I hope it's clear to anyone reading this that fight for privacy is not Redzone specific. There are others just as bad out there, and we need to fight against them as well. You'll notice some minor changes to this blog that reflect the need to keep informed, most noticeably the extra tabs. I've decided to make individual tabs for each product discovered that violates privacy and/or TOS by detecting alts.
...with that said... you'll notice a new name up there, Sparrow Industries. Be sure to have a look!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Police Department in Romano, Redzone Free
Earlier today I had made a post about the Police Department in Romano using Redzone and asking for consent to check alts. Tonight, I received an IM from the sim owner, Cdurd770 Halfpint. He was most gracious and kind throughout the conversation, and I learned he had been out of Second Life this week so he wasn't able to remove the device requesting consent. Below is our conversation (which I post with his permission):
[21:55] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Hi there, thanks for visiting my sim :)
[21:55] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Love the blog as well.
[21:55] Theia Magic: Oh hello! You're the police guy, yes?
[21:55] Cdurd770 Halfpint: I am!
[21:55] Cdurd770 Halfpint: (disarming to chat)
[21:55] Cdurd770 Halfpint: lol
[21:55] Theia Magic: Nice to meet you, though I'm sorry under the circumstances.
[21:56] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Not a problem at all.
[21:56] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Let me first say this
[21:56] Cdurd770 Halfpint: I don't log on much, so TOS changes quicker than I can log on to remove things.
[21:56] Theia Magic: Heh and no need to "disarm", contrary to popular belief I'm not a bitch
[21:56] Cdurd770 Halfpint: lol it's ok, just messin
[21:56] Theia Magic smiles
[21:56] Theia Magic: OOhhh so you didn't know?
[21:56] Cdurd770 Halfpint: I read on my phone
[21:56] Cdurd770 Halfpint: but
[21:57] Cdurd770 Halfpint: I don't give return rights to my staff cause they tend to return my stuff.
[21:57] Theia Magic nods
[21:57] Cdurd770 Halfpint: so I have to get these things.
[21:57] Theia Magic: I understand
[21:57] Cdurd770 Halfpint: I jsut had a long long chat with another gz person. Very productive chat.
[21:57] Theia Magic: It's been a whirlwind here this week, that's for sure
[21:57] Cdurd770 Halfpint: It has.
[21:58] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Now, I'd like to air a few things about us, alt crap and who we're not if you hve time.
[21:58] Theia Magic: Sure of course.
[21:58] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Plz feel free to put this on the blog, you have my perms.
[21:58] Theia Magic: If you'd like me, to I will.
[21:58] Cdurd770 Halfpint: PD has been around for almost 4 years.
[21:58] Cdurd770 Halfpint: We do what we do for free, we work in about 50-75 sims, and have our networked protection system in some 1200 sims.
[21:59] Cdurd770 Halfpint: We work around the clock, for free, to help people have a chance to enjoy SL.
[21:59] Cdurd770 Halfpint: We devised some time ago, over a year in fact, a way to have a clue about people who are relentlessly griefing sims.... with alts
[21:59] Cdurd770 Halfpint: But
[21:59] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Me being the nice person I am
[22:00] Cdurd770 Halfpint: created this where names are not just shown
[22:00] Cdurd770 Halfpint: and broadcasted to anyone.
[22:00] Theia Magic nods
[22:00] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Someon griefs...
[22:00] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Yes, we look, we determine is this person this griefer????
[22:00] Cdurd770 Halfpint: So we look and see if we get a visit from that person on that one sim.
[22:00] Cdurd770 Halfpint: That's when we do what we do.
[22:00] Cdurd770 Halfpint: RZ, bad idea.
[22:01] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Open to all with 3999
[22:01] Cdurd770 Halfpint: bad bad bad.
[22:01] Theia Magic: Yes exactly
[22:01] Theia Magic: That's been my point all along
[22:01] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Do I use rz? Yes, my ban list is long, it helps
[22:01] Cdurd770 Halfpint: lol
[22:01] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Even when our system would report to us via owner chat info about people
[22:01] Theia Magic: I've heard that from many people, that they use it for the long banlist. I wish LL would make the ban lists here unlimited, it would help many.
[22:02] Cdurd770 Halfpint: we never disclosed it
[22:02] Cdurd770 Halfpint: But, now, we've moved it all out of world, there's not even an option. It's just ban them.
[22:03] Theia Magic: See and I don't doubt that you used it responsibly, but the problem is all the names scanned in are put into the database. Up until this recent TOS change, people were using that database to do exactly what you were fighting against- grief and stalk.
