News and Commentary: Political Opposition Against Trump HQ Continues

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last week, I wrote more about the "Trump Wall" erected towering over the Sanders HQ by Trump supporters, in what the head of the Trump HQ JP Laszlo called a prank. Since then, there's been more written about the drama between the two groups of supporters, and the Trump HQ. The "Washington Liberals" blog  posted about the wall and people griefing the Sanders HQ, as did Motherboard. One picture posted by Washington Liberals which has been reprinted in several other articles, including a New World Notes article by Hamlet Au last week, shows "demons," which are among the "vampire" avatars available to newcomers to Second Life on day one, described as harassing people there with "Trump! Trump!" spam.

Jeff Grubb of "Venture Beat" was also curious and went inworld to check out the Trump HQ, "Second Life is still weird. The 2016 United States Presidential election is weird, but the Internet is doing its best to prove it can always get stranger." Comparing the people he met in the place to 4chan users, "... it's not offensive when it's sad. ... They think they are so brash, and they are if you take them at face value. But mostly, they just seem lonely. You can laugh at that. I certainly did. But that wears off quickly....You can tell all anyone in the Trump HQ wants is to offend people. I have that desire as well, but it’s something that I’ve tried to outgrow." Despite being briefly banned after a joke, that had nothing to with politics, taken the wrong way, he stated that overall he was seen as okay as long as the subject of politics didn't come up. But when on to say when he took people to task over certain issues, the mood turned defensive, "Predictably, the Trump fans went with their well-worn defense mechanism: 'Every example of racism is a joke or a liberal troll trying to make Trump look bad.'"

Another issue that's come up is the use of a flax mixing the Nazi swastika with the Trump name, which Sanders HQ owner Macaria Wind snapped a picture of, "There is a picture I managed to capture of one of the flags spewing from a particle dispenser at HQ," she told Hamlet Au, "Left there by one of Trump's supporters when no one was around." JP Lazlo has previously admitted such trolling takes place, but "I am not responsible for every troll claiming to be a Trump supporter, just as she is not responsible for every troll claiming to be for Bernie." There's also that the Nazi flag is universally reviled by liberals and conservatives alike, appealing only to a tiny few reactionaries who dismiss both of them. Since the individuals displaying such banners are unnamed, it's less than clear whether it's by some extremist acting out for reasons of politics, or by a troll who just wants to cause trouble.

For some however, they have seen enough and feel it's time for Linden Lab to take action. This week, Hamlet Au wrote a commentary stating that Linden Lab needs to shut down the Trump HQ for repeated violations of Second Life's community standards. Hamlet made a comparison to the Confederate flag controversy last year (of which I had a differing opinion than his). But Linden Lab didn't ban the flag from the virtual world, just quietly remove it from the Marketplace some time since he and I wrote about the issue (NWN article), though stores were sill free to sell it inworld. Banning the Trump HQ and it's group like it did the Woodbury group which had become infamous for being a griefer hangout (especially among my furry friends) years ago, would be difficult for Linden Lab to pull off without looking like it was taking sides in politics, and could risk alienating it's more conservative members, even those who have problems with the brash candidate. Hamlet's argument that these are not supporters of a political candidate but trolls using politics as an excuse to grief can easily get lost in the passions of an election campaign, particularly those of recent years in which people whom once saw supporters of the other party as simply having a difference of opinion are increasingly questioning their judgement, ethics, sanity, and intentions.

With Trump's remaining opponents for the Republican nomination dropping out last night and today following the results of the Indiana primary, the candidate's victory there is simply a formality. Sander's victory there over Clinton is a needed morale boost to the "Berners," and a reminder to the Democrats' own establishment they intend to take the race all the way to the last state. So it's likely for a few more weeks the tension between the political groups in Second Life will continue. But with the Democratic front-runner having such a huge lead in pledged and unpledged delegates combined, the best he can reasonably hope for is a brokered convention. Most likely the nomination will go to Clinton. As she has failed to inspire the same kind of enthusiasm Sanders has, it's possible rather than change the names of their locations from Sanders to Clinton, Second Life's "Berners" at the Sanders HQ and the new "Feel the Bern" hangout in the Young sim may simply take down their political banners and devote their Second Lives to other activities. And deprived of a target, both the Trump group and the trolls acting in the candidates name could get bored and lose interest. Which is probably what Linden Lab is hoping for. But if the Sanders HQ and "Feel the Bern"can be convinced to get behind the establishment Democrat, it's going to be "interesting times" in Second Life for those with a taste in politics, and a headache for the Lab which no doubt wanted people to pay attention to the virtual world for reasons other than "cyber noogie," but not like this.

Sources: Washington Liberals, Motherboard, VentureBeat, New World Notes, CNN 

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: More on The Trump Wall

By Bixyl Shuftan

While many come to Second Life to escape debates of issues in real life, others see it as a method of discussing them. Of the latter, different people react differently to opposing points of view. Some respectfully disagree and concentrate on getting their own message across. Others try to engage in debate. But sometimes different people have different ideas about what the rules of such debates should be.

Eight years ago in 2008, interest in US politics grew as an incumbent President was in his last year of office, and both parties fielded candidates about who would take his place. During the primaries, several headquarters were set up by supporters. Eventually, three centers of political debate arose: the GOP Cafe for conservatives, Cafe Wellstone for the liberals, and Capitol Hill as an officially neutral location. Between the first two, and other political themed locations, there were close-minded individuals who showed up just to vent and demonize, as well as outright griefers, and more or less levelheaded individuals whom more more interested in dialogue. But for the most part, they left each other alone. The most active night politically that year was of course Election Night 2008.

Eight years later, it's a much different kind of Presidential Election as one candidate has succeeded while breaking so many unwritten rules. And in Second Life, there is no longer an mutual agreement for the two sides to leave each other alone, at least the two most vocal camps of the political supporters.

