On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 9:18 AM, Ryan McDougall <[email protected]> wrote: > Regarding SL's new Third Party Viewer (TPV) policy here: > > http://secondlife.com/corporate/tpv.php > > There a number of onerous requirements that will be problematic for > Naali, such as (emph mine): > > * "[TPV] must use a protocol that is compatible with the protocol of > [LL]’s viewers **as it is documented in our source code**" > > * "You must not use or provide any functionality that [LL]’s viewers > do not have for exporting content" > > * "You agree to update or delete at our request any data that you have > received from [SL] or our servers and systems" > > * "[Developers] are responsible for all features, functionality, code, > and content of [TPV] that you develop or distribute." (!!) > > * "[You must not] expose [SL] users, [LL], or third parties to legal > liability or harm as determined by us in **our sole discretion**." > > * "You assume all risks, expenses, and defects of any [TPV] that you > use, develop, or distribute." > > * "If we believe that your [TPV] is not in compliance, we may request > that you add, modify, or remove features, functionality, code or > content, and you agree to comply with the request within a reasonable > timeframe specified by [LL]." > > * "[LL] reserve the right [...] to pursue any and all legal and > equitable remedies." > > * Plus a number of requirements that while more sensible, create a > burden of supporting SL's quality of service that is beyond the scope > of our project given our resources. > > * Problems surrounding our modularity; where anyone can use naali to > load any sort of module. > > (Definitions: > * [TPV is] any third-party software client on any device that logs > into our servers > * [Developer is] any person or entity who develops or distributes a [TPV]) > > A careful reading of the policy makes it appear as is merely > implementing the SL protocols makes one instantly liable the second > anyone ever logs into SL. However, a LL employee (Joe Linden) > clarifies further here: > > https://lists.secondlife.com/pipermail/opensource-dev/2010-March/001298.html > > "If a developer of a TPV never uses it to connect to SL, there is > nothing in that document that applies to them. Period. By the same > token, if that viewer is designed and intended to be used to access > the Second Life grid(s) there are responsibilities that follow, both > for users of those viewers and for developers." > > Which means we as developer can avoid the above TPV policy so long as: > * none of us use Naali to log into SL ourselves > * declare that Naali is not designed and intended to access SL; ie. if > Naali can connect and use SL, it is an incidental result of connecting > and using OpenSim ('s LLClientStack) > > While the TPV policy seems like one huge own-goal to me, Joe gives us > a way to keep Naali safe from potential future legal action from LL. > > I would like to ask if we can make this policy of the project. > > PS. I don't believe that this policy would have any negative effect on > OpenSim's SL-based feature support in Naali. On the contrary, my hope > is that Naali can be used with the many popular OpenSim grids using SL > protocols. Only the services hosted by LL are problematic. > > Cheers, >
PPS. Nor does this stop Naali **users** from connecting to SL using Naali -- it only means that you as a **user** agree to the TPV policy -- you haven't shifted liability on the developers in any way. -- http://groups.google.com/group/realxtend http://www.realxtend.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to realxtend+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
