Ban Hammer Smashes Emerald – Phox Threatens Linden Tell-All
by Pixeleen Mistral on 10/09/10 at 11:49 am
Eshi Otawara Creates Protest Nazi Deathcamp — Soviet Woodbury Celebrates
Linden Lab’s ban hammer struck the Emerald Second Life viewer Wednesday, as all versions of the formerly popular client were locked out of Philip Linden’s user-generated-content cyber paradise. Meanwhile, two high profile members of the Emerald gang – Lonely Bluebird and Arabella Steadham – discovered their accounts had been permanently terminated and Fractured Crystal has disappeared — the culmination of a slow motion train wreck that has been playing out since March.
Frei Arbeit Macht Frei
Is this the end of Emeraldgate? Perhaps not. In an exclusive interview, Lonely Bluebird (Phox) told the Herald that he plans to release what may be extremely embarrassing correspondence with the Lab, while Arabella Steadham blasted the Lab from her blog.
Ms. Steadham’s lengthy blog post warns others to exercise caution in dealing with Linden Lab saying, "DO NOT CRITICISE LINDENLAB. DO NOT WRITE YOUR THOUGHTS SO OTHERS MAY READ. DO NOT EVEN THINK ANYTHING THAT IS ANTI-LINDENLAB". After Steadham managed to disengage the caps lock key, she went on to question the viability of Second Life:
do I really want to be part of a virtual environment where lackeys of the Board of Directors hunt down those who dare to criticise? Do I want to participate in a world where users are abused by bullying standover tactics and unexplained termination of accounts? Linden Lab as a private company can create their own rules as they see fit, however to ignore at least some of the expectations we have of supposed rights if we operate by the rules- to shift the goalposts mid game – reduces their virtual world to nothing more than a game, a game where childish antics reign supreme in a desperate move to force conformity and mediocrity in an ever shrinking user base.
Eshi is very angry
Emerald developer Fractured Crystal was more circumspect and seems to have voluntarily removed his account in advance of the ban, according to his associate Lonely Bluebird (a.k.a. Phox). Several observers noticed that Fractured Crystal’s disappearance from the Second Life people list occurred last week.
Although Fractured Crystal did not respond to Herald requests for comment on Skype, Phox was gracious enough to reply to several Herald inquiries this week.
Pixeleen Mistral: I see that Fractured Crystal is no longer to be found in the SL people search
Pixeleen Mistral: but the ModularSystems alt account is still there – any idea what is going on?
_Phox: I don’t think he ever planned on using Fractured Crystal again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he cancelled the account
Apparently Phox does not plan to exit as quietly as Fractured Crystal, assuming he makes good on a promise to release selected communications between Linden Lab staff and the Emerald developers:
Pixeleen Mistral: so it looks like LL banned you
_Phox: Mhmm.
Pixeleen Mistral: did they wait until the Emerald viewer was banned or was it afterwardds?
Pixeleen Mistral: looks like they got Arabella as well
_Phox: It was pretty much simultaneous.
Pixeleen Mistral: so what is next for you?
_Phox: Well first I’m going to selectively publish a few recorded meetings, including the last one we had with Oz, as well as some other communication with LL, emails and such.
_Phox: Then move on to real life.
Pixeleen Mistral: I have had the impression for some time that there is a very interesting story to be told in the relationship between Emerald and LL
_Phox: I’ve received offers to do work for some other virtual worlds, I might look into those as well.
Pixeleen Mistral: there are plenty of virtual worlds to choose from
_Phox: That’s true.
Strong emotions were not confined to the Emerald team.
welcome to Second Life
Well-known Second Life designer Eshi Otawara protested the Lab’s actions with a Nazi death camp-themed build complete with ovens and swastika flags. The immersive new-media commentary on the Lab’s governance was eventually deleted by Linden staff – there are limits to the sorts of user generated content the Lab will tolerate – and earned Ms. Otawara a one hour suspension from the game. [UPDATE: Eshi Otawara has issued an apology for the controversial protest]
It is rumored that the artistic expression also caused Ms. Otawara’s Second Life partner to divorce her – perhaps due to the unfortunate timing of her creations’s appearance during Rosh Hashanah.