In late March 2016, JP Laszlo, a supporter of candidate Donald Trump built the "Trump Manor." Intended as both a private residence for her and a few friends as well as showing off her support for the Republican outsider politician, she found the place the subject of no shortage of attention, getting the attention of media from within and outside Second Life, including the Newser. However, it also got the attention of griefers, leading her to install a security system that limited access, and caused a little confusion. About the same time, Macaria Wind built the "Bernie Sanders Second Life Headquarters" to help inform others about the outsider candidate for the Democrats. Although griefers were a problem as well, her reaction was to boot them when she came across them, but keep the place open.

In response to the attention, JP Laszlo with the help of friends built the Trump HQ, Here, anyone could walk in and talk. JP and her group reserved the right to ban those they saw as griefers, but when I talked to her did say they managed to win some over to their side.  But this wasn't all that happened. Others in her group bought up some land next to the Sanders HQ, and erected a huge wall that towered over it. As one of Trump's repeated promises is to build a border wall between the US and Mexico, one couldn't help but make a comparison. But the wall was more like a tower as people could easily fly or teleport around it. Plastered with US flags and campaign signs, the top had a picture that taunted Macaria Wind and her supporters, "We have twenty times more traffic! I keep winning! You can't stump the Trump!"

When I invited her to talk about the wall, Macaria stated she was busy, but did sent me a notecard.She had this to say about the structure:

As for the Trump Wall, there is not much to say. It is on a rented parcel and was apparently set up to serve as an annoyance to me and other Bernie supporters. One of my group members said when he clicked on the sign on the wall to go to Trump HQ, it tried to take over his av - he suggested it wanted to install a virus. Several Bernie group members have been to Trump's HQ and reported hearing racial slurs, vulgar language and, in general, hate speech. Several Trump supporters have griefed us here at HQ while others have come just to check it out and still others have visited and had intelligent conversations with our group members. So, it does, indeed, take all kinds...

While I aspire to an attitude of compassion and kindness, I also say "to each his own". I believe in karma, what goes around comes around and we reap what we sow. Though it is absolutely, without doubt, essential to be aware of the evil around us, I believe it is not helpful to focus on it, therefore, I treat the wall the same way I treat Trump's campaign - I mostly ignore it. 


The claim that the wall can spread viruses is false. The only method in which Second Life users have caught malware through their viewers is the media stream. JP Laszlo, whom now has the display name "JP Trump," explained it was a way to teleport oneself to the Trump HQ, "It's an experience request, for an experience based scripted teleport: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlTeleportAgent . Standard Second Life stuff."

JP and I talked on a couple occasions, once at the Trump Headquarters, and once after I spotted her hovering near the top of the Trump Wall. At the HQ, "she" spoke in Voice, revealing "herself" as male behind the computer, now sporting a furred female look rather than the anime girl she had earlier, with a "big smiley face" armband. The place had quite a crowd, some speaking in voice, some in chat. The place was more of a hangout than a location where one could get information, though there was a media stream with one of his speeches and freebie hats. There were a number of pictures around, and a few props of gaming culture such as a Nintendo controller seat and a Pac-Man barbecue, JP saying just because (s)he and his/her friends were gamers was no reason not to take them seriously.

While I was there, there was no "racist" language or "hate speech," but a polite debate on the merits of the Sanders campaign and someone suggesting the two candidates, both of whom are considered outsiders, should cooperate. The closest thing to a griefing was some wag over Voice propositioning JP to a "yiff," which (s)he politely turned down.

Of the Trump Wall, (s)he stated it was done all in the name of fun, "It's friendly banter you understand nothing serious. But Mac doesn't seem to have a sense of humor about it. She's banned me even though I've never even been to her land other than to stand there. ... We see this as a bit of fun, the wall I mean. They should lighten up and put some banter up themselves. We try to have a sense of humor."

In Voice, JP did mention something about someone else nearby trying pulling off a joke at their expense, though didn't seem to think too much of it. When I later looked, among the Trump HQ's neighbors was a plot that looked like a crude metal shelter cobbled together from a post-apocalyptic ruin, with signs proclaiming "Hadet for President." Who Hadet is, I don't know.

As it turns out, I've seen for myself Trump supporters at the Sanders HQ. One was simply flying around holding a banner, getting a little close to people. The other, whom went around holding a sign over his head, ranted about "stopping this cuckery." When I brought up the subject with JP, (s)he acknowledged there was a problem, but with both sides, "I am not responsible for every troll claiming to be a Trump supporter, just as she is not responsible for every troll claiming to be for Bernie. And believe me we've had lots."

Talking more with JP, (s)he stated no dislike for the Sanders campaign, saying there was much about the platform to be liked, "I'd love to be friends and have debates.  But they have other ideas, which is fine. Saddening but fine. ... We are not griefers. We are not trolls, just political activists with a sense of humor and fun. If (the) Sanders (supporters) bought a place across from me, I'd be delighted to engage in some back and forth with them." JP stated there should be a parcel opening up in Lionheart Ahadi near her soon, inviting Macwind or some other Democrat supporter to take it.

So it seems there's no animosity among JP's pro-Trump group towards MacWind's Sanders supporters, but rather a disagreement between the two groups about what the "rules of engagement" between the two should be. It could be reasoned the former feels they're doing the latter a favor by attracting attention to both places and groups. The Democrats would beg to differ, though. With the griefers, hitting the Sanders HQ, apparently they have trouble telling the difference between the two, possibly if they should try. MarcWind's use of the term "evil" does not bode well for the opinion of she and her friends towards the Trump supporters. Part of the divide may also be an age difference, MarcWind being an "An old hippie wanna-be/pseudo geek," and JP a gamer from a younger generation. Different generations can have very different experiences politics-wise while growing up. For the 1960s, the big issue was civil rights and Vietnam. For the 1980s, it was the Cold War. And for the 1990s, it was the "little blue dress."