[22:03] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Right. Agreed.
[22:04] Theia Magic: You know, my heart goes out to people like you who bought Rz with the best of intentions. I've met many similar.
[22:05] Theia Magic: So, if it's ok with you, I'd like to make a return visit to your sim to verify the consent thingie is gone, then do a revision stating what we spoke of here tonight?
[22:08] Cdurd770 Halfpint: Sure.
[22:08] Cdurd770 Halfpint: I just now got the consent thingy. I thought I got it 3 days ago.
[22:08] Cdurd770 Halfpint: lol
[22:08] Theia Magic: May I ask if you removed Redzone entirely, or just the consent thing?
[22:08] Cdurd770 Halfpint: I got them both.
I went to the sim to verify, and he did remove both the consent requester as well as Redzone entirely.
To Cdurd770, my apologies for any trouble all of this caused you, it wasn't my intention in the least. After speaking with you today, I have the utmost respect for you and your organization. Thank you. :)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
More ranting from the Redtards
"by crackerjack » Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:32 am
have you been over to theia magic yet to ask her about her insurance business, you know the one where she goes around stalking people then making all sorts of threats and accusations, and advocates all kinds of harrassment against people simply because they wont cave in to her demands regarding her opinion that redzone should be banned. In exactly the same way that criminals go around demanding that shop keepers hand over money so their shop wont get smashed up and their customers hassled?
now if you can point to any similar outrage in the advertising of redzone i would agree, but you see your perception of what needs to changein redzone and what actually needs to change may be two different things"
I felt the need to address this because quite honestly, the dude is pulling this out of his ass. Anyone who knows me knows I advocate change through education, not griefing or harassing. In fact, I have publicly stated more than once that I will have no part in any harassing, griefing, or otherwise illegal activities. With the exception of Dilbert, I've never even had a cross word with a merchant using Redzone. (and he's the dipshit that verbally attacked me in-world)
To the Redtards, I'm truly flattered that you love me so much my name seems to constantly drip from your mouths. But I gotta tell you, lies based in desperation isn't very becoming.
have you been over to theia magic yet to ask her about her insurance business, you know the one where she goes around stalking people then making all sorts of threats and accusations, and advocates all kinds of harrassment against people simply because they wont cave in to her demands regarding her opinion that redzone should be banned. In exactly the same way that criminals go around demanding that shop keepers hand over money so their shop wont get smashed up and their customers hassled?
now if you can point to any similar outrage in the advertising of redzone i would agree, but you see your perception of what needs to changein redzone and what actually needs to change may be two different things"
I felt the need to address this because quite honestly, the dude is pulling this out of his ass. Anyone who knows me knows I advocate change through education, not griefing or harassing. In fact, I have publicly stated more than once that I will have no part in any harassing, griefing, or otherwise illegal activities. With the exception of Dilbert, I've never even had a cross word with a merchant using Redzone. (and he's the dipshit that verbally attacked me in-world)
To the Redtards, I'm truly flattered that you love me so much my name seems to constantly drip from your mouths. But I gotta tell you, lies based in desperation isn't very becoming.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Redzone- R.I.P :D
Soft Linden: "Hey, all. I got the go-ahead to give an update on zF Red Zone specifically. Again, thank you for the ARs with specific info about violations. These have been very helpful for letting Lindens know what's going on.
Tuesday morning, we removed zF Red Zone from the Marketplace for a second time. We removed the in-world vendor distributing the item as well. We determined that zF Red Zone was still in violation of our Terms of Service and Community Standards.
We asked for removal by no later than today of all zF Red Zone functionality that discloses any alternate account names. That is, even if consent is asked, the service may not act on the consent. In addition, we asked for removal by no later than Friday of the interface for and any remaining implementation of the zF Red Zone consent mechanism because it does not comply with our policies. If these updates are not made, we will take appropriate steps to remedy the violations.
As before, we appreciate your help in keeping an eye on content. If you find that any merchant's product is not in compliance with our TOS or our Community Standards, please file an abuse report about the product. Do this even if you filed against a previous version. Include a specific explanation of what you believe is a violation, and ideally select and report the in-world object at issue in case it behaves differently than what's in the Marketplace. Before reporting, make sure you have first-hand knowledge of the issue. Support can best react if you explain specific steps to reproduce or confirm a violation."
Soft Linden removing the Redzone Vender
Soft Linden removing the Redzone Vender
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
CDS vs. Redzone
I've seen a lot of people comparing CDS to Redzone. While I agree CDS uses the same http request method as Redzone, that's pretty much where the comparison stops. CDS, unlike Redzone, was created as a security device. It does not reveal alts to anyone nor does anyone have access to alt information. This is why you will find CDS as quite a number of stores but never in a club or other social sim.
