Kokopelli Racetrack Owner Killed In Copybot Abuse Report Collision!!!
by Alphaville Herald on 06/12/09 at 5:21 pm
Greg Drayman executed by Linden Lab – racetrack closed
by Millennium Sands – pictures courtesy of Caz Fresc
The world of Second Life motorsports suffered a severe loss when Greg Drayman, famous race driver and owner of Kokopelli Raceway Park (KRP), was banned from the grid by Linden Lab at the end of November. Greg's appeal to LL was denied on December 2 and Kokopelli was closed on the following day.
Greg Drayman was banned for the use of CopyBot or "another means to circumvent the permissions system", as an e-mail from LL puts it.
In a lengthy statement that can be found in the Kokopelli Forums, Mr. Drayman admits that he used CopyBot, but claims to have used it only for private purposes. Mr. Drayman's deep dissatisfaction with the Lab's handling of his case may be seen in a Kokopelli Raceway Park forum entry titled "Greg Drayman's Final Words to Second Life".
The execution of Greg Drayman is shocking news for race drivers all over the grid, and even more so because there is evidence that it was a fellow driver who backstabbed Greg by filing an abuse report against him.
Those who knew Greg well share his feeling that LL handled his case unfairly and that the relation between punishment and actual "crime" is out of balance.
The loss of Kokopelli is without question a big one to the SL community as a whole.
While many racetracks struggle to find racers lately for a variety of reasons, Kokopelli was always a track that attracted a load of veteran drivers as well as newcomers and spectators. Not everybody agreed with Greg's complicated sytem of rules for racing, but that didn't keep 20 or more drivers from showing up two days a week and race at events that lasted for 6 hours and featured competitions in several classes.
With a great layout, not too simple and not too complicated cars, and remarkable low lag, Kokopelli was a magnificent racetrack and a home for a consistent community of race fans and drivers.
Eliminating a main attraction and great example for "clean", PG-compatible fun like this without thinking twice was probably not one of the Lab's smartest decisions, but it shows the Lab's determination to enforce the ToS without consideration of their own or anyone else's good.
Mary Elizabeth
Dec 6th, 2009
Moral of the story: Don’t use Copybot.
Miss Jay
Dec 6th, 2009
Stop using Copybot and use inventory back up the correct way!
Kae
Dec 6th, 2009
Moral of the story: Don’t use Copybot and keep botted things out so people can AR it. Especially if you’re high-profile.
I feel for this guy though. Some dude backs up some of the crap he has and gets terminated, while thousands of blingtards hobble around in copybotted everything purchased from freebie-stores, or Brazilian “jaja”-heads decked out in anti-inspect shields blatantly display the prims they copied– usually under their own name, by using the leaked version of Cryo.
At0m0 Beerbaum
Dec 7th, 2009
LOL.
one less pubbie
Inniatzo
Dec 7th, 2009
I read the statement on his webpage and while I don’t know anything about this racing stuff, but he says “descripting is practically demanded at all racetracks nowadays,” which makes sense for all sorts of reasons. I’ve done this. I have boots I really like but they have one of those heel walking sound scripts. I found the offending script and ripped it out. But it looks like this guy did something else:
“My “crime”, as far as I can tell, was the copying of objects I already owned in order to create unscripted versions, as it is reasonably well-known that CopyBot only copies prim and texture data and does not copy scripts or any contents of an object. This amounted to (at my estimate) three pairs of shoes and one hairstyle in three different colors.”
So he buys something and it’s no copy and he wants to take the scripts out, but he doesn’t want to lose the original. One thing to do would be to take the scripts out and write down which prims they came from. That’s rather tedious, so the other way to do it would be to buy two copies of the thing.
But if he is using copybot or whatever to make extra copies of someone’s nocopy item… well… that’s not the way you are supposed to do it. It’s not as if the ban on copybot is some little known provision. I find it hard to believe he did this without being fully aware its a TOS violation. He did it anyway and he got caught and tossed off the grid.