For now, the Sanders group seems to be trying to ignore the Trump Wall, still within sight at their headquarters in Caspoli (45/37/46). What happens next will no doubt partially depend on how the election in real life goes. While Trump will most likely get the Republican nomination, there are whispers that the "establishment" will try and find a way to stop him, even if it costs the party the election. Sanders is currently a close number two  in pledged delegates for the Democrats, but a huge majority of the unpledged delegates support his opponent. The Trump and Sanders groups could be increasingly worried less about each other, and more about the campaigns they support.

Bixyl Shuftan

SS Galaxy Closing Attributed to Griefing

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday April 26, DBDigital Epsilon, the Managing Director of the SS Galaxy announced through a statement that the three sim long ship, the largest ship and perhaps the largest build in Second Life, would soon be closing down. The statement did not reveal the reasons for the closing. When I contacted DBDigital, he told me he was not prepared to say anything beyond what was in the statement at that time.

The following day, there was quite a bit of talk about the ship closing in the Relay volunteers chat. People were expressing sorrow over the decision to shut it down. But something else was being told in the chatter. People were saying that the ship was closing because of repeated griefing. Supposedly a whole section had been taken down. Also, Linden Lab was being described as not helping very much.

Heading to the Galaxy, I ran into a few people. Among them were Mrs. Mia Epsilon (doramia.aeon), the partner of the director, and two of the staff, Slobrador (henning.lionheart), and Mrs Polly Eberhart (polly.riederer). Mia told me, "It's fixed now. Aft was affected, ... Db and a couple of staff worked all weekend to fix it. ... My husband DBDigital is the Manging Director .... I think Henn took the most pictures of the damage." Slobrador shook his head, saying someone else did, "I wasn't online during the last attack." Mia went on, "The ballroom dome was sometime Saturday early morning, and the walls and decks in aft were also. ... There was a hole blown into the aft section, and the pieces fell to the ocean floor. The decks of the ship were mangled and twisted, the walls misplaced and uneven. The dome of the ballroom was shattered. ... So we know the aft hole happened Thursday." Mia told me this had been the latest of several attacks in recent days, "between late Thursday night and early Sunday morning. We have had griefers before but not on this scale." She described earlier incidents as pranks in comparison such as spiders in the ballroom. Polly added, "Never in my 7 (and a half) years of working here have I seen anything on this scale."

Polly commented, "and LL can't guarantee it won't happen again." Mia told, "DB spent hours on the phone with LL. They allowed one roll back which fixed the decks, walls and dome." Polly nodded, "DB has been dealing with them constantly." "Why only one?" I asked about the rollbacks. Mia answered, "LL said they would only permitone." "One a day?" "One total." "Just one and no more, period?" "Yes, just the one. And they said they had no way to stop the griefers from attacking again."

I then asked, "Is that why the decision was made to close the ship?" Mia answered, "The owner decided based on that and the safety of the passengers." I asked, "So he felt he could no longer guarantee a pleasant stay for his patrons?" She answered, Yes. We have dozens of renters here, as well as events and guests.  He wanted to ensure people coming here are safe. There is always so much going on here. There's shops, activities, and this is home to many."

I asked, "Were there alternative courses of action discussed, such as temporarily closing the ship, or restricting who could get on board?" Mia answered, "Yes, DB had already turned off rezzing. Of course, for renters, that is never a good option. One wants to be able to rezz in their home after all. I believe every avenue has been looked into." Someone nearby asked "Did you say earlier that the griefer was indeed estate banned but this didn't solve the problem?" A friend of hers reminded, "You can easily make alts." Mia informed, "The ship tracking system showed only two people aboard when the damage was done."

I then asked, "So there's no chance that the ship will be brought back in the future?" Mia answered, "I like to never say never. He talked to several Lindens. It is our home." A Tronion Sands nearby commented, "Can't always trust who was onbaord to say who was the griefer though, due to someone accepting an object, that person rezzing it causing greifing. I've seen it in other sims." Mia told him, "Yes Tron, thats the theory here."

Talking further, Mia told of DBDigital's dealings with Linden Lab, "DB knows several of the Lindens very well. (After) eight years, hard not to. The first Linden he spoke to Friday (April 24) morning said a rollback would happen by 11 SL time. But it never did. When Db called again, the next Linden said they didn't allow roll backs for private sim matters without compelling reasons." Polly commented, "I personally think this was a compelling reason but probably not to them." Mia went on, "They did do a rollback Saturday, but only one." Someone nearby commented, "If they won't do more than the one, then they found something irregular."

Some time later, Mia introduced me to DBDigital just after he logged back on. I introduced myself, and brought up the stories about the griefings. But he would say little, "As for the reason for our closure, I can't give any further comments other than what I said previously. ... Yes, we have weathered many storms. It has been a very enjoyable 8 years in SL." I then asked if there would be a farewell party. He answered, "There is not a official farewell party, however our last DJ event is Friday 12-2pm at our Coral Lagoon Pool Deck. If the schedule changes, it will of course be posted on our website http://www.ssgalaxy.net ."

I then asked, "Is there any chance that the ship may be coming back soon?" DBDigital answered, "Sadly no. The ship will disappear from the SL Grid May 3rd. As you know when sims are shut down all contents are deleted forever."

I then brought up one other, much smaller build, in the vicinity, "A few years ago, the Crooked House was movied in this vicinity. What about it?" DBDigital answered, "All five sims of the Galaxy will likely be shut down and the Crooked House relocated. That hasn't been decided yet. Regardless the ship itself will close."

"So what will you yourself do after the ship is gone?" I asked DB Digital. He answered, "I don't plan on taking any large projects. Although I have already had a few offers. I have declined them all." I asked if there was anything he wanted to add. He responded, "Nothing more than what I have previously said. ... As hard as this is, I know it is God's timing and time for her to go with dignity and grace as she always has."

