Making content theft useless in SecondLife

Everybody these days is talking about content theft. Everybody is at war. Rage will not solve it. People like some brazilian I met will not stop. He has a few days in SL and already a great avie so he is an alt ... He also sells over 20 ripped RAC skins in his mall space. He is asking for 1000L$ each. Rac sales them for 4000L$. No wonder some people will buy from him, is cheap.
However he risks selling them, after all its a stolen product.
I talked to him, he can sell me all the skins full perm for a price ... as everything has a price. The price for 24 full perm skins including the PSD files is L$80k. I must say, you need to invest in this.
I offer him a catalogue vendor with a split percent to put it in his mall space. He accepts and he started to win 50% from what he sells. And he sold quite a lot. He is quite pleased about our little business and he accepts the second vendor.
So now, the thief is selling legally a product that is not his product. He wins a cut and he is happy about it. He will try to rip my textures ? I dont think so ...

In all the wave created against the content theft in Second Life people are talking just about police, DMCA, punishment and so on...
Nobody offered a solution to the real problem. Does anybody know the real problem ? Well ... the problem is that "THIEFS" are normal people. Their problem is how to win money. They don't have Photoshop skills, they just know how to sell things. They need products to sell. The content creators are outraged because they creation is stolen. Why they are not offering their products to be resold with a split solution offered by Hippo Vend System. Some creators noticed this and started to sell like this. You heard of Wrong, I'm sure, SOREAL and Emporio Caproni also are having an affiliate program.
And you know what ? I didnt saw any Emporio Caproni skin ripped or any other product from the other two.
Could this be a solution ? Will anybody risk beeing exposed selling stolen skins when he can earn same money reselling them ? Or why should he buy stolen skins for such a big amount of money when he can earn without investing so much ?
Well, I'll try starting promoting this ideea by building a space on Bucuresti where creators and resellers can meet. And I'll try to get Minuu, Redgrave, Naughty and everyone else in this thing. They need to stop this not fighting, but offering a real alternative.
They will have the chance to offer affiliate programs in a space especially created for this. A space that will be advertised to all resellers and all "THIEVES"
I hope I'll start a revolution !

Romanians Protest on Isole di Giove SIM

Latest problems that immigrant romanians had in Italy made me start a protest yesterday. A lot of romanians are living now in Italy. Some bad people, but mostly, hard working people.
Two weeks ago a romanian gipsy killed an italian women. Yes, he is a bad person and he should face the consequences. Well, this murder started a wave of xenofobia in Itally, in which 9 romanians were killed and injured severly.
My aunt leaved Romania yesterday to go and work in Italy. What i coud do ? So I teleported some romanians, made a romanian flag and we teleported to a italian SIM, "Isola di giove".
When our protest started my Internet connection went crazy and i was disconnected.
But I talk to the other guys and the protest was a succes. Italians said they understand us and invited romanians to spend time with them in that place !
If I will not have internet problems today i have another great ideea ... who knows, maybe I'll even make a movie :)

SecondLife land owning analysis after VAT introduction

These days, after Linden Labs sent out emails to us, eu residents, regarding the new VAT policy, I thinked my "second luck" is over. I think the panic had its merit in this. However, after some days, I decided to think clear and analyse the situation.
From the start we need to to know some facts. In SecondLife are two kinds of land and two ways to get it. There is mainland (which is administrated by the Linden Lab employees) and there private region land (which is administrated by various landlords). And also you can rent, or you can own the land.
The most important thing when you want to get land in SecondLife is that you need to know only one thing : YOU WILL PAY FOR IT EVERY MONTH, no matter you rent it or own it. Linden Labs charges tier, the tax that you need to pay every month. So the difference between owning or renting land in SecondLife is that you can choose to pay a great price when you first buy the land and then pay a tier every month or you can choose to rent it, you will not pay a huge price when you start to rent the place and in some cases you will have same rights.
Now, about the land ... In order to own mainland you have to be a premium user, which will cost you a minimum of 72$ yearly, that 6$ a month, that is $7.14 including a 19% VAT. The montly tier for a 4096 sqm plot is $25, that is $29.75. So, after all, a 4096 sqm will cost you a monthly fee of $36.89 .
On the other side, to rent private island land, in which you will have same rights will cost you a L$9000 monthly fee and that's all. L$9000 is aprox $32. So .I'm telling you , for a EU resident is cheaper now to rent land on private island SIM, which has better performance in most cases, better landscaping, and you will not have an adfarm as your neighbor.
So, after all, I see that Linden Labs are trying to shoot their own foot now with this new policy.
That is why I'll not raise fees due to new VAT policy, and if you are interested to get some private island land to build your dream home please visit my office or send me an instant message inworld, my name is Ciprian Newall ! Enough with own advertising , now it's time to judge for yourself !
P.S. Oh ... btw, I'm not charging VAT :)

