Business in SL Last Wednesday while I was at work out of the blue I got a 1580 L$ payment from Shoshana Epsilon. When I asked her via mail what it was for she referred me to a note card she had given me in world. Reading it later that day it turned out to be a rather sad message. Those of you who follow this blog or know me will be aware I had some pictures up at the Rezzable Cannery exhibit "A Different Light" curated by Shoshana. First of all she announced the exhibit is drawing to a close. Not the end of the world of course, it's the way things go. What made me really sad was the rest of the message: "My apology is due to the lack of logistics on our part that prevented other things from happening. a) There is no RL book. I know I promised it, but I was not given the opportunity to put it together. Last I heard, Vint was two weeks from finishing it. She was working on it, but she’s been pulled off to do other things. Contact RightAsRain Rimbald to get information on it. b) There is no show sponsor. In the last show, RightAsRain found one. If there was one for this show, I haven’t heard of it. c) The voting system is up, and has been for about 6 weeks. That and any sales are the only possible income from which you would get any monies. RightAsRain is the only person I know who might know how the financial situation is standing and how you would get your share. My job was to get art and artists. I had your help to have classes, and I thank all of you who participated. An apology that is just words is useless. As part of my apology to all of you for the lack of support, I will be converting $100 into Lindens and dispersing it to all artists. I want to thank you for your time, your effort, your talent, and your trust in me as a curator. I apologize profusely for having failed you. -- Shoshana Epsilon" I have to say I too was expecting a bit more from Rezzable as far as "A Different Light" was concerned so I understand Sho's disappointment. This whole thing put me in a bit of an awkward situation though. I find myself in the middle of a disagreement between people I consider friends. So I'm not about to chose sides or point fingers but I'll try to look at the bigger picture. I think this dispute or incident, for lack of a better word, is unfortunately a bit symptomatic of small RL businesses in SL. The mix of volunteers or barely payed employees and the people who hope to actually start something is not always easy. Add to the mix the fact communication is not as easy as it is working with colleagues face to face and you know it will get rocky at times. That said I think the main problem for these start-ups is focus. Take Rezzable as an example: what is their aim ? What do they stand for ? I'm not too sure... I guess the uncertainty about where SL in itself is going makes it difficult. Will SL be the metaverse of the future? Is it merely a start that will soon be replaced by competing technology ? All these factors make it difficult to rely on SL as a target for business. I think it's safe to say that if at this time you want to start something, involving SL, and I don't mean a clothing shop or the likes, you're probably better of regarding SL as just a part of the whole social media scene, dividing efforts between SL and all that surrounds it. I for one am not convinced SL presently offers a sufficiently mature platform to invest any of my euros in a business relying on it.

Baby Business is Big Business in SL

What comes after the huge Sl wedding? Why the family of course! Babies are big business in Second Life. For a mere 500L prospective mothers can choose a lifelike shape that changes over time and even (and this sends my eyebrows into a frenzy of knitting) select the option of a 'talking' foetus that offers a disconcerting commentary on its impending arrival to anyone in chat range. There are of course many choices to be considered for the actual birth with maternity hospitals and even birthing suites available. For those avatars that cannot give birth or have an Angelina Joile complex, there are a number of adoption agencies that offer matching services between wanna-be parents and 'children' (some of which are adults searching for a family). So what IS this about? Well it could be as simple of choosing to reflect the real -like situation of the 'person behind the avatar, or perhaps a couple in cyber love wanting to explore the 'obvious' progression from couple to family. Perhaps it is even possible that some prospective mothers are actually males suffering womb envy (ahh the internet where men are men and so are fifty percent of the women!) and for others, perhaps seeking the family they never had. Whatever the reason what we DO know is this, when relationships break up there are three options left for the 'child' brought into this world - a bitter custody dispute fought out in an Sl court, or the more common options of packing it and all the relationship and child accoutrements in inventory and clicking the delete button. Yes, Sl truly can imitate real life!

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LAW SECOND LIFE has given aworld of opportunity to peoplewho wish to create and havetheir products purchased anddistributed. However, please beaware that the same legal issuesand protected rights that preside inreal life exist in mirror in SecondLife. Using someone elseʼs ideas,or trademarks, or brand names isnot legal, and not even cool, eitherin RL or SL.Even if a work doesnot seem to be copyrighted, itprobably is, and you shouldassume that it is. This line of reasoning should be your default.Today almost all major nationsfollow the Berne copyrightconvention. Almost everythingcreated after April 1, 1989 inthe US is copyrighted whetherit has a notice or not! If it lookscopyrighted, you should assume itis. Even if there is no notice, whichappears like this: “Copyright[dates] by [author/owner]” it ismost likely protected, and donʼtthink that the creator cannotdefend him or herself in court!Also do not fall into the trapof assuming that if you donʼt chargefor an item it isnʼt a violation of thelaw. You can damage a productʼscommercial value by giving it awayand you can be brought to courton this charge. It was not yours togive away. This does not apply to aparody where you are making funof something, i.e. you poke fun atStar Trek and use Mr. Spock.Trademarks are anotherarea of abuse. Trademarks arelogos, pictures, designs, orsometimes simply letters (IBM)that differentiate a product fromits peers. It brings customers tothe door of the business and thecustomers have a right to expectthat the products that they purchasewill be of the quality that they havecome to expect by having knownothers who have purchased theproduct or perhaps through theirown previous use of the product.Abuse of this “mark” is quitesimply any plan of action set outto misguide the buying publicinto believing that the productthus put under that false markis like, or similar to the originalproduct. An excellent case inpoint was the Radio Shack chargethat Auto Shack was having itscustomers construe by the use of the word “shack” that the autosupply was somehow a divisionof the Tandy Corporation affiliate,Radio Shack. The decision of thecourt was that Auto Shack mustbecome Auto Zone.Any time you use someoneelseʼs idea, art, or words withouttheir permission you are taking achance. And this is sad becausethe creative mind should be ableto come up with very originalideas from very basic materials,(i.e. Starbucks.) When buildingyour store in Second Life, donʼtbring this sort of behavior to thepure world we are trying to create.Be all you can be. Be original. Giveto the Avatars of SL somethingthey canʼt get anywhere else:a “Better World!”