 And so, investigations have revealed just as many questions as answers about the closing of the SS Galaxy. Why has Linden Lab made the decision to limit their help to not just any customer, but one whom has reliably paid the tiers for five sims for almost eight years? Why have they done so little to help out the largest build in the Grid? And what does this mean for the other sim owners across Second Life, especially those whom have built up their lands with public access in mind?

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: "Graphics Card" Griefing Attacks on Club Show a Serious Problem

By Bixyl Shuftan

Griefers have been a problem in Second Life probably since the beginning. Usually they're bored, immature individuals whom get their kicks out of pranking or harassing people. Little pests. But recently I've heard some news of some incidents that had me worrying.

Since first getting about the Grid, I myself have seen a number of examples at sandbox areas and the Luskwood community. One moment, a guy's peacefully building in a public 'box, and the next his work is surrounded by giant male organs with the N-word being shouted out repeatedly. While visiting Luskwood in the past, on occasion the place was flooded with squares showing some image, usually lame or obscene, or pictures of Mario. The response from the Lusk furs was a collective "Here we go again," and they'd turn off Particle images in their Preferences while an administrator got rid of the emitter. And a couple times while at a Live TV broadcasting, some character walked onto stage and began showering the set with particles. Both were quickly booted, and a little editing erased any traces of inconvenience to the show.

Usually these malcontents have simply been an occasional annoyance that pops up time to time. Although these particle storms could cause one to crash on occasion, the effect was mainly distraction and some lag. Although "The Herald" reported on them repeatedly, other newsletters and blogs have tended to do so sparingly. The most noted article about grieving by our predecessor paper, SL Newspaper, was when the Woodbury sim was hit by grieving attacks. The sim had a strong reputation of being a griefers hangout, so I couldn't help but chuckle at the equivalent of someone robbing a thieves guild. Since then, maybe a sentence or two of some philistine trying to disrupt a 9-11 memorial service.

But earlier this month, I've heard about some incidents of griefers whom truly were a serious problem for a location.

Junkyard Blues is an outdoor club that's been in business in Second Life for several years. Over time, a community has sprung up around the place, as well as shops, and some smaller additional clubs. According to an article written by Yordie Sands in her blog, the location was the target of a series of grieving attacks. Not the "Mario Mosh Pit" and the like that pestered Luskwood and other places, but using devices that I had never heard of until reading her post about an announcement by Kiff Clutterbuck, one of the owners.

These attackers used a particularly nasty kind of tool called a "sim crasher." Another name might be "graphics card crasher." Not only could they take the sim offline, but these things would cause peoples' computers to crash by overloading their graphics cards. Sims were sometimes offline for hours or the next day until Linden help during business hours could bring them back online.

Staff and patrons alike began expressing worry that these attacks might cause actual damage to their computers. Not to mention regulars and casual visitors alike began to stay away. They wanted to just relax and listen to the music, not deal with constant threats of harassment. Then came a new wrinkle. The management was sent a message by one of the griefers demanding money in order for the attacks to stop.

This was now an extortion scheme, one with the continued livelihood of the community as stake.

Aside from bringing crashed sims back online, Kiff stated the Lab was no help at all, "All that was available from Linden Lab was the invitation to file abuse reports, one by one, on each individual who attacked us, if we could even give then a name. And then we'd see the same people we reported returning to do it again." The attacks continued day after day, one show being crashed four times. Finally, the decision was made to make the Junkyard Blues club, and most of the community's sims, members only. Visitors could still drop into the one sim open to all, talk to a volunteer, and get a tag after a look-over.

The problem with this solution: making a place members-only can put a limit on traffic. Fewer people able to drop in money in a club's tip jar, fewer potential customers at the stores. Eventually, Junkyard Blues will lift their group membership requirement. But not until they feel the coast is clear.

To add insult to injury, it was soon discovered that "sim crashers" were available for sale on Marketplace. No only was the Lab not doing anything about the attacks, it wasn't doing anything about items for sale on Marketplace openly marked for griefing!

Why is Linden Lab not enforcing the rules it set down for its virtual world? Why is Linden Lab not helping it's customers?

Sims can cost big money, $300 US dollars a month in tier. If a griefing campaign like this results in a place closing down, that's less money for Linden Lab. If stores and clubs are unavailable for residents to frequent, that's less people buying Linden dollars. That's what this kind of mess directly costs Linden Lab. Indirectly, well, Linden Lab not enforcing its rules about harassment *and* dealing with criminal activity makes people less likely to want to invest time and money in Second Life.

Why Linden Lab isn't acting, we residents can only guess. We've long joked about Linden incompetence. Some people I know have wondered if the Lab can be lazy at times, not wanting to deal with issues even when they have the time and resources. Or perhaps they're simply having Second Life "treading water" while they look for the perfect "shared creative space" for the masses more suited to watching reality TV than figuring out the Grid's learning curve.

Oskar Linden's dismissal in November also raises a few questions on the matter as in his words "the root of it was complaints from a griefer whom I had banned from a private testing sandbox that I managed after he was harassing people and threatening to crash them and the region." A Linden fired for protecting residents against griefers? The Lab has been distancing itself from the residents, and it's believed they strongly dislike its employees getting involved with the residents. But has this unofficial policy gone to the point that even protecting residents from griefers is forbidden?

Or perhaps this is an example of how bad the dysfunction at the Lab has gotten. On the Second Life Universe forum thread Oskar Linden announced his dismissal, one poster commented "your firing is an example why employees 'freeze' when trying to make decisions on their own …" Another thought, "The result will surely be that the few surviving LL employees will do even less banning of griefers now. Why bother ARing grievers now, as the poor drudge who deals with your AR will be scared to take effective action."

So perhaps that the assault on Junkyard wasn't dealt with by the Lindens was a consequence of Oskar's dismissal: they were afraid what supposedly happened to him from banning a griefer would have happened to them. If so, the Grid's residents could truly be on their own when it comes to these troublemakers now able to crash people's computers, whether it be taking the "law" into their own hands, getting the help of a vigilante group, or bite the bullet and "hunker down" until the problem goes away like Junkyard did.