There is a strange sense of outraged entitlement in reading this guy’s post. He puts “crime” in quotes – because of course, obviously what he did is not anything wrong. He adds that “Never once have I distributed anything to another person that was not my creation” which may be true but is irrelevant. You make illegal copies you can get in trouble it doesn’t matter what you do with them.
Then there is the common complaint that someone else is doing it, there are so many who are worse (all of which might be true), and so mean LL should leave poor little me alone. He says, “While known copybotters continue to roam SL unpunished, even after reports have been filed against them, a guy backing up his own stuff was banned without warning and the appeal thrown out.” For one thing he wasn’t backing up his own stuff, he wanted scripted and unscripted versions. If it was that important to have both he should bought two copies.
And then there is something where it seems to think Linden Lab in dealing with people using SL should be subject to the Sixth Amendment. Sigh. Sure, just ignore the bit about it applying to criminal prosecutions, you know the sort with police and judges and courtrooms for those who break actual laws, not a little TOS.
At the end he adds, “I will maintain my innocence long after this issue has stopped being the topic of the hour.” Ignoring of course the fact that a few paragraphs up he admitted he had done this stuff.
I don’t know this guy. Maybe he’s beloved by millions. Maybe he is innocent. (Despite the fact that he says he isn’t.) I have no idea. But after reading his statement, which oozes with outraged entitlement — Yeah I did something wrong, but I had a damn good reason, and also the guy who turned me is an asshole, so it ain’t fair — I certainly don’t have any sympathy for him.
Moral Eros
Dec 7th, 2009
1. Export with Neil, import with Emerald.
2. Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing.
3. Don’t do this crap in public sandboxes where you will get caught.
4. Use an Alt(s)
5. Profit.
Seriously, I’ve used copybot in the past to back up my own inventory. Not once have I been caught, or terminated for such activities. I now understand why most of these pubs get busted so much. Haters… and outright ignorance of what the user does with such programs.
Oh I’ve been popped by the Lindens for other things of course. Unfairly I might add. But never for copybotting.
I see nothing wrong with people backing up their own inventory, as long as they are not doing this to gain a profit off of someone elses work, or merely passing out crap to random people because “It’s Free LOLZ!”.
Anyways, all this copybotting crap is probably gonna come to an end once the new Mandatory Viewer Registration process comes into play. I can’t wait to see the shit storm the client devs are going to have when that happens.
Cheers!
Mony
Dec 7th, 2009
Er… I would be VERY interested in backing up my inventory. Could someone tell me how to do it without being banned please?
What is cheaper in the long run? Trials or an expensive appeal model versus the current “Just ban them all, who has time for that crap?” kind of thing, that we have now.
All Seeeing Eye
Dec 8th, 2009
@Moral Eros: The LL devs found out about thise plans and revolted.
One senior dev Linden resigned.
You haven’t heard another word about it since have you?
Don’t hold your breath. LL isn’t going to get rid of copybot.
Ari Blackthorne
Dec 9th, 2009
“the Lab’s determination to enforce the ToS without consideration of their own or anyone else’s good.”
The hypocrisy causes me consideration to hospitalize myself for the intense pain of laughter I must constantly endure.
Firstly the whiners and crybabies break-out pitchforks and torches to cruscify and chastise anyone and everyone even accused of using Copybot, Neillife Viewer or even simple (and useful) prim-replicators, demanding they be banned forever from the SL grid.
Then statements like the above quote from this article come along.
Talk about selective rules and perspectives. Just goes to discredit all whiners and crybabies to feel the need to bitch about Linden lab every time they sneeze.
