User:Saijanai Kuhn/inter grid permissions discussion

Preamble

This is just a placeholder for discussion on the topics raised by the jiras:

• MISC-1272: Create a set of permissions flags immediately (to support inter-grid permissions settings)

and

• MISC-1277: Request for policy clarification concerning cross-grid copying of assets.

Prokofy Neva, and no doubt others, have have blogged about these issues. It's an important enough issue that the AWG has debated about it for a year, and recent LInden Office Hours have touched on it:

• Protecting_content_in_an_open_grid
• 10 June 2008 AW Groupies discussion
• Discussion at Zero Linden's office hours 10 June 2008
• Discussion at Zero Linden's office hours 17 June 2008

The Issue has arisen due to Zha Ewry's recent demo of logging into a beta-test SL grid and arriving in a private IBM=hosted OpenSIm, as part of the AWG project to make SL and OPenSim interoperate in various ways, as well as the creation of 3rd-party utilities that allow users to copy assets to OpenSim simulators.

It has gathered enough attention due to the discussions in teh above jiras that Xan LInden will be guest hosting Zero LInden office hours on Tudesday, 1 July 2008, at 1PM SLT, to discuss them specifically. I'd like to start a conversation about these issues before the meeting and will suggest to Xan that the meeting needs to be hosted somewhere at bit larger than Zero's office, as his office hours have been known to attaract as many as 80 avatars before when the discussion topic was hot enough. I'd also like to suggest that we set some ground rules for the discussion to keep it from turning into a disaster. Perhaps a simple microphone object as is used with the GTeam office hours could help keep things under control.Saijanai 18:48, 26 June 2008 (PDT)

Discussion

My own thoughts were expressed in Misc-1277, the second jira above. I'll try to summarize: The process to create a new permissions system needs to be done in at least 3 stages (stage 3 may turn out to be ongoing):

1. We need clarification on the blog of what the TOS says (or doesn't) about copying assets, regardless of permissions set, to other simulators outside the Second LIfe grid. My own belief is that one must obtain permission from the content creator because he or she never signed up for releasing even "full permissions" objects to another grid. Some kind of mention of this in the viewer may or may not be appropriate, but certain a blog entry is needed in the official Linden Blog.
2. A simple flag that makes a distinction between "creation grid only" and and a full permissions option for "any grid" should be devised to give 3rd party tools a heads up even before a more complete permissions system can be devised.
3. A new permission system to handle the new inter-grid system needs to be implemented after input from the community and developers and legal people.

Saijanai 18:58, 26 June 2008 (PDT)