Yordie Sands did mention one possible solution: the Lab offering countermeasures for sim owners against griefers. Someone commenting on her article suggested residents had already made some countermeasures, but there was some debate on how effective they were, one wondering if they tended to attract griefers instead of being a shield.

So how could this end? Honour McMillian wrote in her blog the end result could very well be someone taking Linden Lab to court over it's failure to enforce it's terms of service. Crap Mariner commenting on her article wasn't so sure if many residents had a big enough investment in the Grid to get a lawyer on the matter. But if one of the few large land barons ended up the target of griefers and the Lab did nothing, then the Lab could very well be hit with a lawsuit.

With the Second Amendment being debated in the US in real life, the Junkyard incidents could very well be used by the pro-gun side in any debate in Second Life. Rules against the ownership of weapons are no help to the public when those in charge make no real effort to protect the public from those who buy or make them anyway and then use them with impunity with no fear of punishment.

I contacted Kiff Clutterbuck about the attacks, but he declined to be interviewed, "I think for now we are sort of burnt out on it."

Sources: Yordie Sands, SL Universe, Honour McMillian


Bixyl Shuftan

The Voodoo Curse

A little over a year ago, Second Life was hit by the Redzone controversy. For those not familiar, Redzone was an alt detector that worked by scanning IP adresses, and  banning avatars from a hit list shared through the services' security systems. It raised privacy concerns as in theory a stalker could track someone this way. Plus it didn't really work as IP adresses can change, and the wrong person could and was mistaken for the target and blacklisted. In response came "Greenzone," which detected which areas were covered by Redzone. Eventually, Linden Lab reacted against Redzone. Redzone's creator zFire threatened to retaliate, and was soon banned from Second Life.

zFire once boasted if Redzone was ever banned, another alt detector would replace it. And in an interview with Paisley Beebe in March 2011, one of Team Greenzone mentioned there were a few systems that claimed to do what Redzone did. So even though Redzone was gone, would something else take its place?

Recently Treminari Huet, a Second Life blogger and one of the first to warn about Redzone, came to me about another alt detector: Voodoo.

Voodoo's "anti-bot" system advertises itself as "most effective at deterring … people using … (alts) to cheat games, grievers, and avatars known to cause problems," saying this was a way to deter cheaters at contests and games whom would otherwise enter multiple times in contests, and thus get the alts' owner a bigger share of the money.


In the early days of the products life cycle there was a big bot problem in Second Life around the TMY sploders which were originally designed to attract traffic to locations and provide small amounts of money to residents. Scripted bots would fill regions and take the money.
Voodoo's systems have changed that. Since the beginning we have been exploring new ways of detection and ways to reduce false positives and we have increased support resources. Our purpose is to enforce fair play and make gaming a better experience for everyone.

While discussing Voodoo, Treminari sent me a couple links to stories by Forceme Silverspar and   Examiner writer Douglas Green, both written in Summer 2011. Green's issue with Voodoo was it's role as a 'Sploder security system, as any form of gambling in Second Life was technically illegal. Forceme Silverspar decided to take a closer look at Voodoo to check the worries of some in Greenzone if this was indeed a second "Redzone." She checked the system and noted that the Voodoo Sploder gave those nearby a warning that those wishing to be verified to play would have their IP address revealed to Voodoo. While she felt Voodoo could have been more clear about it, she concluded this was a fair warning. Plus she found "no evidence whatsoever of any sharing of … alt data outside of 'Voodoo.' " Of the ban list, Forceme stated, "this should not be called 'Anti-bot' but rather 'Anti-anyone we Voodoo people don't like." Of the question whether or not Voodoo was using the same media loophole as Redzone, she concluded probably not.

In the end, Forceme concluded Voodoo was most likely no big deal, except being a poor product for the purchaser, "the whole Anti-bot device is a joke, don't bother …. and to those who have had their name put in because Voodoo doesn't like them, and that means they are banned from using the sploders and going on land that runs the Anti-bot device, yeah, whatever."

In her first article about Voodoo, Treminari noted that the Greenzone HUD reacts to a Voodoo sploder "like it would any Redzone-like system." But only the wearer of the HUD gets the alert. She tried testing Voodoo for a "media exploit." Going about the few locations she could find that used Voodoo sploders, "I did find attempts in media to send to a specific IP and port number … " but, " … I was unable to rule out what I did see recurring as the possibility of other products that set media URLs, such as a harmless shoutcast DJ board." She concluded her tests were inconclusive.

Treminari was ready to just leave Voodoo alone, then came another development. Talking to her, she described Voodoo's owner Monkey Wonder as entering the Greenzone chat and stirring up arguments, "just because the group has a few anal members, its like anything else. You kick the hornets nest, most of them are going to sting you. He kicked the hornets nest ,making it regular business to enter the group and troll its members and pick fights with them." Monkey did have a right to defend his product, but Treminari felt he was going too far, ".... he did have a right to complain, until he started threatening the groups members and businesses that participate as a whole."

The threat was in a notecard Monkey Wonder passed around to various members of the Greenzone group.


Dear Greenzone griefing group member,

Following mass defamation, griefing, propoganda, scamming and false abuse reports initiated by members of Greenzone griefing group recently on a scale never before seen in SL, Voodoo has taken the decision to protect our customers and other residents of Second Life from your activities.

Greenzone once had a legitimate purpose in Second Life, protecting the privacy of residents from systems such as Red Zone.
Red Zone is long gone, and Greenzone now operates more like the Anonymous hacking collective. The moderators have lost control, and the group is now a leaderless organisation that anyone with a grudge can join to attack others in the name of Greenzone.