Joe Linden has a big ban hammer
The Emerald bans are the most recent chapter in an ongoing Second Life faction war that began when The Wrong Hands group turned their attention from the disgraced Justice League Unlimited to the Emerald gang – but with fortune smiling on them this week, the Woodbury faction was in a party mood.
Several YouTube videos document the NYC New Year’s Eve in Times Square style countdown-to-the-Emerald-ban party in which an effigy of the charming internet personality Prokofy Neva eats the Emerald logo.
After the magic moment passes, the Second Life equivalent of fireworks – self replicating prims – are launched as the party-people lag themselves into oblivion.
Eva Ryan
Sep 11th, 2010
Good bye, Good riddance, and thanks for all the fish.
RIP Emerald
You were a good viewer; but, you had a cancer.
We
Sep 11th, 2010
Emerald banned, Jcool disappeared, Phox leaving, Arabella banned..
And nothing of value was lost.
Coke
Sep 11th, 2010
Emergence sucks.
Top Hat
Sep 11th, 2010
Does this mean Phox can dedicate more time to crashing sims in Surreal Estates? Also don’t forget to read the Emerald Scandal Blog: http://emeraldscandal.wordpress.com
Judge Joker
Sep 11th, 2010
Listen up guys, we need a class action lawsuit against modular systems, another company is now working with them and sponsoring them, after all this brand negativity this company is stupid enough to let them in the door.
They have made a new web client for multiple virtual worlds which is a network of more than 35,000 user-created virtual worlds which we all know will be exploited.
http://www.utherverse.net/emerald/
IF this is a joke it’s a good one, if not a call to action!
Eva Ryan
Sep 11th, 2010
@Judge Joker… why bother. Sooner or later, people will figure out that it’s tainted. Besides, what would base the lawsuit on and who’s going to front the money?
hotoffmypress
Sep 11th, 2010
i heard the wrong hands group has lolyers
Blindside Bluebird
Sep 11th, 2010
Well if you’re gonna get banned, and know it, you might as well go out in style. I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same either.
Jayd3n
Sep 11th, 2010
Linden Lab has been screwing up in a bunch fo ways.
First they allowed Skills Hak & Emerald/ZF Redzone to deal a bunch of damage to the community.
Second They banned all of Woodbury without reason, based on JLU’s accusations, and because of things Emerald said they did, because they told the truth about Emerald they got banned.
Third http://www.utherverse.net/emerald/ I dont know this place, and I wont trust it while Emerald is there, they are more than likely going to go there, hack, and exploit it.
Fourth, Linden Lab wont ban me for making comments or debates about Emerald, or any other thing I please, Should they try, they will end up without a company, because I will personally over see their destruction, and I will for sure bring a massive lawsuit against them for every single $$$ I have put into SL before they applied the new TOS, and made users agree to it, Plus Since their new viewer policy did not take effect before I started SL, I will sue for that, that they allowed my viewers in their service, and have ruined my game play, and my business by disallowing such after I have made thousands of USD worth of purcahses, they wont screw with me period, because lets just say many people will quit SL when im done should they try. So to the Emerald Developers saying they will ban me for reason here, they better think twice, because its my First Ammendment rights to say what I please when I please.
Little Lost Linden
Sep 11th, 2010
All the Emerald drama is enough to cause people to go insane…
Perhaps that is what happened to Hamlet.
http://thebotzone.net/2010/09/09/holy-moly-hamlet-au-goes-insane/
Bubblesort
Sep 11th, 2010
How was fortune smiling on Woodbury this week? I mean, if they aren’t in SL anymore then why do they care about Emerald, other than this whole thing lets them all say “told you so”
Oh Look
Sep 11th, 2010
@Bubblesort – Who do you think made those “New Years Eve” style videos?
