Douchebaggetry at Its Finest
I read this post Tenshi Vielle made today over at Shopping Cart Disco today, and I have to say: there are very few things that will set me off, but being a DICK and generally disregarding the fact that you are WRONG and trying to write it off like it was nothing, yeah — welcome to my own personal inner circle of hell.
To sum up: The PhotoLife studio booth at SL6B was (I’ve no idea if they still are) hosting AND selling (for $1,000L!) walls of photos they had admittedly lifted from their Flickr group, without permission.
A few choice lines from the public local chat conversation (at the exhibit in SL6B) between Greg Paslong and Darkley Aeon (the PhotoLife user whose work was lifted, and inquired about it) – you may read the whole conversation, and I encourage you to do so just to get the full breath of WTF that I did, at Shopping Cart Disco:
[3:17] Darkley Aeon: why wasnt i asked? everyone else seems to have been
[3:17] Greg Paslong: they weren’t
[3:17] Greg Paslong: want your photo off the wall?
This is Greg admitting to the fact that no one was asked for permission to use their photos from Flickr in the PhotoLife booth.
[3:18] Greg Paslong: want it off?
[3:18] Darkley Aeon: i dont mind it being there
[3:18] Greg Paslong: then what’s the problem?
[3:18] Billy Tammas: I don’t think that is the issue Greg, I think it’s the fact that copyright law has been broken and no permission was asked
[3:18] Darkley Aeon: its that i wasnt asked, and was uploaded from flickr without my knowledge
[3:18] Darkley Aeon: and its set for 1k
[3:19] Greg Paslong: it was an oversite
[3:19] Darkley Aeon: others were asked
[3:19] Greg Paslong: most of the shots on that wall were taken off of FlickR
[3:19] Darkley Aeon: thats copyright infringment
[[3:20] Darkley Aeon: mine are all set ‘all rights reserved’ its the default setting
[3:20] Greg Paslong: NP Darkley………let me remove your shot now……then we have no issue
[3:20] Darkley Aeon: there is an issue
[3:20] Darkley Aeon: you have a full perms copy of my copyrighted work, without permission
This is where Greg decides to not only NOT apologize for his admitted “oversight,” but also try to simply cover up his wrongdoing by just removing and forgetting about it. No acknowledgement that it was used without permission, know “I’m sorry,” absolutley NO consideration for the concern of the photographer in question or her rights to her intellectual property. Basically – this is where I started to get mad.
[3:21] Darkley Aeon: why was it set for sale?
[3:21] Greg Paslong: if you’d read your chat…..it was an oversite
[3:22] Darkley Aeon: its copyrighted work
[3:22] Darkley Aeon: and given a copy inworld
[3:22] Greg Paslong: OMG Darkley…..who would want that wall?
[3:22] Darkley Aeon: if i had been asked, i would have said ok
[3:22] Darkley Aeon: thats not the point
[3:23] Greg Paslong: well……you weren’t…..and many others weren’t either
[3:23] Darkley Aeon: but some were
And *THIS*, ladies and gentlemen, is where I actually got pissed off.
First off, where the hell do you think you get off talking to people, YOUR OWN CUSTOMERS, like an uncaring, nonchalant, DICKHEAD? AT WHAT POINT did you learn in your customer service experience that having an attitude is the best way to solve a confrontation? At what point do you think that insulting the work of ALL of your users (quoted above, “Who would want that wall?” – the photos were actually grouped together in a wall of photos from 12-15 photolife customers) was a GOOD IDEA? And more importantly, at what point did you think that selling other people’s work without permission was OKAY? Darkley even tried to cover your ass FOR YOU, Greg, by insisting that in fact SOME people HAD been asked, but she personally had not. While you just kept insisting that no one was asked.
And my personal favorite quote:
[3:26] Greg Paslong: I made a mistake…live with it
I pretty much would have had one thing to say at this point: Fuck you.
At no point was Darkley arrogant, rude, obnoxious or DESERVING in the way that this man treated her. She was simply a CUSTOMER trying to determine how her work came to be used without permission, along with others. WHAT RIGHT did you have to give HER attitude? What right did you have to treat her like SHE was the one at fault here? Quick note to any store/service provider in SL: There are several surefire ways to lose customers in Second Life, and this is definitely one of them: being an ASSHOLE is never a good customer service tactic.