Vodafone launches InsideOut

I read an article today about InsideOut, a product Vodafone launched in SecondLife. So I checked it out. I need to say I am impressed. What I have found there may be the most serious attempt of a RL company to do business in SecondLife.
InsideOut is a HUD attachment for SecondLife that will let you contact your buddies from SL even if they are not logged in. By contact I mean you can send them SMS messages and you can ... ATTENTION ... call them, on their rl cellphone. The important thing here is that neither your cellphone number nor your buddy cellphone number will not be revealed. This can be done using a pool of numbers from Germany.
The best part is that until december, you can try this for free. You will pay after this. So, what you're waiting for ? Get your virtual-real cellphone now here.

Some pics from there :Vodafone InsideOut SIM

Information on how to get the InsideOut Hud Attachment




The vendor where you can get the attachment




The InsideOut Hud Attachment



The minimized InsideOut HUD Attachment

SecondLife Exodus

I invested in SecondLife, I invested a lot considering the country I live in. Here, in Romania, the medium salary is aprox. 220 euroa which is 300 USD. I saw SecondLife as an opportunity to make some money and find some friends. I succeeded in both. From now on ... i don't know.
It will be hard for us, the european citizens to compete in such a bad competition medium. 19% is a lot. But some countries have a VAT of 26% ... so it can be worse.
And, the bad thing is that the Exodus began. I don't know about the mainland I'm sure that the exodus started there too. It's so simple to observe it. You just need to read the "Land Sales and Rentals" Forum. Post with names like "Time to check out, SIM for sale" can help you to make an idea over whats is happening in this moment.
It may sound complicated, but it is real simple. Europeans are doomed.
After Linden Labs introduced VAT, some europeans will leave, some will stay. The ones leaving will sell the land they have in SecondLife, and this will make the land price drop while the maintenance fees are rising. The remaing euopeans will try to raise the prices also, in order to cover the costs and this may be their last moove because non-eu citizens will not raise the rent or tier fees.
Many will loose money. I don't know what will happen to myself, I just hope for a miracle or something :(

Thank you, LL & EU, we love VAT

I just received an email from Second Life. They are telling me I'll pay VAT according to my country's laws because I am from EU. Btw, Romania, witch is the country I live in has a VAT of 19%. So, this new law will be an earthquake in SL. Most of the business will fall for sure.

If a region is 1675 USD now, I will need 1993 USD from now on to buy one ;) Isn't it great ?
Oh, an the monthly tier, wich is 295 USD now, will be 351 USD now. Yes, that's what I wished for :|

So, this new thing will make EU citizens to have more chances to fail in their second business then the non-EU citizens. To add, even in EU, VAT varies from country to country as we can see here.

So, my guess is that the unbalanced taxes will result in unbalanced competition. Maybe LL need to offer some discount to EU users ?

Real money from a virtual world, 2 SecondLife checks

Of course, you can make money in SecondLife. Some people sell their electronic creations, having a great succes in SL and some people invest in it, like me. These are two checks from Second Life. I need to tell you tho that i invested aprox. 4000 USD first. Now I have 5 SIMs, that have a value of 8475 USD, i cashed out these two checks and also I have made some payments in SecondLife, that worthed more then 600 USD.
To put it simple, i paid 4000 USD and I made 4475+500+700+600 = 6275 USD profit ... in nearly 7 months . Not bad , huh ?

Why do you need a home in SecondLife !

Most people will not ask this question, but some do. They heard that in SecondLife you are making money, not spending it. So why should they need a home ? Well, they probably won't need one if they are asking this.
Asking this question is the same as asking "Why do I need a Myspace page ?". I mean ... how can you ask this? Of course you need a home, shame on me, i didnt had time to setup one. I'm too busy seting up little islands for others who want a home or building theur homes.
After two months in SecondLife, in february 2007 I started investing in SecondLife. I bought some SIMS, and now i have 5 of them, all tropical, all residential. My customers are quite pleased of my services. If anyone wants to meet me in SL, my name is Ciprian Newall and my office is here.
So, if you joined SL, if you already have some friends, you need a place to invite them and spend some time. That place is your home ;)

Best way to find friends in SecondLife

I saw one day ago that some people were searching google for "how to find a friend in secondlife" and they ended up in my blog. So i thought why shouldn't I give a good solution to this problem ?
I think the best way to find some friends in SecondLife and to have a healthy social life inworld is to search and join some groups.
Example, you are from ... let's say France ... you press the search buton, select the Groups tab, and search for France. This way you'll get a list of groups with people from france. They may have events and you can join them this way.
If you like electro music search for electro, join some groups and so on ...
Also, another way is to get in contact with your neighbors. Don't be shy in SecondLife, also it's not a good idea to stay everyday in their house :)
Good luck ...

