Second Inventory – Scam, Backup, or Copybot Revisited?
by Alphaville Herald on 07/02/08 at 6:41 pm
Can the in-world economy survive local backups of user-created content?
by d3adlyc0d3c, ex griefer
Use this power for good, never for evil
Surfing the internet the other day, I stumbled upon a discussion thread on slexchange.com about a product called Second Inventory – a new intellectual property theft tool – or is it a legitimate backup utility?
The authors claim that the software allows users to download objects in their inventory to their PC’s hard drive where it can be stored, and then imported with another account. Second Inventory was discovered by a few concerned merchants on slexchange under a week ago and is causing growing concern for residents who are wondering if possible copying of their virtual products might negatively impact their livelihood.
seller says this is not a “thief tool”
While the official Second Inventory site claim that Second Inventory is not a theft tool, saying there are ‘checks in place’ to ensure that users have ‘full perms’ or ‘were the original creator’ there have been some reports indicating that this might not always be the case. According to several individuals involved in discussing the product on slexchange, the pictures used to advertise the item did contain stolen prims.
Ann Otool says this is a thief tool
Within a few days of it’s discovery, slexchange had removed Second Inventory from sale, as did the onrez shopping site, but it appears the controversial software is still circulating through the author’s own web address at secondinventory.com.
Though we are not entirely clear on the mechanism by which this program operates, there is a suggestion that at least a portion of it works by intercepting object information/parameters from the cache and storing it locally. The concern is that there are claims that this object could allow one to steal scripts, something that until now was not an easy thing to do. Does this mark the beginning of a new copybot/ip theft controversy?
Ed DelRio
Feb 7th, 2008
Way to make it nice and easy for people to get the software. You even posted the link to the website. Could you have provided them with better advertising?
nimrod yaffle
Feb 7th, 2008
I actually had a few people IM me about this. They said they could not get the program to login or something, but also that the seller actually copied parts of their buildings when he demoed it.
d3adlyc0d3c
Feb 7th, 2008
Its not a secret where to get it.
Copybot
Feb 7th, 2008
Hey guys, just dropping in and saying hi. No one seems to love me anymore. It’s not my fault all I know how to do is copy, it’s in my name! It’s all I know how to do. Someone walks up and says, “Hey Copybot, how’s it going?” and I just copy everything they’re wearing. I can’t say “Hello” or “Hi” or “How bout them Patriots?” You guys have no idea how hard my life is these days.
My only friends are other bots, and they’re so one dimensional. I’ll be talking to Landbot: “Hey, how’s the weather? Virtual enough for ya?” And Landbot will reply, “I made this wicked purchase in Furness from some fool who set their land to sale at L$1″. Me: “That’s nice. Lovely outfit there.” Landbot: “Did I tell you about that sale in Braunworth I swooped down on?” and so on. He’s so thick headed, it’s always about land land land. Talk about a workoholic. And don’t get me started on Sexbot or Cornbot.
So, I’m just asking for kindness. Maybe a hello once in a while. Maybe not talk about me like I’m the second coming of the antiChrist. Please? Pretty Please?
Anomouse
Feb 7th, 2008
Second Inventory has a copyright protection system that allowes you to duplicate the item only if you have the Copy/Mod/Transf permissions, or if you are the original creator of the content. This is usefull also if you made an item and lost the full perms example, you can recreate it from a no perms copy.
…
really dont see the problem here
Greefin Oh
Feb 7th, 2008
I’m surprised this thing isn’t circulating on any of the torrent trackers yet.
Well eventually it will, thanks to SLH.
Razrcut Brooks
Feb 7th, 2008
Interesting article as I like to read about new products. If it was not so darn expensive, I would give it a try. Maybe SLH staff could all pitch in and try it to give its readers a product review?
Wankerette
Feb 8th, 2008
You can’t buy it at the developer’s website, their purchasing capability is not in place as of this writing. Perhaps there’s still some controversy preventing its sale.
d3adlyc0d3c
Feb 8th, 2008
We’re not sure if its a scam or not.
Kalel Venkman
Feb 8th, 2008
The capacity of griefers intent upon stealing the hard work of Second Life citizens never ceases to amaze me.