Later, PhotoLife General Manager Colleen Criss stepped in and spoke with Darkley as well, also attempting to disregard the fact that her work was used without permission and that since the wall was no longer for sale, there “was no issue”:
[5:00] colleen Criss: ok. did he removed the photo?
[5:00] Darkley Aeon: yes both of them
[5:01] Darkley Aeon: 2 photos
[5:01] Darkley Aeon: thats not the point though
[5:01] colleen Criss: ok what is the point you want to make?
[5:01] Darkley Aeon: illegal uploading of copywrited material
[5:02] colleen Criss: let me ask this Darkley
[5:02] colleen Criss: had you displayed your photos on Team Flickr, or submitted either of them for contests ect?
[5:02] Darkley Aeon: yes, that doesnt change their status from ‘all rights reserved’
[5:03] colleen Criss: when you amke your photos available to the group … I think that it does.
For one, trying to cover your ass AFTER you are confronted by posting a “you give us permission to use your photos for promotional/teaching purposes” message in your Flickr group discussion pool is ABOUT the most tell-tale “oh shit” reaction you can make. Secondly, submitting a photo to a group on Flickr DOES NOT remove the COPYRIGHT on the photo, nor does it give you permission to just download it without first asking the creator. Creative commons licenses, sure, I can understand that assuming the CC gives the proper licensing for the use you intend. However, I know for a FACT that AT LEAST two photos used at the exhibit are All Rights Reserved, with no CC attached. Meaning – you either ask, or you don’t use.
And now the real garbage starts flying. The following is a classic case of “you hit my teddy bear, so I’m taking my balls and going home”:
[5:11] colleen Criss: Since you have tak this issue further them it needs to be and I do not wish to have any further problems. I am asking you you leave the pL group and I am going to remove your app from CP and ask you to take your things from the public Flickr group.
[5:11] Darkley Aeon: ok Colleen, I havent been looking for trouble, i’ve been trying to protect myself, but ok, ill do that
[5:13] colleen Criss: Darkley you have at this time made trouble …
[5:13] colleen Criss: thank you
[5:13] Darkley Aeon: i did nothing wrong
[5:14] colleen Criss: you filed that report because you were mad at Greg
[5:14] colleen Criss: now
[5:14] colleen Criss: you carry it out and do what it takes to make you feel better
[5:14] Darkley Aeon: I filed abuse report because it was valid
[5:14] colleen Criss: but I wish you to end all association with pL.
[5:14] colleen Criss: then thats fine
[5:14] colleen Criss: do what you need to do
[5:14] colleen Criss: and now I am as well
PhotoLife AND it’s staff obviously have no idea how to provide customer service, how to solve conflict, how to admit when they’re wrong, or how to treat the people that spend money on their products. And I, personally, could never and would never dream of being involved in ANY kind of business transaction or relationship with people who simply have NO respect for their customers, the money they spend, OR their work. Flickr photos being stolen… you know what? That happens every day. I’m used to seeing that happen. I typically say nothing anymore, as it’s not worth my time or effort – and usually the photos are removed, and a slap on the wrist is given, which has happened here.
No, what pissed me off is the fact that you really are just blatantly rude, disrespectful, appear to have no desire to apologize NOR admit wrongdoing, and you are PAINFULLY arrogant. And frankly, if I were going to spend the $10kL on a photo studio, I would DEFINITELY want to know these little facts first — so that I could steer full clear of your “world class photographer” egos, and spend my money elsewhere. No one likes an asshole, and you guys are DROWNING in shit with the way you treat your customers.
Over and out.
The Future of Skins, by Starley Thereian
To quote Starley Thereian:
Attention all skin customers/creators. If you are not aware, please read and vote for this jira:
jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-12962
In the 1.23 viewer, LL has changed the order of alpha layers on the avatar. This means that the slider eyebrows and makeup will now draw ON TOP OF your skin instead of underneath it. Why is this a problem? If your skin is permissioned “no modify” as many, many skins are and the creator did not set all makeup sliders to zero before applying their custom head texture, your skin will now look like the guy in the above photo and you will not be able to fix it. All of your no mod skins will be broken and it will be upon the creator to repair/replace every skin they’ve ever sold.