P.S. If you really can't find a friend in SecondLife, I'll be your first one, search for me, Ciprian Newall and add me as a friend :)

Why people love SecondLife !

So, you joined SecondLife. You visited some places, maybe you visited a store or two ... and that's it. You may ask "What the hell I'm doing here and why other people love this world ?"
It is simple. As a newbie ... you may not really have a social life. Believe me, social life is the secret of Second Life. Is the same reason MySpace it's huge succes. It's a place to meet people and enjoy their company. Almost every avatar in Second Life is still there because he has some friends to meet in there. If you are alone you'll leave this world soon because you'll be bored.
So, join a class, go to a club, meet newbies, make friends and you will see what SecondLife is about. Maybe you'll find your second luck, maybe you'll find better friends than in the real world or a person you'll love with all your real heart.
But, don't forget, SecondLife is a virtual world and it is trying to copy more and more aspects of the real life. So, do not expect everyone to be friendly, some will love you, some will hate you !
I'm waiting for the time when SecondLife will be bigger than MySpace, it should not be so far as it seems !

The beginning in SecondLife

For everything there is a beginning. My first steps in secondlife are the steps every newbie will make. I still remember i liked to fly a lot, so i abused this feature.
SecondLife is a huge world, with lots of citizens, but in your beginning of your second life you will think it is an empty place.
After you are born you will need skins, hair, clothes. You will find plenty of shops and you will learn that nothing good is cheap. There are, however, some places with things for newbies. Look for Free Dove for example. But most of the people will want to buy some things so they start camping. This means they will go and dance or stay in a place where they will be paid just because they are not leaving. This may sound stupid but many newbs find this thing really hellpfull. The payment rate is very low but they still want it.
After some time spent in SecondLife, camping or exploring you will get bored ... if you will not find any friend. The social life is very important in SecondLife. You will not taste the real fun of SecondLife until you will have friends.
They are everywhere, just say hello
Also, I still remember the most important thing that made me stay. Its the complete feeling of freedom. You can fly anywhere, you can go everywhere, do everything you want when you want. You will soon get used to it ... you will get used to freedom .

How did I found SecondLife ...

Hello good man,
If you are reading this blog please don't judge my english. It is poor ... as it is not my first language. I am from Romania, and I'll write some of my experiences in SecondLife.
It was november 6th in the morning, 2006. My dad knocked my door and entered without asking. He was telling me the police is in our house with a search warrant. Just great !
I was earning my living exchanging e-gold, an e-currency so precious for my life, as it was the only chance to have a normal life. I didn't like the college because I was not studying what i liked and i found a job where I was paid with almost nothing. Even it was not a hard job there was no future in my life. I spended all day designing flyers, video-clips, web-pages for that company and all they were paying me was a monthly salary around 150 bucks. That's hard !
I must say tho, i had a lot of free time there. Not a good salary but a lot of free time. Free time and a good internet connection as I was not able to afford one at home.
This is how i found e-gold. The winning games, the cyclers and hyips. It was like wonderland for me, everybody was wining in this world. I started to work for people who needed my services in that area. People wanted mostly web pages and banners, script installed and so on. I started to get more clients, from mouth-to-mouth advertising and soon I was ready to get my e-gold exchanged in cash. I bought a debit card from INTGold and my egold was in my hand in 2 days. That was great.
Soon i found there were more romanians that were making money in e-gold. They needed a reliable service for exchanging their funds. And soon I bought e-gold.ro domain. Also I became more known to people in that area.
It looked like nothing could stop me. I had a few exchanges that were worth more then USD10,000 , everything was perfect.
However, I had a feeling something will happen. I was feeling that not all my clients were good honest people. And I knew e-gold is used by some scammers and thieves also.
That's right, the police was in my house. They said they have a search warrant. When I read it I recognized the name of one client of mine. It was the biggest client that was buying e-gold from me.
After this, we headed to Bucharest, where I explained all things to the officers. Later, after 2 months I finally found out that my client was a big carder, and I think he was almost a USD millionaire. Unfortunatelly for me, i was ruined because of him.
When the police came, they took all my HDDs. All my passwords were there, and they kept the HDDS for 3 months. In this time I got broke paying all my bills and the lawyers. And for what ?
After a month, on december the 1st i think i read a newspaper. I learned about Anshe Chung and about the fact that she has becomed a millionaire playing a game over the Internet. The game was named Second Life ...
Soon I found out that this may be my second chance, my second luck ...