Ann Otoole
Feb 8th, 2008
the problem is that this is a local tool running on your pc so it is vulnerable to many exploit techniques.
and, as eloquently pointed out, there are many methods in use to rip content so this one would simply bring more order to the process as far as your local hard drive closet is concerned.
so let’s look at the noble merits of this tool for a second.
clearly the tool was thought out in respect to making a local backup of content.
this is something LL has claimed to be impossible.
well obviously it isn’t impossible if they would try or were capable of thinking in these ways. and LL’s very own sims are being “toted off” to central grid so somebody is making backups outside of LL’s network infrastructure.
so how does this tool need to work?
it needs to:
- be part of the sl client.
- use server side calls to authenticate permissions.
- encrypt all data using a nice level of encryption that does not have some agency’s trap doors.
- data stored for one account be inaccessible to other accounts.
- retain the in world rezzed permissions.
- fail if the permissions have the asterisk in the next owner permissions.
- data be transferable between computers but not across accounts.
- disallow restoring an object that was backed up which still exists in inventory (this is the thorny part).
- theres probably more requirements but you probably get my main point here.
so if the sl client had such a local content backup capability then inventory loss wouldn’t be so bad.
if an entire sim can be “backed up” and spirited off to central grid then backups are possible. too bad LL won’t address this high priority user requirement. LL won’t address content theft either so these discussions are generally moot.
the idea was noble. if it’s intent were purely to be a thief tool i doubt it would have been published in the manner it was. if your a professional thief with 4-8 sims, etc., it would not be in your best interests for everyone in sl to beat you at your own game. so why would you want the new tool published? you wouldn’t.
sadly some things are unavoidable. software running locally can have it’s data memory tampered with easily so all “content backup” activities must use secure transactions passed through a secure server. therefore a backup system must be part of the client.
since other entities are carrying off entire sims there is no longer any valid argument against providing this functionality in the sl client other than the list of undesired shines nobody asked for come first. to bad “making backups” sounds like a boring DBA and sys admin chore so such a feature is not “kewl” and will therefore never be selected by a linden following the tao and picking what they want to work on.
Chalice Yao
Feb 8th, 2008
Also:
http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=37289&start=0
for the original SLX thread, where the creator explains takes a stance and explains few things.
Witness X
Feb 8th, 2008
“The capacity of griefers intent upon stealing the hard work of Second Life citizens never ceases to amaze me.”
Yeah, one problem with your logic train: griefers didn’t do this, dipshit.
You never cease to amaze me. You’re be back soon and probably rail on NIKOLA OMG HE DONE THIS OMG OMG.
Tenshi Vielle
Feb 8th, 2008
I blogged about this at Shopping Cart Disco over the weekend and everything was fine and dandy until one reader saw in a screenshot that they were actually copying a Mod/Copy item, not one with full perms as the creator claims.
anonymous
Feb 8th, 2008
basically repackaged copybot.
though it’d be better if LL created something that only copied items that are owned by you and created by you. or if not created by you, it retains those permissions.
Kalel Venkman
Feb 8th, 2008
“Yeah, one problem with your logic train: griefers didn’t do this, dipshit.”
O GOD THAT WASN’T ME LOL!
How would you know if that was me?!?! I said I was nevar gonna poast again LOL!
LOLOLOLOLOLOL SLH NEEDS AN VERIFICATION LOLOLOL BECAUSE I’M SUBJECT TO TROLLING ALL DER TIEM, CUS IM SUCH AN STUPID FAGGOT ROFLCOPTER LOLLERSKATES
Autumn Heyse
Feb 8th, 2008
What happens when you back up no copy/trans things, rez them so they are no longer in inventory, then restore your inventory backup?
SqueezeOne Pow
Feb 8th, 2008
So does anyone know if this has the capacity to upload to other grids (i.e. Central Grid)? If so this could be a good deal!
I do see the potential issues of this program but the author of this article doesn’t give much actual information.
It would probably have been more appropriate to
a) test it yourself so the article isn’t based on assumptions
b) get an interview with the actual creator
Anyway this could be good, but I be this’ll be like a lot of things that are supposed to be “miracle machines” in SL and not really work all that well.
Corona
Feb 8th, 2008
Yeah, one problem with your logic train: griefers didn’t do this,
yeh right I would be very surprised if the greifers did not
given that griefers are the sort of people that would find raping five year old girls in real life
‘amusing’ (sic)
it is douptful if are there any depths of disruption and ‘lulz’ to which they would not lower themselves to try
after all their stated aim is to wreck SL so why would they not steal too ?
