pain in the rear but I would be putting the onus back onto Linden labs to name those third party browsers it considers safe (or unsafe) to use on the grid. As a user of Second Life I would expect Linden labs to clearly state its policy and not assume that I am a developer just because I can download and run software. I cannot be blamed if Linden Labs to not adequately protect their grid, and if it came down to a legal battle, the onus would be on the supplier of the service to provide adequate protection to me, the consumer. Speculation and roomer get us knower so a few straight questions to LL should sort it out?

Anonymous Thursday, February 25, 2010 8:34:53 AM

digital Darwinian writes: While I agree the section Boy Lane disagrees with above (section 7a) is worded quite Draconianly, the underying intent is not entirely wrong. If I, as a user, use a third-party client to do bad things (ie steal textures/objects) then I should be held responsible for using that viewer for those purposes. If I, as a developer, develop and distrubute a client that has functionality that allows people to do illegal things, such as getting around the permissions system to steal stuff, then yes I should be held responsible for that. For the later, as long as the developer quickly addresses and corrects a bug or issue that gives that functionality (initally unknown to the developer), then there should not be a problem with the use of the client. These are things that the official viewer must abide by (and do as far as I can see so far), and I can't see a reason why 3rd party viewers should be held to a lesser standard. It would be nice if that particular section was re-worded or more clearly detailed as to where the responsibility lies. For example, I can see how some people might see that this section implys that the developer is responsible for user's abuse of the client - which is ridiculous. That's akin to thinking that the automakers are responsible for people using cars in robberies. Meh, I will still continue to use Emerald as it does not, as far as I know, officially violate any of the terms LL posts. Unless Boy Lane doesn't comment his/her code differences, then as a developer myself I will shake an admonishing finger and go 'tsk tsk' - but only jokingly, of course!

Anonymous Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:32:17 AM

digital Darwinian writes: as an addendum to my last post: developers should not be held responsible for bug/errors in the original source code provided by Linden Labs. It's way too large and possibly unweildly for individual developers to comb through for every problem LL's team of developers have not addressed prior to publishing the source code.

Anonymous Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:44:28 AM

Ayesha Askham writes: Ah Boy, After all your hard work - this from LL. I'd love to say that it's all a big misunderstanding, but you and I both know it ain't so. LL simply can't or won't refine their terms to allow maverick (and you ARE a maverick) developers of benign software to continue enhancing the SLs of folk such as me. This comes back to the basic truism that LL continue to expect blind obedience from their clientelle. They do not seem to be willing, at a corporate level, to put any effort into genuinely improving their service to non-institutional users. After almost two years of grinding away my SL, being nothing more than a humble user of the finest interface in existence (yours), it appears that I will, if I wish to continue my SL, succumb to LL's demand to use their proprietary viewer. I'm damned if I will! I hope that you will continue to come up with viewers that connect to SL in a user-friendly and comprehensible form and that I can use them to blow raspberries in the face of LL (metaphorically - I'm no griefer). I understand your objections, Boy, and, as far as I can, I will stand with you. Ayesha Askham.

Anonymous Thursday, February 25, 2010 1:33:46 PM

H T writes: When I read: "If you are a user or Developer of Third-Party Viewers: a. You are responsible for all uses you make of Third-Party Viewers, and if you are a Developer, you are also responsible for all Third-Party Viewers that you develop or distribute." I read it as meaning that if you are a user (who may also be a developer as well) then you are responsible for what you do with the viewer. And if you are a developer you are responsible for what you develop. To me none of it seemed to suggest that a developer was responsible for what a user did with the viewer. Maybe it is just bad wording.

Boy Laneboylane Thursday, February 25, 2010 1:38:49 PM

At best it is ambiguous. But that assumption will not help when it comes down to law. As of now it states a developer is responsible for everything a user does with that viewer. Every lawyer would be happy to slap you with that if necessary. But that's by far not the only issue and concern with that policy (see link to the Wiki page some comments above). LL clearly needs to clarify the clauses and according to Soft Linden an updated policy as well as an FAQ is in the works.

Anonymous Thursday, February 25, 2010 7:27:13 PM

Jonvic writes: Well I for one will keep on using Rainbow until LL prise it from my dead cold hands...lol. It is the only stable, fast viewer out there that has the necessary features without the bloat. Lets hope common sense prevails here.