SweetAlabama
Sep 11th, 2010
Isn’t letting any convos out despite their damming evidence against some agreements they made with LL? I would more likely believe LL was tryna keep a close eye on Emerald while truly trying to help them make a better viewer. As a company they have to go slower on implementation which you have to grant them they are trying to overcome with snowglobe and now snowstorm. I am sorry but Phox has ruined any chance that I would believe anything he puts out. At one point one leaked convo that has made it out he said that it was taken out of context and a longer conversation. SO which is it Phox, is it damning to LL or is anything your gonna let out going to be taken out of context?
Apparently VWW is experiencing greed over coming common sense. Hopefully they will have better controls though to keep anything malicious out.
Ah, never-mind about a lawsuit anyways, Judge Joker was under the impression it was open sim under a web client or some-such, its just some lame SL clone.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
At0m0 Beerbaum
Sep 11th, 2010
I think I’ll shed a tear for the furfaggots.
tears of joy.
shame LL couldnt ban them sooner, if I got banned for being an estate manager in WU, and these faggots didnt get banned, there would be a serious issue with LL.
good to see that they have *some* sense.
even though it was motivated by potential bad PR.
ɀ
Sep 11th, 2010
Do you really think we just packed our bags and went home after April 20th?
“The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history.” -Vladimir Putin
MarkByrn
Sep 11th, 2010
Looks like the fat lady sung – the show is over and it’s time to move on the next drama.
We
Sep 11th, 2010
@Little Lost Linden
Stop it with the fucking spam.
Charity Stohr
Sep 11th, 2010
We left Second Life? I don’t think any of us got that memo. I know of only 2 people who respected the Woodbury genocide and one of them is returning soon. I’ll pass the word along when I see them in world and let them know we’re not here. ;3
Eva Ryan
Sep 11th, 2010
@Jayd3n… You’re a flake.
LLL Fan
Sep 11th, 2010
@Little Lost Linden
I’ll have your Holy Moly-Brand Spam anytime : )
Flip
Sep 11th, 2010
“Emerald et mort, vive le Emerald!”
Or something like that…
Its good to see the rotten core of the emerald dev team confirm their con-artist M.O. by simply setting up shop elsewhere. No doubt they will pull the same trick again, since all the developers with a conscience left.
What I’m interested in is this. Didn’t these people involve themselves in a lot of content theft schemes? If so, and yes, we KNOW it is so, wouldn’t they still have the data for all that stuff on their hard-drives?
All they have to do is set up a few shops on this new grid they’re working for and sell all their ill-gotten goods.
It’s what i would do if I were a frustrated, basement dwelling script kiddie that hates the world in general and has to pay for companionship.
Perhaps this Woodbury faction that does not exist anymore should think about creating a non existing base on this new grid and keep a very much existing eye on them…..
At0m0 Beerbaum
Sep 11th, 2010
unexplained terminations?
such as partaking in trying to cover up the fact that the clinet you were part of the development of stole user info and also DDoS’d external entities using SL as a means to do so?
yeah, I can see why LL got rid of you.
Even I know why I got banned, namely because of you pressuring them to mass ban anyone who criticized you.
oh boo hoo, you got caught, big deal. Know what I did? I stopped empowering Linden Labs (sorry, LINDEN RESEARCH) and stopped playing their game.
They only have power if you play their little shitty game. The company is run by idiots, though I’d say this is the first non-idiotic move they’ve made. Getting rid of a cancer.
Shame it’s too late and the patient is terminal.
In the end, LL and emerald lose. works for me.
Mary Elizabeth
Sep 11th, 2010
“do I really want to be part of a virtual environment where lackeys of the Board of Directors hunt down those who dare to criticise? Do I want to participate in a world where users are abused by bullying standover tactics and unexplained termination of accounts? ”
Obviously, the answer to both questions is yes otherwise she wouldn’t be moaning about it on her blog.
Carl Sagan
Sep 11th, 2010
Ahaha!
Good one, Beerbaum.
You got banned because you were an estate manager for the most notorious griefer group on the grid.
And now you’re trying to pretend some kind of nobility springs from this.
Nelson Jenkins
Sep 11th, 2010
@ At0m0 Beerbaum
“They only have power if you play their little shitty game.”
Don’t really give a shit myself if I can make money on said shitty little game.