Penny Sautereau
Feb 8th, 2008
Never encountered a Copybot so far. DID once get my shape turned into Gumby’s evil crackhead anorexic twin by someone’s hug gesture. Fun stuff.
d3adlyc0d3c
Feb 8th, 2008
‘Never encountered a Copybot so far. DID once get my shape turned into Gumby’s evil crackhead anorexic twin by someone’s hug gesture. Fun stuff’
LOL yeah, you know you can get an undeformer for free that will return your avatar back to normal so you don’t have to relog. Those gestures are fun to play with though.
anonymous
Feb 8th, 2008
is griefers the new “terrorist” or new “communist” ?
You dont have to be a griefer to be a SCAM ARTIST, or a THIEF. You idiot.
Take your McCarthyist mentality and take a sugar frosted fuck off the mortal coil.
NoName
Feb 8th, 2008
These comment posers are getting really really damn irritating.
Except I don’t know what is worse, the posers, or the ones who fall for the poser’s tactics and fake comments under another’s name.
RealUltimatePower.net
Feb 8th, 2008
The King’s Gold/Babes
Scene 1:
In the olden days, there was this sweet king that had mounds of gold and babes. These pirates decided to steal the mounds and surrounded the castle and everybody freaked, except the king who was like “Chill homies, I’ll handle this crap.”
The pirates stood outside the castle walls and were like “You think you are so cool, but guess what, you’re not. Good luck dying!” Then the king replied “Yeah right. How would you like to meet my best friends?”
Then out of nowhere there was a small sound of a guitar wailing really really hard behind the hills. The wailing started getting louder and louder and louder. Then out of nowhere there was this one sweet ass ninja standing on top of a huge hill. Everybody was like “Woooooooooooow!” He was wearing all black and he had this jet red guitar in his hands. Then smoke smoked over the hills like trains. But the smoke was ninjas. And the pirates saw about a billion ninjas with guitars standing on top this his huge hill. And they started to wail…
When the ninjas wailed on their guitars, the pirates started spraying diarrhea on each other and loved it. And when they wailed harder, the pirates sprayed harder. As the ninjas sauntered down the hill, the pirates’ chests and butts exploded. (They died from this.) Then the ninjas finally reached the boss pirate who was really huge. Out of nowhere the boss pirate pulled out this baby banjo and tried to fiddle with it like a little baby-baby. The ninjas were like “Yeah right.” and all the billions of ninjas surrounded the boss pirate. Half of the ninjas all combined to form the biggest guitar in the universe. The other half formed the second biggest boner in the universe. Then the huge guitar pointed right at the pirate, who was like “Holy CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!” Before the pirate could even do anything, the super boner slapped against the guitar making the hugest wail ever to happen anywhere ever. The pirate exploded so hard that every single one of his kids he would have had exploded and all of his grandparents exploded along with his neighbors and people who he merely said “hello” to.
Then there was this huge concert at the castle. All the babes in the castle morphed into this humongous female crotch. The huge boner and crotch porked softly, while slamming into the guitar and wailing. And guess what, the king sat on top of this huge pile of gold and babes and laughed his frigg’n ass off about how stupid the pirates were.
testclient
Feb 8th, 2008
How many times do I have to tell you idiots
It’s called testclient, and it’s free
I am a real ninja
Feb 9th, 2008
Robert Hamburger has a black belt in Street Fighter 2 and a second degree black belt in Mortal Kombat 1-3. He can kick or punch the wall without feeling pain. He has studied ninjas for several weeks and has watched a bunch of movies about them. Robert lives with a bunch of hot babes and porks them whenever he wants.
hur hur
Feb 9th, 2008
my testclients climb up into my body when Im cold
Penny Sautereau
Feb 9th, 2008
Seriously DC, I looked like Reed Richards had gone Neko and gotten a boob job. It was messed up.
Corona
Feb 9th, 2008
what is the relevance to the discussion
of the Ninjas and pirates in ‘scene’ one
it has no relation to the leading article and therefore is just pointless and silly
I am a real ninja
Feb 9th, 2008
Yeah I tend to look more like a praying mantis when it happens to me.
Also some people on the sldev mailing list are talking about the client, but it doesnt seem like the list moderators are letting me send replies. I wanted to interview the guy who said he was using it and find out whats going on. The only thing I’ve heard him say was that it was pretty full featured. lol I bet he’s an SLH reader.
