Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,284,000 at an exchange rate of L$266.4 to US$1
• Exchanged US$257,000 at an average of US$10,700.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$173,000
• Market sales were US$84,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$200
• The busiest time was at 11am when about US$26,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 11pm when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,145,000 at an exchange rate of L$270.2 to US$1
• Exchanged US$223,000 at an average of US$9,300.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$156,000
• Market sales were US$67,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$600
• The busiest time was at 5pm when about US$22,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 3am when about US$4,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,234,000 at an exchange rate of L$268.9 to US$1
• Exchanged US$236,000 at an average of US$9,800.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$165,000
• Market sales were US$70,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$1,300
• The busiest time was at 5pm when about US$18,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 5am when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,124,000 at an exchange rate of L$268.7 to US$1
• Exchanged US$238,000 at an average of US$9,900.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$166,000
• Market sales were US$71,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$1,300
• The busiest time was at 1pm when about US$18,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 2am when about US$4,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,187,000 at an exchange rate of L$268 to US$1
• Exchanged US$226,000 at an average of US$9,400.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$166,000
• Market sales were US$60,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$300
• The busiest time was at 1pm when about US$21,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 2am when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Six of Second Life's top brands Eros Designs, RH Designs, Le Cadre Network, Nomine, PixelDolls and DE Designs are filing suit against Thomas Simon (known as avatar Rase Kenzo), and ten other as yet unidentified avatars. The suit was filed in Brooklyn, New York by attorney Frank Taney, a partner with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney who is representing Eros Designs against Volkov Catteneo, for similar copyright violation.

As long-time SLI readers are doubtless aware, there is no technological means that exists to guarantee prevention against copyright violation. Indeed, most such measures are usually bypassed or broken before they are even released into the wild. That leaves one forum for copyright violation - the same one that has always been there. The RL courts and the legal system.

Like it or not, real-world law applies to all your actions towards and in relation to other people, whether it is done in person, in the post, by email, instant message, on a web forum or in a virtual world. The law doesn't go away when you turn on your PC, as avatars Rase Kenzo and Volkov Cattaneo are discovering to their detriment. The law may be out-of-step, may be non-sensical in some cases - but it never ceases to apply.

What we have here is a straight up copyright problem. The defendants are basically alleged to have used a simple exploit to make extra copies of items that the system shouldn't let them make extra copies of. When a Second Life simulator crashes, the state of objects in the region cannot be used. Instead, the simulator must work back in time to the last checkpoint, and restore the object state from there.

If you can make a simulator crash this way, you can pull objects you own out of it at the last moment into your inventory. When the simulator crashes it rolls back to the last safe point, and there is a copy of the object, and you have another in your inventory.

One crash. Two objects. Taking it logically, if you were utterly determined, you can double the number every time you pull this trick off successfully. 16 crashes could easily provide you with 65,536 copies. What measures are being taken to combat this, other than making simulators harder to crash, we don't presently know. Plaintiffs claim that Linden Lab did not fulfill their obligations under the DMCA when given due-process notification.

Nevertheless, virtual world or not, this is just an ordinary copyright issue, like the scan of a book or magazine, an MP3 rip of a CD or similar. Was the content subject to copyright? Yes. Was it duplicated without the copyright owner's consent? Yes. Was the intent malicious, greedy, gainful or intended to cause harm? Yes.

