Nexeus' Venture: Open Source Content For The Metaverse

Nexeus Fatale, a veteran SL disc jockey, content creator, and community leader (he's one of the lead organizers of the Second Life Community Convention) has a new venture:  The Avaverse, a repository of free virtual content that comes with open source/Creative Commons licensing for use in SL and ultimately other virtual worlds.  (First item available: animation files optimized for creating Second Life avatar expresions.)  The goal, he writes, is "to provide quality, open, freely distributable content online" in a way that fosters innovation, just as the larger Internet benefits from open standards.  Launched late last week, it's a project that's perfectly timed to Linden's official announcement of SL-to-Open Sim interoperability, today.  The question of course, is how Avaverse will function in an internal market where entrepeneurs are fiercely protective of their proprietary content (occasionally over-much, some may say.)  Are Second Life's content creators ready for open standards in their virtual economy?

Comments

[ZOMGDieCommies!!!!]

inb4 Prok starts yelling about copyleftists,Stalinism, and how Mr. Fatale here is FORCING everyone else to give their stuff away free too...

AAAhahahahahaha

[Veeyawn Spoonhammer]

I have to say, as a content creator, I welcome the open source libraries of animation, texture, objects, etc. I know many in world creators spend a lot of time creating their stuff.

I also know a lot of creators who are enraged at the idea of free content don't mind doing a Google image search for the perfect texture that they don't own.

There's been plenty of times when I've been constructing some item I need to make for whatever purpose and I get annoyed that I need to go make some little animation like a wave or a laugh. Consider some things are nuts and bolts in SL. Would it not suck to have to create your own bolts in RL when building something?

[Troy McLuhan]

Open source, open standards and Creative Commons licenses are different things.

What I think is needed is a better understanding of what copyright is, what licenses are, what DRM/perms are, what standards are, and how they are related (or not).

[Osprey Therian]

It would be nice to be able to have my useful creations go to a project like this to live on past my own short lifespan.

Saying "Avaverse" feels funny though.

[Troy McLuhan]

Osprey raises an interesting point in my mind: Why would anyone name their SL project "Avaverse"? Are they av averse (averse to avatars), that is, strongly opposed to avatars? I suspect not, but their name says otherwise. Sigh.

[Barbarra Blair]

If the ported avatar did not look like the same avatar (but only a "ruth'), in exactly what sense was the avatar ported? It sounds like the user just logged into a new world with a new avatar--only the names were not changed?

[FlipperPA Peregrine]

I wish Nexeus great luck with this project! :)

[c3]

agreed, all 3 are quite different things...
but we are what we blog.

"Free" Stuff. Oh Joy.

c3

[Nexeus Fatale]

Thanks for the attention to the project Hamlet! It's very much appreciated!

Concerning the CC license, when I started this project I looked around at the best possible way to make the rules of how to use this clear; with so many different options (or not implicitly stating), I really wanted to use something that everyone is familiar with to get past many of the initial questions and concerns. While I recognize that CC may not be the best thing since sliced bread, I've yet to find something better to achieve the goal of the project. I felt that by using CC, I got past the open/open source/copyright issue because in a way it addresses all three.

@Osprey @Troy @Barbarra Your right, saying Avaverse is a bit funny. The name came from the combination of Avatar Verse, as I was trying to explain to someone a while ago the difference between the metaverse (which in my opinion relates strictly to virtual worlds) and that of our virtual represenations across virtual worlds, forums, social media, etc, etc. While the phrase did not stick, the name, I felt, was best suited. A resource of content for avatars. There for "avaverse".

Then again, as @c3 points out; between tweeting, plurking, blogging, uttering, facebook-ing, myspace-ing, lolcat-ing what's one more uncomfortable name?

[Ann Otoole]

Where did the animations come from? The problem I can easily predict is stolen IP will wind up in the library and cause the creator of the effort endless legal issues.

Good luck with it. The people that want you to fail will certainly be poisoning your well. Fact of life in business. Try to disrupt a money economy and you go down in flames usually.

[Nexeus Fatale]

@Ann I created these animation myself using DAZ Studio.