W
Sep 11th, 2010
…Does anyone know where to get that pikachu av? Fuck, I want it.
Alex Trebek
Sep 11th, 2010
I think it’d be funny to see another attempt to “Catch the lab doing dirty deeds!” when all of them who had part in the cover-up, have violated the ToS and Federal Law. I’d advise against posting anything to “Defame” or “Blackmail” Linden Labs, someone already tried to do that and LL won the case. Point is, Blackmail is illegal, and Defamation is illegal. What was committed was a federal offense. Kids don’t listen anymore these days, and think they can run rampant around doing this and that, tossing recording conversations and logs out around to “Get Back” at somebody. That whole mindset usually backfires and ends up throwing the person with the vindictive mindset into Jail, or several fines.
Alex Trebek
Sep 11th, 2010
Also “Your comment seems a bit spammy.” set a damn character limit or something.
Inniatzo
Sep 11th, 2010
sure, he can go right ahead and post all his shocking convos with LL. he would never do anything like alter sacred text files would he? lol. and even if he doesn’t no one outside of tiny minority who follow this stuff is going to care.
Jayd3n
Sep 11th, 2010
Well Blackmail because someone released recordings that someone did not say they could?
Well the Emerald Developers should have never allowed anyone but trusted people at these meetings, but they were all big shot show off people. Do you think that copybotters login in world, and say lets have a big illegal meetings here, we will talk about all our illegal features in public so everyone can hear, but please no one record me.
This is what Emerald did, they run all these illegal projects, and now only Skills Hak is left besides Red Zone, and they got shut down for doing such.
As for Linden Lab they have made a lot of dity mistakes, and I have sen them. They banned all of woodbury including IntLibber for no reason because of Emerald/JLU, and because they simply told the Herald about what Emerald was doing nothing more. IntLibber, and Woodbury/many others who made their accounts before a certain period were told by Linden Lab that they owned the land which they purchased, and they were made to believe such, this was before a new TOS ever came into place. Therefore they did have a right to sue Linden Lab, and personally I hope they win, because I myself I support Linden Lab casino’s, and gambling in SL, as well as many things Linden Lab illegally took away from people one day without really any warning, went on to other peoples land they did not own on main land and deleted everything.
Also as we know people dont really hold copyrights to stuff in world, unless they file real world copyright claims on each product they make and hold a claim over such there really isn’t anything they can do Real World about copyright theft, as Second Life allows it by using Keys. While people think they have rights, Linden Lab isn’t doing anything to protect anyone, and the most that will happen is a banned account which you can keep comming back.
Top Hat
Sep 11th, 2010
And what does Glenn Beck have to say about all this?
Nelson Jenkins
Sep 11th, 2010
@ Top Hat
You know who else eavesdropped on private conversations?
… Hitler.
Miss J
Sep 11th, 2010
So release the conversations phox. I am ready to read more drama. KTHXBAI
Miki Gymnast
Sep 11th, 2010
Eshi, germans (including me) are really pissed, jews are really pissed, and LL laughs because of this stupid, childish and embarassing ‘protest’. Better continue with flowers and dresses.
Rock Ramona
Sep 11th, 2010
sooo a bunch of uneducated script kiddies get their weiners caught in a mousetrap…so so so hilarious.and this whole infatuation with Prokofy…its almost like someone has a crush like back in junior high…while you folks are on permaban,seek professional help,and always leave the hacking to the real hackers…..loozers
Strayn Janus
Sep 11th, 2010
As the Herald’s self-appointed “voice of reason”…
So bloody what? A bunch of idiots got banned, which they were told was going to happen. The time to baww about it is long gone, and I am having a great deal of trouble summoning any sympathy for them. They decided to use (abuse?) systems built into the client to obtain IP protocol information – which in and of itself is not a problem, but they also decided to correlate that information (which at the very least is a crime in the country in which I live)… They then decide to launch a DDoS attack, using an iFrame exploit from a page which they have full knowledge has many thousands of hits per day… And then a developer hears from a 3rd party about some members of the team making *personally identifiable information* available through the client (again, a breach of laws where I live). Upon discovering this, the aforementioned developer leaves the team (yeah, I know that’s a simplification – he tried to resolve it first) and is roundly slammed by the remaining members of the team. Excuse me if I decide that they aren’t exactly people I’d care to trust now.
