your lips come as some surprise, that they would want to come and meet mine

I'd heard rumors of a new hair script that de-rezzes the hair if rezzed out instead of worn. I still have no visual proof, but I did go over to my sandbox of choice to see if I had anything with the script in my inventory.

[22:32] Emilly Orr: In a nutshell: I want to know if any of the Magika hairs I've got has the 'database' script
[22:33] Fawkes Allen nods
[22:33] Fawkes Allen: Database script?
[22:34] Emilly Orr: This is apparently how it goes: some of Magika's hair--I don't know when--will, upon the user rezzing it out on the ground, de-rez, capture the avatar name for future use in a database, and/or call the av who rezzed the hair out a thief.
[22:35] Emilly Orr: Sabine Gully of Magika confirms she uses the script, but did not confirm when she started. Truth Hawks is considering using the script, but hasn't yet decided. And Helanwye Vindaloo of Deviant Kitties *was* using the script, but took it out of everything but her demos for "a variety of reasons"
[22:35] Emilly Orr: At least one or two of which being, the news broke on the SLUniverse forum site, and nearly everyone there was massively unappreciative of the script usage.



(Rezzing out hairs gained in Magika hunts, first.)

[22:38] Emilly Orr: Okay. So it seems the stuph from the December hunt is fine; rezzed out Lalala [one of Magika's hairs] with no problems.
[22:39] Emilly Orr: Hmm. Her discount hair doesn't do it either.
[22:39] Emilly Orr: I am really loathe to go pay money for hair if it's just going to de-rez...
[22:43] Emilly Orr: So. How important is it, in the scheme of things, to verify this script exists? Is it worth a cash outlay to try to prove that the script is in place and working?



(Rezzing out actual hairs bought at Magika.)

[22:48] Fawkes Allen: Okay, let's put it this way, you aren't a reporter. You don't get cash to turn in articles.
[22:49] Emilly Orr: It's very true. I resent this, actually, because if I had a budget for this? I would *so* test more things. :p
[22:49] Fawkes Allen: Buying the hair is only useful in this case if you *support* the script, because truth be told she has admitted to using the script, which means there's little investigating that needs to be done.
[22:50] Fawkes Allen: If however, you disagree with its use, then no, you do not spend money on her hair, on her demos, not 1 more L to someone who uses such practices.
[22:50] Emilly Orr nods.



(Seen with beacons on and active scripts on; nothing is in the hair I have, at the least.)

[22:50] Emilly Orr: And I don't actually *need* to know--beyond seeing it work--because I don't support the use of the script. I think there are better ways to defeat content theft.
[22:50] Fawkes Allen: They need to be scolded, they need to be boycotted, they need to have their business ruined.
[22:50] Emilly Orr: Well, I don't know that I'd go that far--me, myself, you understand. As objective as I can be, is to say what I know.
[22:51] Emilly Orr: I leave boycotting and ruining for others. It's not my place to state anything other than opinion.
[22:51] Emilly Orr: I will say, I like her hair. But not to the extent of giving her more Lindens past this point, nor will I be going on Magika hunts.
[22:51] Fawkes Allen: I suppose, but this isn't any different then what Video game Companies are doing, or treating. Suddenly, Customers are simply Renters. You didn't buy her hair to do with as you will, instead you rented her hair for her to revoke at anytime a script thinks you don't need it anymore.
[22:52] Emilly Orr: True. And I never thought that was a good development in video games.



(All Magika items removed to consider keeping later; hair, skins and clothing, gained through two hunts and direct purchases.)

[22:55] Fawkes Allen: DRM is easier to circumvent in the Real World for multiple reasons, the first of which being that the OSs themselves do not, as yet, support any real method for blocking a user. SL has a Perm System, Copybot is a pain, texture stealing is a pain. It's doable though, but truth be told this won't stop *them*. They'll just find another way, perhaps they'll take it to a No-Script zone.
[22:57] Emilly Orr: Actually that was suggested--not for purposes of hair theft, but because many people do not *like* hair with scripting, it's one more potential reason for increased lag.
[22:57] Fawkes Allen: You can't stop thieves, you can only make it annoying to steal from you. Either by making sure they get few profits off it, selling your own things for cheap or free. Or by making it difficult and annoying to steal. This doesn't do either really, it just annoys the actual customers.
[22:59] Emilly Orr: And annoying your customers is never good business.

It never is; piss off your customer base = no customers = why are you building saleable things, then? But even with that, for some people, if this catches on, they will stop buying all hair. And that's something hair designers really shouldn't muck about with. Irk your occasional clients, that's one thing. Irk the hair addicts who rave to their friends and belong to your group and drop two hundred to two thousand every week?

Effectively, your business is over. Which is very bad for business.