Not a tough case to argue. It remains to be seen what, if any, defense is mounted against it. As always, Benjamin Duranske at Virtually Blind has extensive coverage of the story for anyone interested in more information.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,170,000 at an exchange rate of L$267 to US$1
• Exchanged US$257,000 at an average of US$10,700.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$184,000
• Market sales were US$72,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$1,300
• The busiest time was at 5am when about US$18,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 8am when about US$6,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,021,000 at an exchange rate of L$266.8 to US$1
• Exchanged US$209,000 at an average of US$8,700.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$157,000
• Market sales were US$51,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$200
• The busiest time was at 5pm when about US$13,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 4am when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$987,000 at an exchange rate of L$267.3 to US$1
• Exchanged US$194,000 at an average of US$8,100.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$152,000
• Market sales were US$42,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$200
• The busiest time was at 10am when about US$12,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 12pm when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,071,000 at an exchange rate of L$267.6 to US$1
• Exchanged US$201,000 at an average of US$8,400.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$147,000
• Market sales were US$54,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$600
• The busiest time was at 1pm when about US$13,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 3am when about US$4,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,222,000 at an exchange rate of L$269.6 to US$1
• Exchanged US$248,000 at an average of US$10,300.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$163,000
• Market sales were US$84,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$1,300
• The busiest time was at 4pm when about US$16,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 2am when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,207,000 at an exchange rate of L$272.2 to US$1
• Exchanged US$226,000 at an average of US$9,400.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$161,000
• Market sales were US$63,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$800
• The busiest time was at 5pm when about US$15,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 10pm when about US$6,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,099,000 at an exchange rate of L$271.6 to US$1
• Exchanged US$222,000 at an average of US$9,300.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$161,000
• Market sales were US$60,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$1,100
• The busiest time was at 7am when about US$15,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 4am when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,185,000 at an exchange rate of L$266 to US$1
• Exchanged US$239,000 at an average of US$10,000.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$173,000
• Market sales were US$66,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$500
• The busiest time was at midnight when about US$19,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was noon when about US$5,000 was exchanged.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Spent US$1,073,000 at an exchange rate of L$268.5 to US$1
• Exchanged US$222,000 at an average of US$9,300.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$139,000
• Market sales were US$82,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$1,900
• The busiest time was at 6pm when about US$23,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 7am when about US$0 was exchanged.

Again with the 7am glitch...

Benjamin Duranske of Virtually Blind has drilled down on the Movable Life client's Terms of Service. We gave an overview of the Movable Life client here. Duranske observes that the Terms of Service for Movable Life appear to have some problematic terms with respect to intellectual property.

6.2 Intellectual Property Rights. You acknowledge and agree that 3Di and/or its Affiliates retain the sole and exclusive right, title, and interest in and to the Intellectual Property Rights in this Site, the Movable Life Services, Site Code and Site Contents and all copies thereof, in whole and in part. All ideas, techniques, inventions, systems, formulae, discoveries, technical information, programs, prototypes, and similar developments (the "Developments") developed, created, discovered, made, written, or obtained by you in the course of or as a direct or indirect result of accessing or using this Site and/or Movable Life Services, and all related industrial property, copyrights, patent rights, trade secrets, and other forms of protection thereof, shall be and remain the property of 3Di, and/or its Affiliates. You agree to execute or cause to be executed such assignments and applications, registrations, and other documents and to take such other action as may be requested by 3Di and/or its Affiliate to enable them to protect their rights to any such Developments. [Emphasis by Duranske]

It's the sort of boilerplate you find forgotten in many contracts - but it is a nasty surprise to find it there - Concievably it might not be intentional, though if it is that would be quite rude. Go check out what Duranske has to say on the matter.

Always read the fine print.

Yesterday in Second Life we:

• Exchanged US$206,000 at an average of US$8,600.0 per hour.
• Market buys were US$144,000
• Market sales were US$61,000
• Limit-limit buys were US$1,100
• The busiest time was at 4pm when about US$20,000 was exchanged.
• The quietest time was 7am when about US$0 was exchanged.

Again with the 7am $0 exchange...

Not irreversably. Not irredeemably, certainly. However, their first step seems to have been a stumble. Make a mental list of the things they could get wrong in establishing a Second Life presence. It appears that Armani have managed to check-off most of the high-points there. And it's a damn shame, because people expected better. Hallmark of quality and all that, right? That tallies up to another black mark.

Iris Ophelia takes a critical look at Armani's efforts, and both that and the comments that follow are worth the read, particularly the comment from Tenshi Vielle.

Second Style's Grazia Horwitz also weighs in on the matter, among others.

If this was Wal-Mart, or Joe's Hamster Hut, or even Seven-Eleven, I don't think that there would be such a problem. This is however, Armani, and the expectations of people insofar as the brand reputation just have not been met. It's not classy, or innovative. It's basically pedestrian, and fails to meet basic cost versus quality expectations.

It's not wretched. It's not awful. It's not bad. It's merely mediocre, demonstrating a lack of imagination, a lack of flair, and a lack of willingness to make the most of the tools.

That's not the image we associate with Armani - yet, there it is, for the world to see. It doesn't appear to have been a matter of cost, so much as a shortage of excellence.

I hope Armani will reevaluate their approach and attempt to improve. Few will hold it against them if they do.