Second Life faces worm attack on its virtual economy (earthtimes.org)
- earthtimes.org -
 NEW YORK: Linden Lab's famous virtual world Second Life had to close its doors for a short time Sunday after a worm attack called grey goo. The self-replicating worm slowed down the servers leading to a temporary closure of the virtual world.Second Life is also threatened by another malady, a much serious one called CopyBot, a program that allowed users to copy any object in the game, which created havoc as content creators saw their creations getting copied and stolen. Objects from clothing to furniture to houses to jewelry are the building blocs of the game's evolving economy and CopyBot caused immense harm. |
It is not clear how Linden Lab will be able to stop people from making use of CopyBot, as some people make a living selling virtual things at Second Life. Linden Lab said the best avenue for content creators who had their wares stolen could be to file a complaint under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- of course not in the virtual world.
In recent years, Second Life has become one of the most discussed about happenings in cyberspace. Even major companies have entered this digital realm, including Adidas, Reuters and Channel 4's Big Brother, which have all set up business in Second Life. It has a population of 1.5 million today and it is growing at the rate of 38 per cent every month, according to Linden Lab. The inhabitants can buy and sell land and objects for real money and in any 24-hour period as much as $690,000 can be spent.
The CopyBot attack has let several virtual entrepreneurs worrying and they feel their livelihoods are at stake. Some of them have threatened Linden Lab that they plan to close down and leave.
Linden Lab posted a blog addressing the CopyBot problem. Its chief technology officer Cory Ondrejka said in the posting, "Second Life needs features to provide more information about assets and the results of copying them. Unfortunately, these are not yet in place. Until they are, the use of CopyBot or any other external application to make unauthorized duplicates within Second Life will be treated as a violation and may result in your account(s) being banned."
CopyBot was actually meant as a tool to be used by Linden Lab to find vulnerabilities in the virtual world but it has since been modified and spread to other users.
Meanwhile, another blog by a Second Life official said Second Life has been able to isolate grey goo and it is currently cleaning up the grid. He said the attack of the self-replicator caused heavy load on the database, which is slowing down in-world activity.
The game was reopened within 25 minutes, but the attack caused unrest among Second Life devotees who were already angered by previous flaws in the fast-growing game.
In recent years, Second Life has become one of the most discussed about happenings in cyberspace. Even major companies have entered this digital realm, including Adidas, Reuters and Channel 4's Big Brother, which have all set up business in Second Life. It has a population of 1.5 million today and it is growing at the rate of 38 per cent every month, according to Linden Lab. The inhabitants can buy and sell land and objects for real money and in any 24-hour period as much as $690,000 can be spent.
The CopyBot attack has let several virtual entrepreneurs worrying and they feel their livelihoods are at stake. Some of them have threatened Linden Lab that they plan to close down and leave.
Linden Lab posted a blog addressing the CopyBot problem. Its chief technology officer Cory Ondrejka said in the posting, "Second Life needs features to provide more information about assets and the results of copying them. Unfortunately, these are not yet in place. Until they are, the use of CopyBot or any other external application to make unauthorized duplicates within Second Life will be treated as a violation and may result in your account(s) being banned."
CopyBot was actually meant as a tool to be used by Linden Lab to find vulnerabilities in the virtual world but it has since been modified and spread to other users.
Meanwhile, another blog by a Second Life official said Second Life has been able to isolate grey goo and it is currently cleaning up the grid. He said the attack of the self-replicator caused heavy load on the database, which is slowing down in-world activity.
The game was reopened within 25 minutes, but the attack caused unrest among Second Life devotees who were already angered by previous flaws in the fast-growing game.
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