Inworldz's Relaunch as Islandz Inevitably Beset by IP Rights Protest Drama

Since posting about community members of the now defunct Inworldz rallying to crowdfund a new OpenSim-based world called Islandz early last week,  the comment thread has been overwhelmed by angry complaints from Inworldz users, mainly protesting the ownership status of Inworldz's back-up OAR files, and their rights over them. Difficult for me to piece out which allegations are accurate, but Chic Aeon summarizes the ensuing complaints quite well, responding to a complaint from the apparent leader of the Elf Clan, which moved its roleplaying community from SL to InWorldz many years ago:

We always have risks. We lose our digital goods. It happens. It frequently happens in SL simply because of database failures. So we don't even need to be part of a defunct grid to watch our items disappear into the mist. I have copies of all my items uploaded into Inworldz. Hopefully your clan members do also. They of course have no rights to movable copies of items they purchased unless that was an agreement with the content creator (at least one texture store OKed movement to another grid but that is the only one I have heard about).

So we will see what happens but I am guessing that things are going to either die quickly or get VERY messy here soon. :D

If things weren't messy, it wouldn't be the metaverse now would it?

Comments

[sweet valentine]

i ok'd use of my textures,cupids textures, there but then removed the ok when i was attacked by the owner and her flunkies...they basically said they have a right to do what they want with any of our IP and i needed to be silent...i will take care of my customers personally now ......i give no license for use in this grid and state so in my new TOU

[rei]

I find myself more interested in where Elf Clan lands than the fate of Inworldz/Islandz. I was impressed Elf Clan thrived after leaving SL, but a month with no home is a long time for a virtual community - Folks just sort of wander off.....

[Macphisto Angelus]

Rei, Way keeps things updated on the official blog.

http://elfclan.spruz.com/blog.htm?cat_id=FAE1091F-7152-41D9-80CC-57E6D0219476

Right now they are working on self hosting from what I read.

[sirhc deSantis]

Right now on ex grid channel the talk is of - the weather.

[Wayfinder]

Greetings all. It has certainly been an "interesting" 5+ weeks for Inworldz refugees... a time that has kept the Eldar of Elf Clan hopping looking not only for a new central home... but viable homes for our members as well. In this we have focused not on mourning our losses (which are certainly significant), but upon re-building and growth.

Rei makes a very good point, one that we realized by the end of the first week: the longer time passes, the more members will scatter in search of a new home. This isn't just a matter of, "Well that game is done, let's find a new game." For many people, the virtual worlds are their lives. The will not sit around waiting for someone to re-structure their social community.

At the same time we realized that Elf Clan was no longer "land-locked". Our arrangement with Inworldz was done (by their own statement), our members were finding homes on new grids... and we came to understand this was fine. Elf Clan is not a land-bound group; it is a concept. We are basically a family-friendly fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk group, and we can be anywhere and everywhere. This is especially true on the Hypergrid.

One can learn about latest group developments at our website:
http://elfclan.spruz.com

We invite our current members (and anyone who is interested in the group) to visit that site and (if desired) become an affiliate Elf Clan land on a grid of your choice. We realize Elf Clan will continue regardless of how many or how few lands form our group. Wherever the Elf Clan Banner flies, people know they will find visitor-welcoming, family-friendly lands of fantasy-themed beauty (or space ships and robots, whatever. We're flexible).

The concept of Elf Clan is changing, our horizons expanding. When we left Second Life we grew from 2 regions under one owner to 54 individually-owned lands. We cannot predict the future-- but the potential offered by OpenSim and the Hypergrid is definitely bright.