[p2p-research] urgent comments on second life conflict?

[Michel Bauwens]

Please send your comments for posting on this important development:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:42:32 +0000
From: marc garrett <marc.garrett at furtherfield.org>
Reply-To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity
    <netbehaviour at netbehaviour.org>
To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity
    <netbehaviour at netbehaviour.org>
Subject: [NetBehaviour] Second Life To Remove Free Content From Web Search.
Second Life To Remove Free Content From Web Search.
"In a move that continues to shake the Second Life community of content
creators, merchants, and consumers, Linden Labs has declared that free
virtual content will no longer be searchable without listing payments on
their website portal
(http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Managing_Freebies_on_Xs
treet_SL_Roadmap_FAQ);
and additional fees will be added with the intention of discouraging
content listed for inexpensive selling prices. The move is particularly
troubling because the online Web listing service is the de facto search
engine for virtual content in Second Life, since the in-world search
tools are unable to provide information about an object beyond name and
location - basic textual descriptions, pictures, or descriptions of
licensing, size, or content-category are not possible. While initially
the change was explained as a response to community feedback, the
residents involved in this feedback process were revealed to be fewer
than 100 in number, primarily larger merchants among a community of
millions. Within 24 hours of the announcement, the feedback thread
(https://blogs.secondlife.com/message/38923#38923) has swelled to over
1,000 overwhelmingly negative responses. Additionally, in-world protests
have erupted throughout the day, and over 20,000 objects have been
voluntarily removed from the online store by angered merchants."
Read on for more details on the brouhaha.
Adding to the controversy are the officially stated justifications in
the FAQ
(http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Managing_Freebies_on_Xs
treet_SL_Roadmap_FAQ),
such as 'They [free content listings] hinder the shopping experience
because a "sort by price" puts all freebies first,' and the perplexing
statement 'They [free listings] garner so much attention that Residents
are driven toward the freebies instead of quality, fairly priced items.'
Various independent virtual content listing sites have been proposed,
such as Meta-life.net (http://meta-life.net/) and Slapt.me
(http://slapt.me/), but attempts to post this information on the Second
Life forums has been met with aggressive administrative censorship of
these links.
Found originally on slashdot.org
marc
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