I decided to go to the source and ask CDS' creator, Skills Hak, point blank what CDS does and doesn't. I have never spoken to her before this and she was very pleasant to speak to. She answered my questions without being defensive or vague at all. This, I might add, is a stark contrast the reaction anyone who confronts zFire receives.
Below are the prudent parts of our conversation. (I have her permission to share this, btw. I only edited out the small talk between us that has no bearing on the topic).
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: Hmm i really should update the CDS FAQ after this Redzone fiasco
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: Some people seem to think CDS does alt matching and i even read rumors on SLU there had been a database leak and other nonsense
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: CDS doesn't do the alt dealie at all, it doesn't even log IPs
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: Oh and for some reason people think CDS vanished months ago, i'm not sure why, sales have been steady and detection rate is still around 80% successfull, there are over 10k flagged copybot users by now
[07:15 AM] Theia Magic: Thank you! One more question? If CDS doesn't log IP's, why does it use media? (I know I'm going to be asked that question)
[07:16 AM] Skills Hak: because it needs the user agent
[07:16 AM] Skills Hak: which is part of the HTTP protocol
[07:16 AM] Theia Magic: Oh ok, that makes sense then.
[07:17 AM] Theia Magic: May I have your permission to share this conversation?
[07:17 AM] Skills Hak: sure go ahead
[07:17 AM] Theia Magic: Thank you very much
[07:18 AM] Skills Hak: redzone is basically based on the cds beta script that was stolen from a friend a year ago
[07:18 AM] Skills Hak: and he turned it into an alt matching stalker tool
[07:18 AM] Theia Magic: I know he's not the original script writer, too. Of course, I can't prove it, but I know what you're saying 100% true.
[07:19 AM] Skills Hak: fun fact: the only time i spoke to zfire was when i had to ask him to remove my keywords from his marketplace listing
[07:19 AM] Skills Hak: he used "skills hak, gemini, cds" etc in a font size 0 text
[07:19 AM] Theia Magic: I'm not surprised. He's as sneaky and underhanded as the day is long.
[07:19 AM] Skills Hak: sneaky bastard
<<snipped the banter>>
[07:22 AM] Skills Hak: alot of people claim it's useless but i wonder where the 10k+ banned people come from
[07:23 AM] Skills Hak: i certainly didn't add them manually like many suspect
[07:23 AM] Theia Magic: Ok, though that is a good point. I heard it was great "back in the day", but since people are now using legit viewers to mask copybotting, how can it catch them?
[07:24 AM] Theia Magic: I too was under the impression it no longer worked because coptybotters got sneakier
[07:24 AM] Skills Hak: well since copybotters are generally not the smartest people in SL, they often get the spoofing wrong
[07:25 AM] Skills Hak: sure there are some clients we can't tell apart from the legit ones
[07:25 AM] Skills Hak: nothing we can do about that
[07:25 AM] Theia Magic: Ohhhh.... so you catch the flaws then? When they try to mask it?
[07:25 AM] Skills Hak: but there is still the large db with flagged avis
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: and the vast majority still uses older clients
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: yeah they use versions that don't exist for example
[07:26 AM] Theia Magic: Wow really? They're that stupid? lol
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: 80% of them are stupid
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: haha
[07:26 AM] Theia Magic laughs
I then did some further searching, and found this. A person who did some testing on CDS, which supports what Skills told me: Analysis of Gemini Cybernetics CDS
My point to all this? I think everyone has to judge for themselves what is acceptable. I personally don't have an issue with CDS because it makes no attempt to reveal alts and was created as strictly a security device. If someone else decides to disable Media and reject any http requests from CDS that's their choice- which I fully respect. But when someone asks me why I don't exclude CDS locations from lists, the reason is because CDS is different than Quickware Alts or Redzone. People using CDS are doing so to try to protect themselves, in stark contrast to the people using Redzone and Quickware Alts for the single purpose of being a nosey drama whore.
I decided to go to the source and ask CDS' creator, Skills Hak, point blank what CDS does and doesn't. I have never spoken to her before this and she was very pleasant to speak to. She answered my questions without being defensive or vague at all. This, I might add, is a stark contrast the reaction anyone who confronts zFire receives.
Below are the prudent parts of our conversation. (I have her permission to share this, btw. I only edited out the small talk between us that has no bearing on the topic).
