The clarification on the use is long overdue. The fansite kit had specific instructions to use the logo and now appears to be gone. I wish this had been clarified at the beginning. If there’s any issue I’ll just remove the reference in an effort to simplify my life. Now I’m all weird using the name at all so have been substituting “virtual world” instead, which is a lot of what has been going on for years anyway. For years there has been only one viable – exciting – easy (easier) to use virtual world that attracted millions of passionate users – and you all know the name.

To clamp down on the term is almost to admit that there are increasing choices in “virtual worlds” and that the name refers to only one such world. In the wake of the “grid” level developers though, maybe this is a way to disassociate what is done here with whatever they may be planning in those other grids. In that sense, I’m definitely for differentiation that protects us from confusion as to what might arise.

Going further, I’d say that the design of the interior of Second Life® could be trademarked as having “trade dress” in the look of the world. That in itself could be used to shut down the alternative “grids” that arise through reverse engineering (reference the post please if you run with the idea). But then again “open” is cool somehow as a model even if it means your product becomes a commodity. This world in particular is not suitable to be “open” at all in the way that other open projects may be intended to be.

I feel the pain of those who invested time and money in using the name in variations that seemed acceptable at the time. Not that I post much but in solidarity I’ll join the hiatus that is emerging.

To post this I thought I would return to the Welcome area, you know – return to my roots somehow. On arrival I suddenly got the “flying off into space” crash experience. Thank goodness this doesn’t happen inRL.
posted by Orange Montagne on Bolinas using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

and the one that resonates is Corey Ondrejka’s insight that:  “The future is not a phalanx of walled garden, advertainment worlds constrained by short-term thinking“.

If that’s what is in the works by all these companies though…”Brandercrafts” then isn’t that the future happening? Well it is – and this is explained in the Metaverse Manifesto  as there will indeed be thousands and indeed unlimited worlds with varying characteristics.  Together they form the Metaverse but walled they are and walled they will stay – this is the nature of the Metaverse structure – the realities can rarely co-exist.  Fascinating discussion to carry on later!

Audio and video is here: http://energycommerce.house.gov/

Philip starts speaking at around 29:00 after an introduction. Almost the entire 90 minute meeting is focused on Second Life. A major score for Second Life in getting established as “the” virtual world. Dr. Larry Johnson of New Media Consortium likens Second Life to the opportunities that were brought about from settling the wild west, the rollout of electricity, television, and the internet itself.