Voodoo produces an extremely popular free Sploder tracking HUD which is owned by thousands and used everyday by many people, we have a user base of over 40,000 avatars. The next version of these HUDs, to be released imminently, will announce any nearby Greenzone griefers in local chat by name, along with any land owned by these griefers and any objects created by them. We believe your creations and land are not safe as you are a member of a group well known for griefing.

We do however understand that there is a minority of legitimate business owners currently in the griefing group, who joined long before Greenzone was hijacked by trouble makers. Due to this, we are allowing 12 hours for you to leave the group and avoid any damage to your business.

Voodoo has been at the forefront of SL security for many years and we take it and peoples privacy very seriously.

We do not wish to become ememies of any group, but we simply cannot tolerate people who choose to attack or scam others.

Thank you for your understanding and please make the right decision.

Monkey Wonder
Owner of Voodoo SL

At this point, the nature of the debate changed. Treminari in her article called Monkey Wonder's statement, " 'leave your discussion group or I will do something very bad to you,' obviously meant to coerce people into leaving, which is the very definition of blackmail: 'to force or coerce into a particular action.'" In my conversations with her, "He sent the threat to the whole group, and said he would be setting up his HUD to slander any members present. I take threats directed at me wether it be directly at me or what I have membership in very seriously." She felt concerning his actions, Linden Labs had only one realistic option, "he crossed a line you don't cross, so I will be seeking at the very least his removal from the Grid."

Joining the group to get more information, the reaction of the group was disbelief, and anger, an Anguissette Resident stating, "Leave the group or they'll blackban my products? My products are widely sold. That will anger a lot of product owners. In all my travels through SL, I have only encountered two Voodoo products. One was at the Voodoo creators shop, and slandered me in local chat as a copybot, which of course I am not. The other was in a very unsuccessful and empty club, and wasn't working, according to the error messages it flooded local chat with. I have never griefed anyone. Any claims I have ever made about voodoo were based solely on fact and what Monkey himself told me. That is not griefing. I will not stand by and let him label me as a griefer. I will not let him threaten me and my business.  I will not bow down to threats of blackmail. I will not be slandered and abused. Monkey must abide by not only the TOS, but also the laws of the countries he trades in, both his own and that of his customers. I hope he is reading what we are writing here today. I will be ARing this notecard, on the many infractions of TOS. … I can't believe he's asserting that someone's land might not be safe if they purchase something from my shop. That just makes my blood boil. I make cards and funny signs. Is a greeting card that sends you a hug a weapon of mass destruction now? … I won't be leaving the group. Report that to your leader, Monkey boys. And every time I or something I created or own gets blacklisted, I will file an AR."

After I asked for information, I was IMed by one member of the group. He claimed that a number of "Greenzone proponents" were former members of Woodbury, an infamous group that Linden Labs has banned from the Grid. He cautioned me to watch out for anti-JLU (Justice League Unlimited) propaganda, but I noticed none that night, or as of the writing of this article or any night I observed Greenzone chatter.

One Greenzone member, Unya Tigerfish, sent out a notecard that appeared in a group notice not long after Treminari first contacted me on the matter.


Dear members of the GZ group!

Recently I have revisited the Voodoo products, and to my positive surprise I noticed that Monkey Wonder has in fact adapted many privacy features and thereby relieved a lot of the concerns regarding privacy that were the reasons for this group to fight against the products.

Therefor, I personally contacted Monkey Wonder and we agreed that I should give him a list of the remaining few items that we think were still in violation of privacy. Were those addressed, we would be happy to clear Voodoo products from our "Bad" list. Our talk ended cordially in a truce.

HOWEVER!

Only a week after this talk, before I was finished compiling this list, members of the Greenzone group are receiving a blackmail: "leave GZ group within 12 hours or you, your items, and your creations will be blacklisted"

I personally feel betrayed!  We as the GZ group have pride!

And we will not bow to blackmail!

The GZ group is no griefer group! Therefor, I would like to suggest that everyone of you who is subject to the blackmail of Monkey Wonder, AR him, and whoever is subject to his announced griefing in local chat, AR the person owning the offending device.

Monkey Wonder, consider our talks cancelled. You have shown that you are no man of honour, but instead a blackmailing criminal.

For GZ,

Unya Tigerfish


Heading to Voodoo's office in Voodoo City, Morenci (213, 207, 22), I came across a couple of Monkey's staff. When I asked one about Greenzone, he didn't seem to know what was going on, "green zone, are they making trouble again?" " 'Again?' You have some trouble with them before?" "lol nothing much. … guess if you want info like that, you'll have to talk to the boss." And he told me they would get in touch with Monkey Wonder. A couple days later when I appeared in the office again, he was there.

I asked about trouble between he and Greenzone, and he answered, "Yes it started a long time ago when they misunderstood how our products work and blacklisted us and our customers with their hud. the gz hud says 'Spyware detected' when it sees anything created by me." Telling him of their wondering of a possible similarity to Redzone, "voodoos main thing is the sploder game. we are very strict about cheating. we ban a lot of avatars who try to cheat, so we have enemies. when someone wants to get at us, they join greenzone. so gz is fed false info from these people. without investigation, we were blacklisted by them. if everyone is guilty until proven innocent, why are we targeted? … for months members of the group have lied repeatedly to try to damage us .. they send notecards to our customers saying our products are illegal, they visit my shop. so we decided to implement a similar blacklist."

Of the charges of him sending a notecard to various Greenzone members, Monkey Wonder admitted it, "yes i sent a warning to green zone members explaining what we intended to do. The nc said we would implement the system in 12 hours but it was more like 48. we will be targeting other griefer groups also, to warn our customers and members." "So 48 hours for 'legitimate business owners' to leave, or else?" "voodoo is a security business. 12 hours until we blacklist members of this group because the group is well known for causing grief to other residents." I responded that I hadn't heard of any problems with Greenzone since the Redzone controversy. "Maybe you should talk to the JLU," Monkey responded.