Anonymous Friday, February 26, 2010 4:40:36 AM

Anonymous writes: Yeah, i was worrird about all this when i first heard about it. Damn, i hope i dont have to get a new comp just to play sl with decent fps.

Anonymous Friday, February 26, 2010 12:08:52 PM

H T writes: Good to hear that Soft Linden is writing a version that is hopefully less ambiguous. Am expecting that my interpretation was what they meant, and when their legal department got hold of the guidelines they got rather mangled. Hopefully a more sensible, amended, version comes out soon. It is not in LL's interest to jeopardise all the fine work that the third-party developers do.

Anonymous Friday, February 26, 2010 1:19:36 PM

Sakito Nakamichi writes: Heartily agreed upon, HT. If Boy hadn't done her viewer, I'd have become fed up with frustration at all of the unwarranted UI changes by now and would only be able to handle SL as an occasional foray. I really hope they remake that statement, because some of the best software improvements are made by people with no financial gain, doing it solely for the fun of it or to improve their experience - As Miss Lane has clearly and thankfully done for me and many of my friends.

Anonymous Saturday, February 27, 2010 12:58:59 PM

Candy writes: They made the client and server open source so that other developers would fix the bugs and improve things for free. So far its been working great, but sometimes, well people don't always do things exactly the way someone else hoped for, so banhammer and lawsuits time. That is all.

Anonymous Saturday, February 27, 2010 10:57:46 PM

Anonymous writes: So basically.... Ty for fixing all our bugs for free .....now don't let the door hit you on the way out!!

Anonymous Sunday, February 28, 2010 7:52:31 AM

brian writes: i use emerald personally and until I recieve written documentation that they have amended their policy making third party viewers illegal, I will continue to use emerald. Should they pursue me and inflict consequences on unannounced protocols, this in itself seems to be an illegal act in a court of LAW and even if it is legal if enough of those of us that use 3rd party viewers stand up and protest. I am sure something can be done on LL's end. until then... more power to the third party users!

Boy Laneboylane Sunday, February 28, 2010 10:14:49 AM

@brian
It is written, but currently reworked.
http://secondlife.com/corporate/tpv.php

Nobody will send you a snail mail version but you'll have to agree during login to comply with that. That is after the transition period of 2 or 3 months (LL again doesn't know themselves) is over.

That is in itself completely legal, the question however is if viewer developers will continue to provide 3rd party viewers that follow this. So you may end up on a long road without a car in the end.

Nicholaz BeresfordNicholazBeresford Tuesday, March 2, 2010 4:07:36 PM

My goodness ... what a mess. I just read the tpv top to bottom with a chill down the spine.

Watching this from the distance (not doing viewers or even any noteworthy activity in SL anymore), the connotations are impressive. The whole thing kept reminding me of 1984, Brave New World or Lord of the Flies. Take a group of idealistic people (and I truly believe that LL was that in 2006) with the best intentions, then give them power and you'll end up with a totalitarian regime.

The legalese there reminds me of stuff from the ministry of propaganda. I mean, "To promote a positive and predictable experience" ... how much worse can it get? (Yes, I know ... much much worse).

Personally, I don't have more than about US$20 in my accounts and I'll keep using alternate viewers until they ban me, but I can only warn every viewer maker to subject theirselves to the TPV procedure. Most of those things are very likely hoplessly unenforcable by law, but agreeing to these terms will considerably weaken anybody's position.

Anonymous Wednesday, March 3, 2010 1:16:40 AM

Sabine writes: to Brian when we all had protested against age verifying they stopped giving us the oppertunity to answer on blogs and then said everyone wanted it and pushed it thru believe me if we all protest to this they dont give didlydom about it and go their own way till everyone leaves sl and then they still will say it isnt because of their idiot policy's

Anonymous Friday, March 5, 2010 1:39:09 AM

Anonymous writes: I have to agree, hard to believe LL on this. On the one hand I understand, but they are pushing it far far too much. This seems designed to push other viewers out of the pipeline as who is going to want to take these kinds of risks for nothing. I wish to thank you for your viewer and having it basied on 1.22 which DOES work with windows 2000 my personal OS of choice. For making it in the first place. And I do hope you can continue with it even if you are not "registered"

How to use Quote function:

  1. Select some text
  2. Click on the Quote link

Write a comment

Comment
(BBcode and HTML is turned off for anonymous user comments.)

If you can't read the words, press the small reload icon.


Smilies

Virtual World Viewers

Friends, Dolls & Banes

Linden Lab Issues to vote for