If your skin *is* modifiable, it is likely created that way specifically in order to utilize the underlying layers to allow for tintable lips and eyebrows (as all CS skins are), these types of skins will all be broken and likely irreparable with the slider brows and makeup appearing on top of your custom brow/lip finish.
Once again, please vote on this issue. jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-12962
Tell your friends, write a blog, anything you can think of to get the idea into LL’s head that arbitrarily breaking our content is not acceptable!
Slight Change ‘O The Mornin’ To Ya…
So, I want to go see The Watchmen. I know, I know. I’m a geek. It’s a phase, I’ll grow out of it (not).
But what does that mean? That I likely will not be home in time to open the sim right at 5:00PM SLT. So… with that in mind, I’ll just open it now.
Zion is open and Eden is up for sale, along with the St. Patrick’s Day Hunt (which will be going until this coming weekend — it’ll end this Saturday). Don’t miss outtttttttttt!
Take the limo, and beat the crowd. ;)
Oh, and enjoy. *runs away*
Twilight Eyes
The bookclub that began in January 2009 via a ton of Plurk friends has been doing swimmingly, I’m happy to say. In the spirit of “we should be reading more!”, we started out with Memoirs of a Geisha in January, moved on to Twilight in February, and will soon be reading The Watchmen starting in March. Before our first meeting, I had this idea. I would make a souvenir for members to take at each of our bookclub meetings. Something to commemorate the book we’d just read, whether we loved or hated it.
This month’s souvenir just happened to be one that apparently several people, who are not in the bookclub, wanted to grab. And so, I’ve decided to put them up for sale. Bookclubbers will, naturally, receive them for free at the upcoming bookclub meeting in-world next Saturday. But the masses may grab the Twilight Eyes, four pairs of eyes as described from the book, at my main store: Genesis (SLURL). $200L for the set of four. Enjoy!
The Victoriaus Ring
Yes, it’s true, it’s been a long time since I last blogged… but I’ve been keeping busy, I swear! And what worthier cause to dust the admin panel off for than the Victorian Bushfires Fundraiser?
This ring was created exclusively for the fundraiser, and 100% of proceeds made are donated directly to the fund.
It is only available at the Genesis main store on Zion (SLURL). Scripted for five texture change options (silver, gold, copper, bronze, and gunmetal) and is transferable, so boys – don’t be shy. Support a worthy cause and get your girl a pretty giftie just in time for Valentine’s day.
“It is only in the face of horror do we truly find our nobler selves.” – U.K.
50% off Sale at Genesis
I’m having a one-day-only sale at Genesis to celebrate the launch of my new main store on my very own Open Space Sim!
The sale will only be going on today, November 4th, and will last until at least midnight tonight, or early tomorrow morning (depends on how late I stay up, really). Everything in the store is marked down to half price until then.
This will be my main store for some time to come here, and I will be adding lucky chairs, a subscribe-o-matic, POSSIBLY storecards (if not static gift certificates), and god knows what else over time. I’m really excited to begin this new venture here, and hope you all will be excited with me!
Who Has Our Backs?
In the past months, and most recently, it has come to light about yet another DMCA filing between designers. That’s not what this post is about. What we’d like to address here is the “keeping things quiet” aspect of these situations.
We completely understand the need for silence when dealing with said issues. However, one thing that has consequentially occured from doing so is that many, many bloggers are continuing to post on items they are unaware may turn out to be stolen. This is painful in the end for not just the designer – and we totally share your pain in this – but also for the many bloggers who have showcased/reviewed the products, filling their blogs with praise for the items, only to feel let down in the end and ultimately have their own values questioned.
Such widespread covereage on the SL blogosphere also leads to more customers/readers considering the products in question for purchase, and again the bloggers do feel very responsible for that. As many designers know, if a blogger at any time suspects an item’s integrity, they will immediately contact the designer to make them aware of the situation. In a lot of cases, this is what leads to DMCA’s being filed. Not everyone can have eyes everywhere to see their own content has been stolen.
But who looks after us?
Second Life fashion bloggers are valued and sought after to showcase items for many designers, but that is where the respect seems to end. We hold designers in such high regard. If we were told via IM or notecard that something was amiss with the content of one creator over another, we would be perfectly capable of keeping that to ourselves should you request that. Naturally, further blogging on the items in question would cease to occur. We understand that designers dealing with the trauma of having their work stolen may not have considered alerting the bloggers as a course of action in the past, but now is when it is crucial to stand united in this and feel more like a community than ever before.