Crazy Chick
Dec 10th, 2009
Greg did not tell anyone about what he did. He was AR’d for using BOTs to generate traffic, which was not true, because he didnt’ use BOTS he used 2 alts of his, however you go to other “well known” race tracks in SL that use up to 20 ALTS at a time to generate traffic and nothing is done. Once the AR was filed on Greg, LL went in and investigated his inventory and what not, this is how the copybotted items came into play. So it’ snot like he was bragging about using a copybot to make a backup of no copy items, he was AR’d for ALTS which in most cases is a warning, then second offence is 3 day ban etc. Although this is a great article, it is missing a few key points, that you guys, the general public, were left out on. COPYBOTTING IS AN OFFENCE, if you are doing so to re-sell items, or pass them out for free. Greg did neither, only used them for his own purposes. Then you have asshats like carducci, who copybot shit in SL (and YES he was caught) and he gets off with just a fucking warning, or P&S motors (not prime and sapphire, another one), who have been reported, and were given a warnign to remove those items, did so and are still in game. This isn’t about the copybotting offence as far as i can see, this is about how quick they were to ban greg, but you still have ASSHATS like that running around STILL copybotting! Some say justice was served to greg, I say Greg was screwed and LL needs to consider his appeal.
Segfault
Dec 12th, 2009
Das groesste Schwein im ganzen Land, das ist und bleibt der Denunziant.
Mako Mabellon
Dec 15th, 2009
Inniatzo: probably “no modify” rather than “no copy”. You can’t remove or disable scripts in no-modify objects anymore…
Prof. Archie Lukas
Dec 15th, 2009
…and he re-launched under another name the next day!
asshat
Dec 16th, 2009
if hes on sl he might be under a barrowed name, thus him havin a history of copybotting, that account is in the balence to? desperation i tell you
Sapphire Hotaling
Dec 16th, 2009
I’ve known Greg for almost all of my SL life…you will never meet a person with more integrity, both on the track and off. What happened to him was the childish retribution of a backwoods homer who was caught at, and called out on cheating.
‘Homer’…didn’t know a copybot from a traffic bot, from an autobot, from an assbot. I know this, because there were more than a few occasions he made comments about the ‘copybots’ on fan hill. Which, weren’t bots at all, but avs logged on for various purposes. Spotting races, watching the track from different angles, and yes, for traffic. “Homer” obviously, with the help of a few of his cartoon buddies, filed a mass of false ARs, to ‘get back’ at Greg for calling him and his buddies out on cheating in races.
Greg Drayman did use a copybot viewer, however, his reasons for this were experimental…Having been the victim of copybotting himself (drivers getting their cars copybotted and rezzed in front of them…with no help from LL on this matter either) as well as my partner, who builds choppers in SL. For both my partner and Greg, LL did NOTHING to assist them with this! So…it’s left to us residents to try and find ways to combat the stealing of our creations. Greg simply wanted to know, to find out on his own, if there was a way we could stop our creations from being copied. Let me put it this way…do you know of ANY military in the world, that’s going to go to battle with an enemy and NOT know what they’re up against? Seriously, here.
In the days, and week(s) that have ensued since this stupidity took place…I am appalled at the actions of others. ‘Homer’, who initiated the complaint is now strutting around SL…acting like David who slew the Giant. How sick of a person does it take to be proud of taking something from so many people…all because they couldn’t stand to be responsible for their own actions? Now that, dear readers, is the ultimate in the ‘self-entitlement’ syndrome. I’ve even seen copybotted versions of Greg’s cars for sale on Xstreet!
One thing I do know. What happened in this latest episode of SL Racing…has set a precedence for the newest form of ‘griefing’ for all of SL. If you have differences with another av…and want them eliminated permanently…just get some of your buddies to go along with you and file a trumped up AR on them…and don’t forget to use the ‘catchphrase’ of the month…in this case, the dreaded ‘COPYBOTTING’…and the best part? Linden Labs won’t look into it…they’ll just take it at face value.