When asked about Unya Tigerfish and if they talked, "yes she is a moderator at green zone, we spoke and talked about changes that could be made to our systems. … She made some vague claim she was going to talk to others and get a list of changes, then nothing happened ... the problem is, there are a lot of people in the group now who are not interested in privacy, they just want to try and damage us in revenge for being banned. you turned my warning on me and said it was a threat, but greenzone have already carried out their action before any warning and now we are blackmailed to make changes or stay on their blacklist. we didn't get a warning."

Monkey Wonder claimed, "6 people have come to me so far and asked to stay in the group and not be blacklisted by us 'because they are in the group to monitor their activities and prevent attacks by them.' it is a griefer group." "So you're not banning everyone in the group?" "i'm not banning anyone unless they grief, but everyone in the group is blacklisted and announced by our tracker HUD."

Monkey Wonder concluded his side of the matter, "voodoo is a gaming and security business, we are not out to invade anyones privacy and really we don't care who anyone is .. we are just concerned with keep the integrity of our games through fair play. i am not a criminal as unya thinks. i am a programmer who makes SL gaming systems for a hobby. … it is not a scam operation. it is a fun thing for people and we have built a big community. The group is about 3000 strong, and we have a userbase of 40,000 … people who have ever played our games, or been customers. the key problem is the group is full of people with the only agenda of revenge."

The meeting seemed to end on a cordial note. But later, Treminari contacted me again and pointed out Voodoo had put me and her on his blacklist. Later on in one of the rare moments I made a comment in the Greenzone chat, when I told someone Treminari had blogged about the controversy and I would be writing an article, a "Killer Sugarplum" responded, "amazing, Bixyl, you represent yourself as a reporter when you had your mind made up before you ever talked to both sides, your reputation isn't worth crap." Treminari had told me she suspected Killer was one of Monkey Wonder's alt accounts.

Chatting with Treminari, she felt what Monkey Wonder did deserved more than just a boot from the Grid, "If Linden Lab don't ban him, I will be getting in contact with the FBI regarding this. I contacted the FBI regarding zFire. The appropriate action for dealing with him is exactly the same." She felt Monkey Wonder deserved "criminal prosecution" for his threats, "He's running a gambling operation on a California based service and threatened an entire group. And (he) was knowledgable he was threatening innocent people too, even says so in the notecard with the statement about innocent business owners. Even if it's a baseless threat, its still a threat nonetheless. And also it reflects on his lack of ethic in his business practice that he would even consider doing such a thing: integrating a slander tool with his HUD. So it really goes to show his SL bot protect ban list ain't to be trusted."

Legal issues aside, Monkey Wonder and Voodoo may soon have a problem on their hands. Keeping an eye on the Greenzone chatter, there were numerous residents stating they were filing ARs against Monkey Wonder. One of the group posted what Voodoo was saying about her:   GRIEFER WARNING: This land is owned by (name of resident), who is blacklisted by Voodoo for being a member of Greenzone Griefer Group. The parcel is not safe. If as many people are sending ARs as I noticed, let alone when I wasn't online, the sheer number is almost certainly going to be at least looked into by Linden Lab. What they'll do about Voodoo and it's owner, that's yet to be seen.

Voodoo is not looking like another "Redzone," but it's owner's actions have created a controversy that will take Linden Lab to resolve.


Sources: Treminari's Secondlife Blog, Forceme Silverspar's Adventures in Second Life, The Examiner, Voodoo

Bixyl Shuftan

Behind Bronyville’s Fall

Bronyville was up for only a few scant months before it went down, and went down hard. All signs point to Bronyville (and its co-existing sim, Derpy) being lost forever with the removal of the original owners (Overbrain Unplugged and Twinkie Swizzle), the latter of which I did an interview with while things were finishing up being built. Krypton Radio is reporting at http://kryptonradio.com/2011/07/21/woodbury-banned-a-third-time-sl-bronies-take-a-hit/ that both Overbrain and Twinkie were "ban evasion" alts of trolls/griefers, real troublemakers against Linden Lab.

I talked to a few people, and they seemed to be in agreement. In the eyes of Linden Lab, "once a griefer, always a griefer" --- meaning if these two straightened up and "went legit" on their ban-evasion accounts, they'd still get in trouble if caught no matter how many good deeds they did (such as building Bronyville, getting people interested in SL BECAUSE of Bronyville, etc).

Then I got wind that the Bronies were recovering at a new sim raised by donation money, known as Bronytown (the sim next to that, Everfree Forest, I am not sure of if that is part of the new Brony sims or not). I tracked down one of the bronies who offered an interview, and they had this to say:

[12:19] Xymbers Slade: Ok, so what can you tell me about the massive avalanche that went on with Bronyville? I've been hearing a lot of reports of different things, from an admin coup to an admin troll.

[12:20] Magenta Stars: Well, I think it was the troll. I had heard rumors, but never really made the connection myself. That Overbrain was a Troll ALT was surprising

[12:21] Magenta Stars: I've seen coups before, they're never so clean or quick as this was.

[12:21] Xymbers Slade: Did you lose a lot from Bronyville when it went down? I had a plot I'd just dumped a good 6 or 7 more weeks into when it went down.

[12:23] Magenta Stars whispers: I had a plot in Derpy that still had three weeks rent on it, and I was on the waiting list for a merchant stall. They told me I could open for business when the Arena was finished.

[12:24] Magenta Stars: Beautiful sim you have here.

[12:24] Xymbers Slade: Are you going to grab a stall or plot on the new sims? Do you think the same thing will happen, that trolls disguised as "good people" will wreck things?

[12:26] Magenta Stars: Yea! And will I worry? No. Even if i know the leaders are trolls elsewhere. Trolls don't bother me, being a furry in SL makes you have to grow a thick skin, lol.

[12:27] Xymbers Slade: Thicker than most, at any rate. Do you think this was the intention of the trolls... to build everything up and to get their "lulz" later on, knowing it would come crashing down?

