Ex-Copybot Merchant Ignores BuilderBot Threat – Says Piracy Will Continue
by Alphaville Herald on 22/07/09 at 8:14 am
by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk
Reformed Copybot reseller Nimrod Yaffle shrugged off the BuilderBotthreat to the in-world L$ spacebux economy and promised to continueselling his own pirate creations – flintlocks, bandanas and leatherbaldrics. The vote of confidence was in sharp contrast to the whingingcontent creators that swarmed RightAsRain Rimbaud’s blog monday, afterthe publicity-starved Rezzable entrepreneur sucessfully trolled thegrid with threats plans to release an open source BuilderBot- a sim-wide copying tool that can be used to move sims from SecondLife to other grids such as OpenSim – and provide off-world backups ofsim-spanning environments.
Nimrod Yaffle's pirate content will continue to be sold – despite the copy threat
Entirely predictable drama followed Mr. Rimbaud’s announcement, simultaneously inflating Rezzable’s visibility puncturing it’s reputation, as concerned content creators saw the possible BuilderBot release as reckless endangerment of the Second Life economy, and their own bottom lines. Those with weaker ties to the Second Life in-world economy argued in favor of freeing content from the Linden Lab’s servers, pointing out the Lab’s less than stellar abilities as a data custodian. The tempest was tamed tuesday, as Mr. Rimbaud backed away from earlier statements that an open source sim copying tool would be a universal good, handing BuilderBot’s opponents at least a partial victory.
The war of the content copying bots is far from over however – so I sought out Nimrod Yaffle, to see how the content piracy threat might affect his pirate content business. Nimrod Yaffle’s background in marketing the original DRM busting CopyBot – which he resold for a 10% commission – and the quality time he spent in Linden Lab’s cornfield prison uniquely qualify him to comment on the BuilderBot situation.
Pixeleen Mistral: say Nimrod – you old pirate…
nimrod Yaffle: yyuusss?
nimrod Yaffle: this should be interesting
Pixeleen Mistral: I'm interested in your reactions to the BuilderBot thing
nimrod Yaffle: Well, I'm not selling it so I don't approve of it
Pixeleen Mistral: will it destroy the SL economy?
nimrod Yaffle: did copybot?
Pixeleen Mistral: no
nimrod Yaffle: 
pirate plunder in Port Obello
Pixeleen Mistral: given your involvement in copybot sales – do you have any advice for Rezzable?
Pixeleen Mistral: you are in some ways the expert on this sort of thing
nimrod Yaffle: No publicity is bad publicity in the long run!
Pixeleen Mistral: and being forgotten is the worst possible fate, I suppose
nimrod Yaffle: Actually, there was a study done (I don't have the source offhand), stating that people think higher of companies that make good when they do something bad, than ones that don't do something bad or make a mistake at all
nimrod Yaffle: Also, I do believe LL made a statement banning any programs that circumvent permissions in SL
Pixeleen Mistral: oh yeah – I remember Robin Linden laying down the law on that
nimrod Yaffle: https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2006/11/15/use-of-copybot-and-similar-tools-a-tos-violation
nimrod Yaffle: I still have the picture from the original copybot article on my computer 
Pixeleen Mistral: what do you think a fair price for builderbot would be?
nimrod Yaffle: I have no idea, I didn't make it
nimrod Yaffle: whatever the creator feels like charging I guess
Pixeleen Mistral: but if one were trying to maximize profit – how big is the market?
nimrod Yaffle: Have you heard about cryolife?
Pixeleen Mistral: no
nimrod Yaffle: oh boy
nimrod Yaffle: oh sec
nimrod Yaffle: Hmm, there's not much about it, but it's a client designed specifically for copying things… I know some people who hang out on Bug Island use it, and have obviously copied attachments. Usually they have the creator as "(Nobody)." I have reported them a couple weeks ago to no avail
Pixeleen Mistral: where do they get cryolife from?
nimrod Yaffle: That's like a felon asking where to buy a gun
Pixeleen Mistral: I guess your point is that there are already plenty of copying tools loose
nimrod Yaffle: Hmmmmm
nimrod Yaffle: I was just giving you a heads up, no point to it really
Pixeleen Mistral: Why is Rezzable talking about releasing BuilderBot? Won't this make everyone hate them?
nimrod Yaffle: Same answer as the "do you have any advice for Rezzable?" 
Pixeleen Mistral: maybe they are really griefers?
Pixeleen Mistral: or maybe the Rezzable guys just want to get onto Prokofy's official enemies list?
nimrod Yaffle: PFFT I want to be on a list, I never make it onto them
nimrod Yaffle: People on SLU said the CEO RightAsRain is selfish and not a very good person
Pixeleen Mistral: I wonder if LL will really do anything about all this
Pixeleen Mistral: they are hard to predict
nimrod Yaffle: Probably not…. LL banned selling/buying accounts, yet Anshe somehow was able to advertise and do it a long time ago
Pixeleen Mistral: I do have one more question though – are you going to continue selling and creating things in SL?
Pixeleen Mistral: or has the BuilderBot threat taken the wind out of your sails?
nimrod Yaffle: Port Obello will always be open!
Pixeleen Mistral: so – "ex-copybot seller shrugs off BuilderBot threat – will continue to sell pirate accessories"
nimrod Yaffle: hah
nimrod Yaffle: no
nimrod Yaffle: "will continue pirating"
Darien Caldwell
Jul 22nd, 2009
I’m sure Nimrod’s sales will ‘mushroom’.