Split down the middle
Dec 17th, 2009
Mr Hotaling
I dont know this Homer. I dont know you. Or i dont know this Greg drayman. Sl might have found more than people might have claimed. SL takes action on not 1 abuse report but it takes as a minimal of 10 to get a avatar looked at. It is very easy to point finger. But you got to have proof infront of you to do that. Why have we not seen or heard of this Greg Drayman?
Bright Lights
Dec 28th, 2009
Mr. Hotaling,
I do believe that if you actually read Greg Drayman’s Letter to SL that you will see this quote: “I own CopyBot. I also own several SL viewers, a couple of which are known for being popular among content thieves.”
And:
“This amounted to (at my estimate) three pairs of shoes and one hairstyle in three different colors.”
But,, you say this:
“Greg Drayman did use a copybot viewer, however, his reasons for this were experimental…Having been the victim of copybotting himself (drivers getting their cars copybotted and rezzed in front of them…with no help from LL on this matter either)…it’s left to us residents to try and find ways to combat the stealing of our creations.”
So.. obviously the way to combat copybotters is to… copy… other peoples… work… and steal their creations like you and you wife have been a victim of?????? And it didn’t seem “experimental” at all. Seemed like he knew exactly what the program was for and what do with it.
“…just get some of your buddies to go along with you and file a trumped up AR on them…and don’t forget to use the ‘catchphrase’ of the month…in this case, the dreaded ‘COPYBOTTING’…and the best part? Linden Labs won’t look into it…they’ll just take it at face value.”
Again, obviously you’re very biased and angry and need a hobby. The only way LL would ban someone for copybotting would be if they searched your inventory upon you being reported and actually FOUND copybotted material in your inventory. LL in fact DID look into it and found copybotted material. If they hadn’t found copybotted material, this man wouldn’t have lost his track that you apparently love so very much.
Bob Hope
Dec 29th, 2009
Thank-you Bright Lights. Mr. Hotaling, you need to re-think this situation.
Lurker from Google
Dec 31st, 2009
hmm, well, copybot is aggainst the tos, and if your in posession of one, who, says they used it for experimental purposes,
DUH!, OF COURSE!, they will lie to cover their paper trail, its common fucking sense.
as far as copybot, okay, wanna know something, the more people who defend copybotters makes me fucking sick, SOME people make money off SL, not primary, but in this economy, a little extra money never hurts, oh, thats right, you don’t have a job.
if you had a job, you probably wouldn’t be posting about a guy who you probably only know by his avatar.
get a hobby or get a full-time job,
Innes Meriman
Jan 27th, 2010
Heh.
Sapphire Hotaling
Jan 28th, 2010
First of all, lmao…it’s MS Hotaling…2nd, I have a job…work over 40 hours a week.
Which all proves a delightful point here. If you don’t know, you shouldn’t assume…don’t categorize, lable and put people into convenient little boxes so you don’t have to think too much about what’s taking place. Gawd forbid you should have to think…might blow a gasket.
Ruff Zepp
Jan 29th, 2010
“First of all, lmao…it’s MS Hotaling…2nd, I have a job…work over 40 hours a week.
Which all proves a delightful point here. If you don’t know, you shouldn’t assume…don’t categorize, lable and put people into convenient little boxes so you don’t have to think too much about what’s taking place. Gawd forbid you should have to think…might blow a gasket.”
Dude just shut up!
Palancie
Feb 14th, 2010
Why have we not heard from this greg drayman? Is he man enough to step forward, im just wondering that since this post has been on here for the last couple of months we have not heard his side of things. or do we want to ?
Palancie
Innes Meriman
Jul 11th, 2010
I have known Greg ever since he lived in Arizona. Well, actually I knew him before that because I’m his wife. Just call me Rex though, it’s easier.
The Second Life Experience « project landmine
Apr 20th, 2012
[...] banned for copying other people’s things which is against the terms of service. A role play SL newspaper covered the story. Click on “newspaper” in the previous sentence if you want to see the [...]