Frustrations #2: The Great Mesh Caper

While we're on the subject of "original mesh" we may as well take on this issue. Frankly, it's one of the things I'm most glad to be free of now that I'm no longer "in the game."

The issue is this: people in SL obtain 3D mesh content from somewhere, rather than creating it themselves, and then upload it to SL and pass it off as their own. That's the ethical problem—so-called "designers" lying about the fact that they didn't actually create this object that they are presenting as "original" mesh. 

Most of the time, there is a legal side of it too: the source(s) they got the mesh models from do not allow use of such things in SL. ALL of the 3D websites where you can buy (or on some cases download for free) these models have legal terms of use—a license, if you will—that stipulates how and in what context their products can be used. All of them prohibit USE (let alone re-sale) in "virtual worlds" such as Second Life, in some cases specifically naming SL in their licensing.

I've personally contacted representatives from a number of these websites and without fail all of them have told me plainly that there is no capacity in their license wherein someone might re-sell their mesh models in Second Life. These SL "designers" are breaking the law. In addition to being liars, they are also thieves.

I can remember a time when the news of such thievery and deceit was enough to do real damage to a store/brand's reputation. The problem with this has become so common that what once was shocking and a major setback is now passé, almost a yawn. 

Let me lay this out as bluntly as I possibly can: it is NEVER okay to pass someone else's creation off as your own. It is NEVER acceptable to break the law by violating the terms of use/licensing for a mesh model obtained from someone or somewhere else. We should ALWAYS despise these practices, and those store owners who are guilty of them ought to be ejected by Linden Lab.