Prokofy Neva
Jul 22nd, 2009
Here’s the story that eludes Pixeleen.
When Copybot came, the Herald reported on it, and more people found out about it. Rezzable’s blog doesn’t have anywhere near the readership. Many people have not heard about this yet, it hasn’t been on the official Linden blog, as a discussion about Copybot once was on the town hall discussion.
Pixeleen is out of touch with ordinary people, too. Lots of them are still concerned about Copybot, and waste their time with anti-copybot devices because they don’t understand they can’t defeat them, or worry endlessly and bother landlords, merchants, and friends with needless fears of Copybot (because it’s unlikely those with Copybot will bother with them, the grid is fairly big, and the amateur content production not worthy copying fairly large). And some have heard about this new bot, but with the plethora of bots of various types out there (bot inflation) they don’t distinguished or stop caring and are resigned. Basically, however, they don’t have as much information because…there isn’t as much news.
It also comes in a context where years after Copybot, with many, many more incidents of exploits occurring, people are more cynical and hardened and some have simply stopped creating.
There’s another important feature to this story that Dusan Writer was first to cover outside of Rezzable’s blog critically, and the Herald is very late in covering:
RightAsRain removed some people’s concerns the next day after his announcement by saying he wouldn’t release it and when it was sold for “professional use,” he would put in the function to “check permissions”. Copybot’s makers and sellers were just as cynical and nasty, but the difference is they didn’t pretend to mitigate their device the next day (RaR’s mitigation was cynical, manipulative and preplanned to make it look like he was “reasonable” and doesn’t solve the problem of malicious intent, of which he has plenty).
Glad to see the Herald as fully outed itself as leading the technocommunist revolution, and taking the side of those who incite or perform copyright violations, that helps to discredit the Herald for any lingering doubters, especially content advertisers.
BTW, this will be my last post to the Herald likely for awhile unless it changes hands or policies of inciting and participating in crime instead of covering it. Again, please implement my repeated request to remove my name from the masthead.
“Pixeleen Mistral: where do they get cryolife from?
nimrod Yaffle: That’s like a felon asking where to buy a gun”.
Indeed.
Ann Otoole
Jul 22nd, 2009
Here is Nimrod’s pirating award for somehow pirating parcels in Zindra before the parcels were assigned to residents:
http://www.annotoole.com/nimrodyafflezindra.png
This is a screenshot of the SL map clearly showing a magical skyprimless sign over two parcels in Zindra near Kama Center which is to the left.
Since there was no sky sign or prims spelling out Mr. Nimrods name on or over these no build parcels then this serves as a tribute to Mr. Nimrod’s magical powers over Second Life. (Note: These parcels are now owned by a shape shop)
coco
Jul 22nd, 2009
The parade of con artists continues. Expected in the Lindens Lab rat cage.
At0m0 Beerbaum
Jul 22nd, 2009
At this point, I wonder who will care.
Also, the code is open sourced, so someone can easily just fork it and make a “legit” version.
Though the panic over this proves how much of a fragile little, insecure world SL really is. and that’s not just the people.
People know SL is insecure, and putting your bets on a breakable, buggy, and very hackable environment is stupid as hell.
Which is why I have to laugh at people for getting up in arms about this. Originally, SL apparently didnt have this “economy” crap going on and was just a place to have fun and build stuff, so there was no need for protecting content in a manner that’s no required.
Either way, this is useless for many who want to back up sims, want to back up their content, more than likely just want your stuff backed up, not random cages, flashing cubes, and other peoples’ shit.
Nathanael Kharg
Jul 23rd, 2009
I think this whole game is rather silly. Technologically speaking, copying in second life is possible. It is impossible to prevent that. If people can see it on the screen, they can and will take it.
Why would anybody complain about a new product of this nature? There’s nothing groundbreaking here.
CopyBot still works fine, and is developed by the PN.
LibSecondLife’s *test* client can do this too: http://www.kabalyero.com/2008/09/13/how-to-copy-objects-in-second-life/
Lots of viewers have or soon will have content export, such as Meerkat: http://meerkatviewer.org/wiki/Content_import/export Any “content export” feature could be trivially patched to ignore permissions.
Worrying that this particular program gets open sourced is pointless. If it doesn’t get open sourced, somebody will make an open source one that does the same thing (it’s seriously not that hard). I hope it *does* get open sourced,
1) so creators stop clinging to their false sense of security
2) to enrich the open source codebase for other projects
3) for all the legitimate uses it has for me and many other people
rightasrain
Jul 23rd, 2009
and isn’t the Alphaville Herald fortunate that Prok has self-banned from this site…
Comrade Break-Dancing Stalin, Crusher of the Martian Hordes
Jul 23rd, 2009
@Prok:
“BTW, this will be my last post to the Herald likely for awhile unless it changes hands or policies of inciting and participating in crime instead of covering it. Again, please implement my repeated request to remove my name from the masthead.”
Well, something good has come from this tempest in a teap..I mean tornado in a trashcan over BuilderBot.
Onward, Technocommunist comrades! You have nothing to lose but Prokofy Neva!
Alyx Stoklitsky
Jul 24th, 2009
There is absolutely nothing in SL worth copying anyway.
General Drama
Jul 26th, 2009
There is absolutely nothing in SL worth copying anyway.
Posted by: Alyx Stoklitsky | July 24, 2009 at 10:05 AM
As you say Alyx, everybody head over to Alyx’s Trap Designs shop in Furness…