Keeping it to yourselves is what is letting many content thieves get away with thier thievery. Without an undisputable display of theft, these “content creators” are able to continue producing, and in doing so they will inevitably use bloggers and fashion feeds as tools to spread the word. Bloggers, like designers, also spend many, many hours behind closed doors compiling blog posts and genuinely working hard on their own written content. We don’t always see and hear everything. In the past, too many newer bloggers have been attacked in comments on their own blogs because they weren’t aware of theft with a particular store. That in itself is reprehensible. If you know something the blogger doesn’t, IM THEM and let them in on it. If you don’t want to consider it as helping the blogger, at LEAST think of it as helping the designers that have been stolen from.
We hope that people will help us in the future by letting us know, privately and anonymously if necessary, that there is questionable content making its way around the blogosphere. We have no interest in spreading gossip! But we DO have interest in, as well as obligation to our readers to know about, content theft. Hopefully, in the end, we will not feel like we have to rip our blogs apart and delete older posts (which will consequentially punish other designers who were mentioned and linked to) in order to hide what has been done innocently.
Sincerely,
Ryker Beck & Sasy Scarborough
What Do You Want?
I’ve decided to run a poll for RykerBeck.COM. After nearly a year in operation, I’m curious to know what everyone wants to see more of… you know. What would make this blog more appealing for you to read? What do you like to see from me? What would you like to see MORE of?
In my attempts to make RykerBeck.COM the best it can be, please take a moment to contribute your thoughts… if below does not have an answer you’d like to choose, feel free to leave me a comment. I’m open to any suggestions! Thanks for taking the time. :) MUWAH. <3
Bring on the ROUGE
This is going to be the bestest, bestest day EVAR.
Today, at 2PM SLT, history will be made in Second Life as the Rouge sim, owned by my beloved CodeBastard Redgrave, makes its debut. In what promises to be the party of all parties, the jam fest begins with DJ Azufr3 Catteneo spinning the beats, followed by several other prominent SL DJs, to include Nexeus Fatale, Amanda Shinji, and Nephie Eerie.
The sim is a work of art in itself, lovingly crafted by incredible creator, Eshi Otawara. As someone who has seen the sim, up close and personal, I can honestly say that the pictures do not do it justice. So don’t forget to drop by when the party starts hoppin’!
Rouge Walk and Code Red Lounge (Direct SLURL)
Rouge Boutique (Direct SLURL)
More details from the press release:
ROUGE – Saturday, July 5, 2008, marks the highly-anticipated unveiling of CodeBastard Redgrave’s new sim, simply named, Rouge.
Redgrave is the creator of the infamous Boudoir Rouge portrait series, developer of the MachinimaCam and Dramavatar fashion line, and owner of the Code Red Lounge and Gallery.
The aesthetic design of Rouge was conceptualized by Redgrave and legendary builder, Eshi Otawara. From that point, Otawara used her skills as a builder, designer and artist to create a multi-purpose destination that will serve as the new home of the Boudoir Rouge Gallery Walk, Code Red lounge and Rouge Boutique.
Just over 2500 prims were used to create the basic structure, artwork and furnishings. Otawara’s judicious use of mega-prims and unique textures has created a locale never before seen in Second Life. The land is formed in the shape of a female silhouette outfitted with artistic touches signature to Rouge’s proprietress. Visitors to the sim will instantly recognize Redgrave’s signature color, and the sim’s namesake, as well as her ever-present red stilettos. A black and red feather boa serves as the roof of the Gallery Walk and a shock of wavy hair provides cover for the Code Red Lounge.
The Rouge Boutique is housed inside a dance pole shackled at the feet of the silhouette. The boutique will offer selections of Redgrave’s own creations, as well as, offerings from some of the grid’s most notable designers. All items available for purchase in the Rouge Boutique will feature the color red in keeping with the sim’s theme. Designers who have already signed on to have their designs featured in the Rouge Boutique include, among others: Casa del Shai (Shai Delacroix), Juicy, Tesla, and Bluebell Productions.
