Brand Names From Real Life to be Banned on Xstreet

On August 11, Pink Linden posted some “Updates to XStreet SL Listing Guidelines.” Among them were some “Branding Guidelines” which dealt with Real Life brands reproduced within Second Life.

Branding Guidelines

Branded items may be listed or sold only by the brand or intellectual property owner or its authorized agents. A "branded item" is an item that:

* contains or uses a brand name or logo;

* replicates or closely imitates the appearance of a real-world physical product of a brand owner (for example, items that replicate the appearance of brands of cars, jewelry, or shoes that are available in the real world);

* replicates or closely imitates the appearance of a celebrity, famous person, or fictional character from a copyrighted work (for example, avatars that replicate the appearance of movie stars or characters from a book, film, television program, or game); or

* replicates or uses an artistic or creative work that is the subject of copyright (for example, virtual artwork that replicates artwork available in the real world or a sound clip that includes part of a song recording).

"Brand names" include product names; service names; company names; organization names; trade names; designer names; trademarks; service marks; celebrity names; famous persons' names; the unique names of well-known books, films, television programs, games, and other works that are the subject of copyright; and the unique names of well-known fictional characters from copyrighted works.

Be careful not to make comparisons to a brand name or say that your item is "like," "inspired by," or "based on" a brand name because this can be misleading and can lead to intellectual property infringement.

When including pictures in your listings, use a picture that accurately represents your item so that buyers are not confused about what you're selling. Never copy or use someone else's pictures or logos without their permission.

If you are a brand or intellectual property owner or the authorized agent of one, consider making others aware of this information by including it in your listing.

If we receive a complaint from a brand or intellectual property owner, or if we believe in good faith that your listing violates these Branding Guidelines or intellectual property law, we reserve the right to remove your listing and content (including content in Second Life associated with the listing) and in severe or repeat cases revoke your Xstreet SL and Second Life privileges.

You are responsible for ensuring that your listings and content comply with applicable intellectual property laws. Please be aware that your compliance with these Branding Guidelines does not guarantee your compliance with all intellectual property laws. For general information about intellectual property and our intellectual property complaint procedures, please go here. If you need advice on intellectual property law, we suggest you contact an attorney.

Examples

This Is Acceptable:

* An item that uses a brand name (like Gucci®, Nike®, or Rolex®) can be listed only if the item is officially offered or authorized by the brand owner (for example, Gucci America, Inc., Nike, Inc., or Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc.).

* An item that uses a celebrity or famous name (like Angelina Jolie or Barack Obama) can be listed only if the item is officially offered or authorized by the celebrity or famous person (for example, Angelina Jolie or Barack Obama).

* A virtual car that looks like a particular brand of cars (like Mercedes-Benz®) and uses the logo of the brand can be listed only if the virtual car is officially offered or authorized by the brand owner (for example, Daimler AG).

* An avatar that has the appearance of a fictional character from a copyrighted work (like Darth Vader or Wonder Woman) and uses the character name can be listed only if the avatar is officially offered or authorized by the intellectual property owner of the character (for example, Lucasfilm Entertainment Co. Ltd. or DC Comics).

* Virtual artwork that replicates copyrighted artwork that is available in the real world (like the artwork of Andy Warhol or M.C. Escher) can be listed only if the virtual artwork is officially offered or authorized by the intellectual property owner of the artwork (for example, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. or The M.C. Escher Company B.V.).

This Is NOT Acceptable:

* A virtual sneaker named after a sneaker brand available in the real world (like Adidas® or Converse®) cannot be listed if the listing party is not the brand owner (for example, Adidas America, Inc. or Converse Inc.) or officially authorized by the brand owner.

* A virtual t-shirt with the logo of a real-world brand (like a Mickey Mouse® logo or an NFL® logo) cannot be listed if the listing party is not the brand owner (for example, Disney Enterprises, Inc. or the National Football League) or officially authorized by the brand owner.

* Virtual furniture with the distinctive appearance of a brand of furniture available in the real world (like the Eames® lounge chair and ottoman) cannot be listed if the listing party is not the brand owner (for example, Herman Miller, Inc.) or officially authorized by the brand owner.

* An avatar that has the appearance of a celebrity (for example, Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe) cannot be listed if the listing party is not the owner of the celebrity's right of publicity (or the right to use the celebrity's appearance, for example, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. or Marilyn Monroe LLC) or officially authorized by the celebrity rights owner.

* Lists of unrelated brand names cannot be included in a listing or hidden by using white-on-white text, tiny fonts, special HTML code, or other means intended to circumvent the rules. (See also Keyword Spam below.)

* Misspelling brand names or adding, removing, or swapping some characters to try to circumvent the rules, for example, using the number "1" instead of the letter "I" or a dollar sign "$" instead of the letter "S," is not allowed.

*****

Near the bottom of the “Updates” page, Pink Linden stated those with “listings or content that do not comply” had until September 14 to change or remove them in order to get a refund for the remaining time. After that, “Linden Lab may remove listings and content that do not comply” with no refunds.