[12:28] Magenta Stars: No. I don't, maybe they got some lulz out of it, maybe not. But you know they invested some significant cash into the two sims. I think it was the genuine article. Maybe I'm nieve, but I like to hope for the best =^.^= mews Happily =^.^=

[12:29] Xymbers Slade: I'd seen at the meeting where the sim was going to be named... between the bouts of noise spam from those outside, it looked like [Another Brony], who I thought was a driving force, was basically ostracized.

[12:30] Xymbers Slade: Any idea why?

[12:31] Magenta Stars: I'm not sure, by the time I came in, Bronyville was largely formed and Derpy was only weeks away. [Another Brony] seemed to me to be a quiet type. Hope he's doing well, I havent' heard from him since this all started.

[12:32] Xymbers Slade: I think that's all the questions I can think of... thanks for your perspective. I remember interviewing Twinkie for my first article on the Bronies... hard to believe that he (according to other sources) was a troll alt as well.

[12:33] Magenta Stars: Yea, he seemed pretty cool.

[12:33] Magenta Stars: and no problem. Bix told me you were doing a piece, so I thought I'd offer.


I'm expecting more troll attacks in the future. I know that much of /b/ had declared the Bronies "cancer" (they did tell them to go get their own board, which they did at ponychan.net) and they like nothing more than trolling something as "innocent" as a kids show aimed at little girls. When something this popular rebounds this quickly in the face of the trolls, it just turns into too tempting a target. I didn't lose much from my little plot when Bronyville went down (other than a couple of no-copy freebie water jugs from years ago), but I'm not going to buy another plot for rebuilding my store... not until I see things are solid and stable and hopefully troll free. I'm sure Brony Town when finished will be a nice place to visit, but I'm not going to live there.

Xymbers Slade

Editor's note: Reading the Krypton article, I noticed the name connected to the alt "Overbrain Unpluged" was a familiar one: Intlibber Brautigan. Sorry to say the SLN veterans in Second Life Newser are all too acquainted with him.

Bronyville In Trouble

I have learned that Bronyville and its accompanying sim Derpy has been taken offline, hit harder than the repeated griefings by bored troublemakers in the past. I hadn't logged in for most of the day, being elsewhere and otherwise indisposed, but then I started to see the notices flow in... "calm down, please"... "we'll get this straightened up..." "attempts to rebuild and salvage are in the works..."

I spoke with three or four people, and at this stage in time many people are not talking. Many of the people "with power" (or whom I assume have power) are just as confused as to what went on and is going on as I am. I spoke with one concerned citizen of Bronyville who had this to say:

[20:50] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: not the slightest, some coup between admins
[20:50] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: I suspect we aren't getting it back though
[20:51] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: Curly got hacked, twinkie and rembrandt got banned for supposedly being the hackers
[20:51] Xymbers Slade: Got hacked, again?
[20:51] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: then the bronies group went ape****, accusing Curly or getting them banned falsely so that he could control everything
[20:51] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: no, not again, the last time he was hacked was what set off these events
[20:51] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: so depending on who you believe
[20:52] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: maybe [Sim Owner] is powerhungry and got the other admin ponies banned
[20:52] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: or maybe its a big misunderstanding
[20:52] Xymbers Slade: Banned from the sim, or Second Life?
[20:52] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: nobody knows what actually happened and is just speculating at this point
[20:52] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: banned from Second Life, which is why the sims are gone
[20:53] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: I barely know any of them so im not gonna make any judgements
[20:53] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: but the place has been a giant dramafest from the start
[20:54] Xymbers Slade: As are most things spawned by 4chan, though... /co/ board or not.
[20:54] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: one conspiracy theory is that a chan hacker got into all the admin's accounts
[20:55] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: and maybe used [Sim Admin]'s computer as a proxy to hack curly
[20:55] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: to get them all turning on each other and fifing off all these bans and ****.
[20:56] Xymbers Slade: Mind if I save this log? I write for a SL blog, and this kind of story will require more than one "eyewitness" opinion.
[20:56] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: I'm far from an eyewitness, I'm just repeating the heresay that ive heard
[20:56] Xymbers Slade: I'll list it as hearsay then if I write an article on it.
[20:57] [Concerned Bronyville Citizen]: nobody that actually knows what is going on has spoken about it, except maybe [Sim Owner] who had a meeting to tell their side of the story earlier today

Speaking with one of the "Brony Royal Guard" (if titles can be believed):

[21:20] [Brony Royal Guard]: The canned response is:
[21:21] [Brony Royal Guard]: The Bronyville and Derpy sims are offline while Lindens investigate [Sim owner]'s account trouble. The sims may go back online, but we will probably need to find a new owner/sponsor. The worst case scenario is that the sims will go back online for a short period of time (a week?) for people to pick up their items before going offline permanently.

A few minutes before walking away from what appeared to be a little group meeting held on another sim nearby to discuss the untidy turn of events, a notice went out that essentially said "Attempts are being made to salvage Bronyville and Derpy (if it can be done everyone will get a voice on if we should save it or lose it; Funding attepts are being made as well; Once stages 1 and 2 are done everyone will get to choose who they want to lead the sim and who they want as admins."

By "Funding" I am assuming a new sim, which makes me think Bronyville, at least in its current incarnation, is not going to come back. That last bit has me worried. "Choose who they want to lead the sim"? It makes me wonder what kind of drama and politics were being played with behind the scenes.

Now, I had a small plot on Bronyville which I just renewed. If the sim goes down for the count, there goes a few thousand $L down the drain. I had nothing truly "of value" on the plot so I will lose nothing if it disappears from the Grid, but it was a nice home away from home. Others spent hours or weeks or months on the build, getting it just right. I can't imagine how they must be feeling right now.

The moment I know anything more, I'll report it here on the SL Newser.

Xymbers Slade