Additionally, Rouge will be available for use by individuals and organizations wishing to host parties, fashion shows and other events in a unique and beautiful setting.
Rouge will open, officially, with a Grand Opening party that will begin at 2:00 pm SLT on Saturday, July 5, 2008. Events are planned throughout the day and night so that the festivities can be attended by friends from around the globe. Hostesses for the evening will be the luminous duo of Queen Coronet and LadyArwen Demina. The DJ line up includes some of Second Life’s most sought after mix masters:
- 2PM-3PM – DJ Azufr3
- 3PM-5PM – Digital Francis
- 5PM-7PM – Nexeus Fatale
- 7PM-9PM – Amanda Shinji
- 9PM-11PM – Init Hubble
- 11PM-1AM – Eris Alexander
- 1AM-3AM – To be determined
- 3AM-5AM – To be determined
- 5AM-7AM – Nephie Eerie – Stella Errans
Several of Second Life’s most prominent designers have signed on as sponsors of the epic Grand Opening event and will offer special gifts to invitees. The sponsors list includes:
- Tesla
- Casa del Shai
- Juicy
- Bluebell Productions
- Simply Silks
- Callie Cline
- Alexx Markova
Due to the expected high demand, access MAY be limited to Code Red group members. IM CodeBastard Redgrave for a group invitation and come join the fun.
This document is also available via googledocs, contact Gabby Panacek for information.
Be there, or be square, kids!!! Hope to see you at the PARTY!!! (click for larger pictures below!)
Join the New Sales Consolidated Group!
Hey everyone!!! So I’ve decided that naming my sales group “Ryker’s Beckonings” and having it be a group that only *I* can send notices out in is kind of malproductive. SO… I have created ANOTHER group… meant for any and all designers to join, to advertise SALES in their store!!!
I’d like this group to become a place where any and all designers can go to announce sales they will be having in their store — and not just the conventional sales! Secret sales, treasure hunts, anything of the “get something at a discount” nature.
TO JOIN THE GROUP AS A DESIGNER:
If you’d like to join the group as a designer and have the right to send notices, please drop on me (Ryker Beck) a NOTECARD with your avatar name and the store you represent, as well as what you sell. You will be given permission to send notices ASAP after the notecard is received. This will hopefully be a great way for designers to get word out about their store sales!
TO JOIN THE GROUP AS A SALE HUNTER:
If you’d like to join the group with permission to send notices, and you are NOT a designer, but a SALE HUNTER… drop a notecard on me with your name and why you’d like to be a sale hunter. You MUST give me a reason behind wanting to be a sale hunter (i.e. you frequently hunt out sales on blogs), otherwise I will be unable to grant you the ability to send notices. After I review your request, I will notify you of permission to send out sale notices if you are approved! The same rules apply to you: please ONLY SEND OUT SALE NOTICES and *BEFORE* you send them out, make sure you have checked the backlog of notices to be positive that the sale notice hasn’t been sent yet. A sale is great! But 15 notices on the same sale is not. Ya dig?
TO JOIN THE GROUP AS A SHOPPER:
Simply join the group! It is open enrollment. :) Sit back and let the sale notices come to YOU!
NOTES & RULES:
This group is ONLY FOR SALE NOTICES. Please do not send out any notices about new releases from your store (unless they are of course, on sale!).
REQUIRED for NOTICES: Please write all details of the store sale and attach it in a notecard to the announcement. DON’T FORGET to include a LANDMARK!!! If we don’t know where to go, we can’t spend our lindens at your store. So include a landmark!!! *wags finger* Pictures are also welcome, but not necessary.
This group is NOT for LAND SALES of ANY KIND. Do NOT send land sale notices.
**ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM** If you spam, you will be removed and banned. No questions asked. I will understand resent notices due to forgetting the notecard (we all do this from time to time), but I will not tolerate “COME BUY THIS LAND NOW!” or “COME RENT THIS STORE NOW!” notices. They are annoying and do not belong in this group. Do not send them. Thanks.
**IMPORTANT NOTE FOR RYKER’S BECKONINGS GROUP MEMBERS**
The Ryker’s Beckonings (Rykerized) group will be DISBANDED and all members will be ejected by next weekend. Please LEAVE the Ryker’s Beckonings group and JOIN the Sales Consolidated group! Hope to see you there! :D