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: Hmm i really should update the CDS FAQ after this Redzone fiasco
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: Some people seem to think CDS does alt matching and i even read rumors on SLU there had been a database leak and other nonsense
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: CDS doesn't do the alt dealie at all, it doesn't even log IPs
[07:13 AM] Skills Hak: Oh and for some reason people think CDS vanished months ago, i'm not sure why, sales have been steady and detection rate is still around 80% successfull, there are over 10k flagged copybot users by now
[07:15 AM] Theia Magic: Thank you! One more question? If CDS doesn't log IP's, why does it use media? (I know I'm going to be asked that question)
[07:16 AM] Skills Hak: because it needs the user agent
[07:16 AM] Skills Hak: which is part of the HTTP protocol
[07:16 AM] Theia Magic: Oh ok, that makes sense then.
[07:17 AM] Theia Magic: May I have your permission to share this conversation?
[07:17 AM] Skills Hak: sure go ahead
[07:17 AM] Theia Magic: Thank you very much
[07:18 AM] Skills Hak: redzone is basically based on the cds beta script that was stolen from a friend a year ago
[07:18 AM] Skills Hak: and he turned it into an alt matching stalker tool
[07:18 AM] Theia Magic: I know he's not the original script writer, too. Of course, I can't prove it, but I know what you're saying 100% true.
[07:19 AM] Skills Hak: fun fact: the only time i spoke to zfire was when i had to ask him to remove my keywords from his marketplace listing
[07:19 AM] Skills Hak: he used "skills hak, gemini, cds" etc in a font size 0 text
[07:19 AM] Theia Magic: I'm not surprised. He's as sneaky and underhanded as the day is long.
[07:19 AM] Skills Hak: sneaky bastard
<<snipped the banter>>
[07:22 AM] Skills Hak: alot of people claim it's useless but i wonder where the 10k+ banned people come from
[07:23 AM] Skills Hak: i certainly didn't add them manually like many suspect
[07:23 AM] Theia Magic: Ok, though that is a good point. I heard it was great "back in the day", but since people are now using legit viewers to mask copybotting, how can it catch them?
[07:24 AM] Theia Magic: I too was under the impression it no longer worked because coptybotters got sneakier
[07:24 AM] Skills Hak: well since copybotters are generally not the smartest people in SL, they often get the spoofing wrong
[07:25 AM] Skills Hak: sure there are some clients we can't tell apart from the legit ones
[07:25 AM] Skills Hak: nothing we can do about that
[07:25 AM] Theia Magic: Ohhhh.... so you catch the flaws then? When they try to mask it?
[07:25 AM] Skills Hak: but there is still the large db with flagged avis
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: and the vast majority still uses older clients
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: yeah they use versions that don't exist for example
[07:26 AM] Theia Magic: Wow really? They're that stupid? lol
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: 80% of them are stupid
[07:26 AM] Skills Hak: haha
[07:26 AM] Theia Magic laughs
I then did some further searching, and found this. A person who did some testing on CDS, which supports what Skills told me: Analysis of Gemini Cybernetics CDS
My point to all this? I think everyone has to judge for themselves what is acceptable. I personally don't have an issue with CDS because it makes no attempt to reveal alts and was created as strictly a security device. If someone else decides to disable Media and reject any http requests from CDS that's their choice- which I fully respect. But when someone asks me why I don't exclude CDS locations from lists, the reason is because CDS is different than Quickware Alts or Redzone. People using CDS are doing so to try to protect themselves, in stark contrast to the people using Redzone and Quickware Alts for the single purpose of being a nosey drama whore.
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Skin Fair is Hiding Redzone
The 2011 Skin Fair is hiding Redzone.
This infuriates me. They have a script counter right at the landing point that will boot you if you're wearing more than 50 scripts. They ask everyone to remove all prims and AO's to cut down on lag. God forbid you don't waddle around bald, you're sure to be berated by someone for "contributing to the sim lag".
And yet, they use Redzone there?? A major lag monster? And even go so far as to hide it??
This infuriates me. They have a script counter right at the landing point that will boot you if you're wearing more than 50 scripts. They ask everyone to remove all prims and AO's to cut down on lag. God forbid you don't waddle around bald, you're sure to be berated by someone for "contributing to the sim lag".
And yet, they use Redzone there?? A major lag monster? And even go so far as to hide it??
According to the land settings, the sim is owned by the group Vanity Universe. The group owner is Carl Crabe.
It's pretty bad when we can't go to the Skin Fair without the lagtastic Redzone hypocritically hidden there. Needless to say, I'm boycotting it and hoping others do, too.
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