At least LGG (one of the few devs on the team who care about people) has joined a decent “spin-off” viewer now.
Strayn Janus
Sep 11th, 2010
Disclaimer: Due to the rapidly-evolving fail involved, the above timescale may not be 100% accurate. YMMV. HAND.
Nelson Jenkins
Sep 11th, 2010
@ Strayn Janus
[shamelessplug] http://emeraldscandal.wordpress.com/updated-timeline/ [/shamelessplug]
Gundel Gaukelei
Sep 11th, 2010
LL owned Emeralds heads for 350 gold. Assists: Hazim
Woodbury: sooo owned! Muhahaha!
*Fractured – connection timeout*
Arabella: THIS GAME SUCKS!!! LGG YOU ******
Arabella I TOLD YOU TO STOP FEEDING YOU ****** ****** !!!!!!1one
Death: MAY I REMIND YOU THAT IM SUPPOSED TO BE THE UPPERCASE GUY?!
*Arabella – RRRRRRRAGEQUIT*
Phox: not done with u guys yet!
*Phox has been kicked.*
Gundel: gg
DEATH
Sep 11th, 2010
PS: AND DON’T FUCK WITH ME WHEN YOU ARE ALREADY DOWN UNDER!
Strayn Janus
Sep 11th, 2010
@Nelson…
I know. I provided the link to the CERT definition :-p
hobo kelly
Sep 12th, 2010
Wellsum, I reckon I can remember ways ways back to the night wheresum them thar Woodburies got banned, and I reckon I was hovering in the air by Ravenglass just a watchin as a bunch of them Emerald devs were dancing on the Woodbury grave there. I reckon that thar Prokofy Neva must have been a peein’ in her panties at the thought of gettin rid of them thar pesky Woodburies. So it ain’t no skin offin my nose if find myself a laughin’ at that thar video up thar where that Giant Proky Head was just layin’ there on the ground, starin’ up to the heavens, hungry to gobble gobble, gobble up a nice big Emerald logo. Wellsum I reckon it triggered a memory in me and made me think back to waitin for the man to burn at Burnin Life. I laughed as that Giant Emerald logo slowly lowered down like the Times Square ball. I thought to myself, “why that giant thing will never fit in that Proky’s big mouth!”, but it did. And it didn’t even snag on that one lonely tooth that sticks out. Proky ate Emerald. Shoot, the fake things ya see in Second Life…
lol
Sep 12th, 2010
FFS, Who will make my Fake Tits bounce in videogame life now?
Kiddoh
Sep 12th, 2010
@Carl: That bullshit again? Last I checked, it was the PN who were the most notorious. Ya know… Because they were actually an organized griefing group.
SL resident
Sep 12th, 2010
Folks, it was just a viewer for a virtual world.
One that has already been successfully recreated and improved upon.
Lets put life into perspective and move on.
SL resident
Sep 12th, 2010
oh and Utherverse is moderately more than a bit of a joke as most know, so a perfect place for the pre-schoolers to go play.
Glenn Beck
Sep 12th, 2010
@ Top Hat
Doesn’t this page have enough Nazi parallels without me? Let me drink in peace, damnit.
General Drama
Sep 12th, 2010
Do you know who else spied on peoples private conversations and banninated innocent people to the gitmo cornfield?
…. Obama
IntLibber Brautigan
Sep 12th, 2010
So Eshi Otowara is joining the dark side with her very own nazi death camp build. She used to be such a sweet innocent girl. Has to be the bad influence of the people she was hanging out with. Now she’s started her own slide down the g-team slippery slope with her first hour ban. What is amusing is that, unlike myself, she actually did what she is accused of doing.
At0m0 Beerbaum
Sep 12th, 2010
@ Nelson
fake money, and the money you end of making is chump change compared to what you can make holding a real job that isnt mcdonalds.
@ Sagan
0/10. cool troll bro, but I think you have us confused with the PN.