The 5th of November – The Truth

Posted on 01 November 2009 – Reposted from http://aldersonandcharron.com/?p=280

There’s been a lot of controversy about the Artist’s Voice group’s 5th of November boycott.  And it’s understandable.  Strong statements spark strong reactions. Unfortunately, many of the reactions being voiced are based on misunderstandings, personal vendettas, and are emotional instead of well-thought out.  Let us look at the facts, and let us start at the beginning:

Some weeks ago, the Step Up group in Second Life began encouraging residents to not upload anything to the virtual world for 24 hours – on November 5th.  Each item uploaded (snapshot, texture, sound and animation) costs the artist L$10.  As thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of  items are uploaded every day, a 24 hour boycott can send a powerful message.

Tenshi Vielle, the founder of the Artist’s Voice group and the editor-in-chief of Shopping Cart Disco, was eager to participate, and as always, eager to do more.  She has consistently been one of the loudest and bravest voices against the many wrongs perpetrated in SL, including content theft.  A woman of action, she came up with a plan!

The idea behind the 5th of November is pretty simple, and is meant to show our complete disgust with content theft, and to encourage the powers that be to give us more support and more tools to fight content theft in our brave and shiny virtual world.  If we halt as many L$ transactions as possible for 48 hours, we send a clear and unequivocal statement to Linden Labs™, reminding them that the Linden economy, and thus the success of Second Life™ is based on two things:  the hard work of Second Life’s content creators and the deep virtual pockets of Second Life’s residents.

The L$ transactions proposed for boycott on November 5th and 6th are as follows:

• uploads
• the purchase of $L currency
• the sale of $L currency
• XStreet purchases and sales
• in-world purchases and sales
• land store purchases
• stop blogging about Second Life (while not a $L transaction, it will help)
• pay shop rents on the 4th or the 7th (you should NOT go in arrears on rent or tier)

Mind you, it is understood that not all of these options work for everyone.  No one will be vilified or spurned if they cannot participate.  However, your participation to some extent is vital, and very much appreciated.  There’s a notecard available in world (message Kat Alderson in world for the official notecard and textures) which outlines some easy ways for you to participate.

It is important to remember that the Artist’s Voice group is not trying to hurt the Linden economy or Second Life content creators  in any way.  We’re only asking you to help send a message to Linden Labs.  You are encourage to shop and upload to your heart’s content on every day save for November 5th and 6th!  You are simply being asked to show your support for an end to content theft for 48 hours.

Together, we can!

I am Kat Alderson and I approved this blog post.