Copybot Strikes Again!

It seems, and this is just preliminary reports, that someone has copybotted some of Starax's works. As I said, though, I have little to no clue what actually went on and time will tell. I can say that multiple abuse reports were filed and supposedly a few Lindens were after those who did it. The chances of actually catching the account are slim, though, due to throwaway alt accounts and other such cruft. It could take days, if ever, to sort out.

Of course, others had plenty to say on the matter. Words were thrown out such as 'sacrilege' and 'have people no religion??'. Others said it was 'terrible' and that 'copybot should be banned'. Even among those who did not know of Starax (and yes, there are many people who have not) there was a general sense of sadness that someone should steal another's work.

But, it is important to keep in mind that although this may be a more high profile case there are probably others, toiling in obscurity, whose work has been vacuumed by a copybot. Do these people get any airtime? Probably not. But their anguish at watching their work literally walking away is surely on a comparable level. Even moreso when you are trying to earn a livelihood in Second Life.

And what can the Lindens really do against Copybot? They already claim they can do nothing against the garden variety bots. It is funny that for the past two years or so, Linden Lab has made no significant progress that I can see in combating it. Instead, they rely upon waiting for an abuse report and attempting to track the account (which in all chances has probably been abandoned). The picture in my mind is of a bunch of firefighters trying to stop an arsonist by merely putting out the fires he starts.

So, another day, another CopyBot.