RoFLKOPTr
Feb 10th, 2008
@srs bsns fags (especially Kalel):
“OMG GRIEFERS GONNA STEAL MAH IMAGINARY PROPERTY LOLOLOLOL”
lol, what’s up with all you faggots and your paranoia? If we want to steal your shit, then we’re gonna steal your shit. The fact that we haven’t yet just goes to show that we don’t give a fuck about stealing your business. We aren’t going to make your shit ours and sell it for half-price, because that would go completely against what we stand for. We are here to ruin your business, not make it our own. You people make me lol.
Corona
Feb 10th, 2008
We are here to ruin your business,
well keep trying in your insignificantly feeble way
I have been a year in SL – and I have not yet met or seen any griefing
so you have a long way to go before you
Kalel Venkman
Feb 10th, 2008
@Corona:
“”
But you have heard of it. The only reason you haven’t experienced it yet is because you’re not one of our main targets. Don’t worry… we’ll ruin you soon.
Yo Brewster
Feb 11th, 2008
I’ve tried out this tool and was able to back up my own objects with success. It’s not using any hacks as some people are implying, it’s simply using libsecondlife to retrieve the info from your inventory which is really not all that difficult. It’s basically a 2nd life client without the graphics so when you’re logging in with this tool, people can see you online. I understand many people are worried when using 3rd party software and they should so using tools like this not officially supported by LL is of course always at your own risk. Many of us devs have been pleading for a very long time with LL to get some kind of backup system in place that would allow us to back up our own stuff so to me this is a great start.
Loki
Feb 11th, 2008
in the wake of Open grid, does this mean we may soon have a way to migrate inventories from one grid to another? Our objects, our homes, and our avatars look at least can migrate?
Archie Lukas
Feb 12th, 2008
It would be helpful if someone with the actual program, who had actually used it, wrote something.
This would confirm the publishers insistence (or mark it as a falsehood) that the program can’t break copyright issues. On the whole – the website makes sense.
Until then – this is just pissing into the wind.
Pointless!
Stop ya bleating sheep – be a RAM
wolli
Feb 12th, 2008
hey, wheres the problem to send your items, where you have full perm or where you are the creator, to another fresh created account and use this one as backup? you dont need to buy something therefore, eh? phew…
Yo Brewster
Feb 12th, 2008
Loki – a restore button is currently shown in the tool but doesn’t work yet. I assume it should be to hard to not only restore the item in Second Life but also in Open Sim future out. In my case, I’m just glad I can save my scripts that are stored in multi-prim objects. Again – don’t trust my word whether or not to trust a tool from an unknown third party but I’m pretty happy with the results. My personal opinion is still that Linden Lab should build this into their client but until then I feel (for me) this is the best alternative.
Zoya
Feb 9th, 2009
Wow I guess I have been out of the loop as to all the talk going on about this software program. I have been working with the creator on this since it’s introduction and our first and foremost concern is that this is NOT a copybot tool! You CAN NOT back up items that are not full mod. Meaning copiable/mod/trans. This is not a scam and this is not a thief tool. It is a brillant software program that has helped over 3000 people in SL already and the number is growing daily! Ease up off the critic’s until you actually try it out for yourself
thanks and enjoy!
Witness X
Feb 10th, 2009
LOLOL, more JLU butthurting!
Sockpuppeting Kalel Venkman becomes a national pasttime! He’s become a meme.
Torrent Lover
Feb 10th, 2009
@Zoya
I tried this tool, got a copy from a torrent site, and now that I tried it for myself I can say it is a Copybot tool. I was able to back up items I do not have full perms of nor created, then I recreated them on SL with your software on an alt account! Thanx a TON for releasing a Copybot in a nice box with packaging and a ripped off SL logo.
Zamiel Molokie
Jun 19th, 2009
Yeah just another expensive self indulgent promotional scam, 29 Euro ($50 Aussie) yep made of cash.. for what a bot?, Your no better than those “scammers” who try to charge you for torrents! (for illegal downloads?? charge me for it?)GET F#$KED!!, yeah again righto, and what did UR last black fella die of just out of curiosity? does that 50 bucks come with a FREE reach around also? or is that extra?, Gee I don’t mind being F@#ked but I like to be kissed..