Please leave your comments below.

Content creation under the microscope at last?

Our Content Management Roadmap

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I'll let you know up front that it is lengthy, because we feel that you deserve the opportunity to hear in depth what we are thinking, and doing, regarding content management in Second Life. Resident-created content is the heart and soul of Second Life, and we want to help you continue to benefit from the amazing creativity you have displayed inworld. When you are successful, Second Life is a better world for all of us – more inspiring, more spontaneous, and more fun!
We are committed to empowering content creators to better manage and control their content. Taking a holistic approach to content management, we are hard at work on new and improved content tools, programs, and policies. Because we know that content management is of paramount importance to our community, we're going to lay out our current plans, and then invite you to help us shape them to best meet the community's needs.
Right now, we are pursuing a multi-pronged approach:

• Improvements to our intellectual property complaint process, enabling intellectual property owners to submit online requests that we search for and remove all copies of an identified item created by a particular Resident;
• Promotion of standard industry practices for tools copying content from Second Life to help protect against intellectual property infringement;
• A content seller program to help the community trade content safely and trust one another;
• Clarifications to and updating of our policies to promote awareness of intellectual property and protect against infringement; and
• Development of “sticky licenses,” or additional licensing metadata, for content to help facilitate a content marketplace outside our hosted Second Life virtual world.

For more detailed information, please continue reading below, and then join the discussions in the forums. Thank you for taking the time to read this post and for your feedback.

Continued HERE

The Linden Prize goes to ... Studio Wikitecture and Virtual Ability

Studio Wikitecture and Virtual Ability are the winners of the 1st Linden Prize! Both projects will receive $10,000 USD--the largest award in the virtual world industry--in honor of their achievements. After 230 applications and two rounds of deliberations, the judges decided that these two projects were "like comparing Tuesdays and Oranges", so they will share the award!


Full story HERE

Suspicious absence.

Just a few weeks after marrying Baron DeSantis, it seems that Mattt Guyot has disappeared. Some of us were concerned over Mattts touching belief that there is good in everyone and all Baron needed to change his ways was the love of a good man, but love is blind and, it has to be said Mattt and Baron seemed extremely happy making plans for their future. During their honeymoon, the devoted couple bought a private island ( although how an ex con, poorly paid reporter could afford a private island was not questioned), the location of which is known only to a few. They started work building their retreat, during which a great deal of activity occurred. Foundations dug and filled, helipad constructed for pair’s private helicopter, even a lighthouse placed on a purpose built offshore island.
The couple were often seen visiting the mainland, obviously in love, shopping and finding items for their new life together. Occasionally they could be spotted in private sex clubs, enjoying each other. This may be due to the fact that the house was incomplete, who knows but it was commented that it has never been Matts habit to visit such clubs.
Construction continued until a large, artificial, waterfall was completed. Since then Mattt has not been heard from.
Mattt’s dad InsyX Piranha, concerned about his son’s lack of contact with the family, contacted Baron and enquired as to how his son was. Baron, after a slight pause, explained that Mattt had left to go on holiday but he had stayed behind to supervise the final construction and furnishing of the various buildings on the island. He quickly severed communication after saying that a matter required his personal attention, (Baron was heard to shout at someone unknown “Don’t dig near the f’ing waterfall you damn moron, the cement has not fully cured”), before the line was cut.
Since then, Baron appears to be living the ‘High Life’. He has been seen is some dubious establishments, and also appears to have changed his appearance somewhat. He has attended parties held at pole dancing clubs and, according to a source, was seen to be giving one dancer a large tip, on more than one occasion.
The lighthouse keeper, Neslave Laville, whom Baron DeSantis has employed as part of Neslave’s parole agreement, stated that he had not seen Mr Guyot since taking on the position. As part of his daily duties is to check on the main island for security reasons, he is a regular visitor to the area. He did mention that several weeks ago he had noticed a large gathering of crows near the base of the mountaintop retreat of his employers, but as he had duties to perform at the parole (HWH) camp, did not have time for further investigation. The following day, all appeared normal on his checks.
Due to the past history of Baron DeSantis, though it pains me as a fellow reporter to say it, could there be something more to this? Is Mattt Guyot really on holiday or has DeSantis returned to his previous bloody ways?
On contacting both Ghul and Bay City Police Stations, this reporter was informed that no official “Missing Person’s Report” had been filed. Contacting other Police stations resulted in the same response.
I tried to contact Baron to ask how Mattt was and he shouted down the line at me … “Mattt is on ******* holiday ok?”
Hmmm... interesting response. Am I alone in thinking that it's odd that a newly wed, much in love with their new spouse, should choose to go on holiday alone, in the middle of building the couples much cherished love nest?
Should anyone see or successfully contact Matt Guyot, please inform this reporter so that I may put his family at ease.



thanks to InsyX Paranha for the wedding photo.

Media On A Parcel / Prim

Finally we get HTML displayed on a prim ?

More info in our design section.