Content theft is the banking screwup all over again

It worries me to see that Linden Lab seems to treat intellectual property and content theft just as it treated finance earlier this year.

The recent removal of other people's inventory items because they were originally stolen, as this newspaper has reported on Sunday, does qualifies for the same pattern. Do nothing, stay out because you do not want to "play government", realize that it snowballs and then intervene with what seems to be a high level of improvisation. This is only too familiar, my beloved readers!

The problem with this kind of erratic behavior is exactly the opposite of what should be done to give Second Life users a sense of stability around this world.

Coherent policy means the ability to define what should be allowed and what should not very early on. If I am a content creator, I need to know from the beginning whether this SL thing is the Wild West where I have to enforce my intellectuel property rights or whether Linden Lab will do it for me. Before I start investing, uploading and building, I want to know what I am getting into. The same goes for consumers, who need information about what goes on, so they can detect stolen products. So that their purchases are not wasted money.

Clearly, I cannot see coherent policy on the part of Linden Lab. I wish I did. I have been around the grid for more than a year. I made friends. I found a virtual partner. I built businesses. I consumed virtual goods. In short, I got involved.

On the other hand, I keep finding reasons that can drive people away from SL. A steep learning curve for newbies, incoherent problem-handling policies and grid instability are major reasons why someone would get pissed off and stop caring.

Is someone listening at Linden Lab?