There are widespread reports today that Linden Lab has removed all content from Second Life (from in-world, and from user inventories and object contents) that were the work of a small number of users, apparently over DMCA issues.
Hitherto, Linden Lab has a reputation for only taking down specific, identified items in-world -- stuff that you could point to. Indeed, it attracted criticism for not also removing other copies of such items from in-world and from user-inventories.
Now, it seems the Lab is going large, and doing just that.
Two of the names mentioned so far are Eva Capalini, and Loni Arado -- neither of whom appear in the Second Life user database anymore (banned or canceled accounts).
The content in question appear to be scripts and textures which have been either distributed as free, full-permissions items, or sold for incorporation in other products -- and therein lies the problem.
Hincapie Schmertzin (posting on the Second Life forums) said, "We are running a shoe business and based many of our shoes on patterns bought from Loni Arado. Every pattern was obviously purchased in good faith - just as our buyers bought shoes in good faith. Today, we and they woke up to every single pair of shoes being non-rezzable. As such, the problem has ended up in the hands of ordinary secondlifers running businesses."
Second Life user Joshua Nightshade has created a JIRA issue, requesting clarification from Linden Lab for their apparently unannounced change in DMCA policy.
The affected content appears to be scripts and textures, many of which are widely used. It seems that any content with Eva Capalini or Loni Arado listed as the creator is simply no longer available, including sculpt-textures and widely used animation/pose scripts.
Reports are a little confused as to whether objects containing the blacklisted components were removed entirely, or whether only the components themselves are no longer available within the system, but in the cases we've verified so far, it seems to be the latter. This seems to particularly affect many versions of the very popular 'MLP scripts' (originally created by Miffy Fluffy) and widely used in a large variety of products over a number of years.
To be clear, Miffy Fluffy's content is still good, but certain copies of it by some other creators may not be. Various textures from other creators are similarly affected.
If you purchased such a product, the content is now broken, and you've wound up the loser. The creators who have had their content blacklisted have more than likely profited from the venture. The store where you bought your lost products may have acquired the components in good faith.
Certainly, the move could well shake the faith in the Second Life economy, as many quite reputable creators and sellers are affected by this, and the loss of confidence may injure the businesses of many more. Additionally, we have what appears to be a change in action policy without prior notice.
Wholesale content removal (based on a correct or incorrect claim) is the norm in many DMCA actions online. The remover of the content (in this case) Linden Lab, is indemnified by the DMCA for any liability or loss to third parties as a result of such a content takedown, so long as the procedure is followed rigorously.
It's conceivable that some creators will start to put up signs to reassure customers, about refund policies or claiming 100% original content -- but people who are stealing content are able to do the same, so that's hardly a good guide.
It is rumored that Linden Lab will be making some sort of official statement on the matter in the coming days.
We have contacted Linden Lab for official comment.
