It is not true that people who steal will steal no matter what. The incidence of theft fluctuates in real life based on cultural and economic factors and it makes sense that those factors would play a role in Second Life as well.

Certainly, there are a small percentage of people who are criminal at heart and will always steal. They can only be affected by actions by Linden Lab and improved technological methods to protect against theft.

Many however use stolen content out of ignorance - not knowing it is stolen in the first place. Educating them about theft and about when to suspect theft can reduce their usage of stolen items. Another group of people are the thoughtless ones who think of Second Life as an anarchist paradise. Connecting theft to the real consequences for ordinary people can reshape their worldview.

It is sad that disagreement about tactics could not be discussed without resorting to extreme exaggerations. It is not true that those who opposed the tactics are pro-theft. It is also not true that viable SL stores would be destroyed by the tactics. Those sort of extreme declarations leave no room for discussion or reasonable disagreement - which can lead to future compromise and consensus.

People are well aware that uploads will happen before and after the no uploads day and that purchases will bracket the commerce moratorium - but that blip or downward tick on the commerce stats could be an effective measure of intensity of support for combating theft.

I did not know her, but very much enjoyed the Bonnie & Clyde blog. My sympathies for Nicolas, her friends and family. May your store of beautiful memories keep her alive in your hearts forever.

Without crosstabs on resident population growth, land expansion and transfers (which are not affected by content theft) and personal service payments including tips, escorts and so on, these stats are meaningless. You cannot make any conclusions on the economy based one one factor.

Those shoes deserve special mention, too, for overall yumminess

The purpose of the skins was made clear by her use of the name Battle Royale - and before you rushed to call for a boycott, you should have researched the cultural reference to the movie. Then you would know that she made explicit that these are not battered woman skins, but the skins of warrior women.

Since you did not, then you should have stood down once the context was made clear. It does not reflect well on you that you persist after the context is made clear.

They are not ambiguously marketed, though. The very name, Battle Royale, makes explicit that these are the skins of women who battle - not women who are battered.

It's not true that there is nothing we can do. The beginning and the end of content theft is in our hands. We can refuse to buy copied items. We can Abuse Report every person who offers us copied items. Copiers would be a mere irritant if consumers did not go along with them and make their theft profitable. Of course, that means public education about content theft and yes, still some will be fooled because thieves can make stores and look legitimate. But certainly each and every one of us knows better than to accept a box of full perm anything to pass around.

Thanks for posting this - I hope everyone gets the word out quickly as identity theft is no joke. A colleague of mine was actually arrested and detained a few days because a thief who had been caught had stolen her identity and gave her name and a fake id, etc to the police when arrested. When the thief did not show up for the court date, my colleague was arrested and sent to Seattle. It took a few days for her to prove she was not the thief. This was in addition to the more standard credit card and financial damage she went through from the id theft.

Anyone who thinks it's okay to risk a few people getting swept up into this sort of fraud so folks have time to complete their paperwork simply has their priorities out of whack.

It would be lovely if we lived in a post-racial society, but if you think that's true, you slept through August. Barack Obama, to succeed, constantly must soothe white America and reassure them that he is not an "angry black man" so he cannot ever be completely honest about race. Look at how one tiny slip with the Gates affair led to a firestorm and a huge erosion in white support for him.

You can claim it's all old history until you're blue in the face, but you and I know that's not true. If it were true, this article would never have been written because no one would have been so "concerned" about a celebration of black fashion designers/models that they had to raise a stink about it.