{"id":3332,"date":"2013-10-25T23:03:25","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T22:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sl.governormarley.com\/?p=3332"},"modified":"2013-10-25T23:03:25","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T22:03:25","slug":"tos-we-fade-to-peter-gray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sl.governormarley.com\/?p=3332","title":{"rendered":"TOS – We Fade To (Peter) Gray"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just when you’re talking about Linden Lab’s lack of response to the TOS issues (still need a name for this folks) Kylie of the United Content Creators Of Second Life (UCCSL … see acronyms, it’s all about acronyms) has received a response<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Linden Lab need to get all official and make a measured and official response they have a man for the task, a man who possibly wears a suit, sunglasses and carries a briefcase with a combination lock.<\/p>\n

One man on a lonely platform<\/em>
\nOne case sitting by his side<\/em>
\nTwo eyes staring cold and silent<\/em>
\nShows fear as he turns to hide<\/em><\/p>\n

Ah, we fade to grey, Peter Gray<\/em><\/p>\n

Look, there’s always room for some Visage! Anyway more importantly, the reply. I’m not going to copy and paste the email, it’s in the link above, but the email is the most encouraging sign yet that Linden Lab are actually listening to the concerns of content creators. There is also other intriguing information in the email, such as Linden Lab looking to open avenues for people to sell content across platforms for their other products.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The email outlines that part of the purpose of a unified TOS across the Linden Lab product range is to allow content creators to engage in user to user transactions across Linden Lab’s other products. There has been some speculation about this in various forums, but it was merely speculation.<\/p>\n

The email also suggests that Linden Lab are reviewing the TOS to see if changes can be made to reassure content creators.<\/p>\n

However, on the other side of the coin the email suggests that Linden Lab do not want to go back to the previous wording and again raises the issue of sell and re-sell, which I really do not understand because Linden Lab are acting as agents to enable sales, they do no sell and re-sell, they act as the agent to put the cust0mer in touch with the content creator.<\/p>\n

Just to try and explain what I’m getting at here, this is what eBay UK say about their role<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“eBay does not have possession of anything listed or sold through eBay, and is not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers. The contract for the sale is directly between buyer and seller.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

eBay make this distinction clear for a reason, if you’re selling or re-selling you cannot take the hands off approach Linden Lab do to transactions, if you’re selling or re-selling you have additional responsibilities to that of someone who is merely an agent to help the buyer find the seller. I’m surprised that Linden Lab want to put themselves in a position whereby they are selling or re-selling.<\/p>\n

It’s not just eBay who make this distinction, Travel Republic<\/a> is a holiday search website, you can find hotels, flights, package holidays from lots of different providers. I’ve used this site, it’s useful, but they point out that they are not selling:<\/p>\n

“Travel Republic is a travel search website acting as agent only. Each product (e.g. flight, hotel or car hire) has its own price independent of any other products booked at the same time and creates a separate contract directly between you and the provider of that product. Travel Republic champions value, choice and flexibility and does not sell, organise or arrange package holidays.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Anyway, the email from Peter Gray is encouraging in so much as it’s a sign that Linden Lab are listening and are looking to see if a compromise can be met, but it’s far from addressing the main concerns of content creators and it’s odd that Linden Lab want to put themselves in a position that sites like eBay and Travel Republic go out of their way to insist they’re not in.<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a>
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