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**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 07:57 AM

Starting this thread to organize the monster thread that started it all and can be found here:
ZF Redzone, Disclosure of SecondLife Alts.

The thread is now closed and a Part Deux was opened by Cristiano here:

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/gen...part-deux.html

These are Samantha´s synopsis´s on it, i´ll add them all as soon as i find them, please feel free to help with it

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha Poindexter

Okay... we've made it to page 150. It's clear that this thread would be about half the length if everybody involved actually read the whole thing; we're getting a lot of the same points over and over and over. Here's a quick synopsis.

The subject of this thread is RedZone, a system made by zFire Xue. The alleged purpose of RedZone is to defeat copybotters and griefers. It maintains a database that is alleged to contain the identities of such avatars.
The database also contains the names of a great many other avatars in SL, and, allegedly, their alts. The idea is that when you ban a copybotter, griefer, or other person you don't like, all the alts of that person will also be banned.
The system also came with an HUD, which allowed you to get the names of the alts of anybody within range.
While zFire has made a number of grandiose claims about his sekrit l33t ways of identifying alts, all the available evidence shows that it uses IP addresses. Any two avatars with the same IP address are considered to be alts.
There are all sorts of problems with that assumption. Trust me, they're all been pointed out. Many, many times.
zFire has gone as far as to claim that these flaws are a feature, not a bug, as a copybot griefer's friends and associates -- and, umm, fellow users of the same Internet provider -- are probably going to be in league with that copybot griefer, so banning them all is for the best.
There are all sorts of problems with that claim. They're all been pointed out. Many, many times.
It is also true that it will sometimes be right, and that this is also problematic. We know.
After many months of denying there was a problem at all, it appears that the Lab is starting to come around. In particular, there's reason to believe Soft Linden has been working to get the relevant policies amended to the point where they can start to take action.
A couple of days ago, RedZone was removed from the Marketplace.
Yesterday, the Community Standards were amended, such that it is now explictly states that sharing "alternate account names" "without consent" is not allowed.
While this is a step in the right direction, it has been noted (over and over again) that it is not a panacea.
For one thing, while sharing the names of alternate accounts is explicitly forbidden, there is nothing specifically saying that you cannot collect that information without consent.
It has been suggested that Linden Lab cannot disallow data mining by third parties because it is about to start spreading Facebook integration throughout its website, and any policy that would disallow RedZone's data collection activities would also put the kibosh on Facebook.
RedZone has been returned to the Marketplace, and it now seems clear that it had been removed because it was not in compliance with the standards as currently given. The new version still scans everybody within range without asking. It will also still use its database insofar as banning any given person from your land will also ban everybody else in the database with the same IP address. However, if you use the HUD to request a list of somebody's alts, it will ask that person for consent. If that person says no, it won't share that list.
This is only the first draft version of consent compliance. zFire has made it clear that this state of affairs will not last. He has suggested that a future version might ask for consent, and assume that the answer is "yes" if there is no reply within 60 seconds. He has suggested that a future version might provide everything but the full names of alleged alts, perhaps providing initials, perhaps providing other identifying information that might allow others to figure out who they are. Finally, he has suggested that he might provide the full list outside of Second Life, putting it beyond the range of the Community Standards.
Most of us believe that even if consent is granted, it can only be used to disclose the names of those avatars who have explicitly given consent. zFire has made it clear that he believes that if any one avatar listed on a particular IP address gives consent, he can go ahead and name all the avatars in the database at that IP address. This essentially means that if I ever accessed SL from your computer (or network, or whatever), I can consent to having all your alts listed.
This might also include linking the identity of your 17-year-old daughter, now that the grids have been merged.
Yes, we know.
Also worth noting: if you do consent to have your information revealed, zFire will let you revoke that consent only by signing up on his website, linking your avatar in SL, and then opting out.
Many of us believe that LL is currently feeding zFire enough rope for him to hang himself with, and that he is doing an exceedingly good job of it.
Soft Linden has advised Abuse Reporting in the following circumstances: "If you find someone whose alts were listed based on someone else giving consent, I'd urge them to file an AR." and "If you can demonstrate that anyone but the single database owner has access to alt lists without appropriate, explicit consent, please file an AR for that."
It is possible to block your computer from accessing zFire's server, using the "hosts" file. See the first post in this thread.
However, that will work only against RedZone, and RedZone is not the only such system. One tool many of us have been pinning some hopes on is a patch to the SL client that tells you if anybody is requesting that you open a media URL, which is the means used to harvest IP addresses.
In an ideal world, you would be shown the full URL being requested, so you could easily tell whether it was legit or an attempt to harvest your information. In an ironic twist, it turns out that unless LL itself incorporates such a thing, TPVs are forbidden from doing so.
Yes, we know.
Still, half a loaf is better than none. A version of the patch that shows only the base domain name of the URL being requested has been added to Cool VL Viewer. Another version, masking everything but the domain name with periods (giving you an idea of how long the thing is), will be in Firestorm shortly.
If you think this is too long, try reading all 150 pages.

And that's the brief synopsis. Stay tuned for the update on page 200... at the end of the weekend, probably.

tl;dr:

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 07:59 AM

Second part:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha Poindexter

I was at an Oscar party when we hit 200, but here's a belated summary of the thread since page 150, for those who can't or won't keep up:

Sione's patch is out there! It lets you know when anybody tries to get you to connect to a media stream; you can allow it, deny it, or add it to a blacklist or whitelist.
- Henri's version of Sione's patch in Cool VL Viewer works, but you need to be sure to enable it in the Preferences; it's not on by default.
- Tonya's version of Sione's patch will be in Phoenix shortly. Where Henri's shows only the base domain name of the media stream being requested, Tonya's shows the domain name and all non-alphanumeric characters, and has dots standing in for the remaining characters.
- Some version of the patch will also be in Dolphin Viewer soon, and the Imprudence devs are reportedly considering it as well.
- If you're using this patch, RedZone shows up as isellsl.ath.cx. Another URL that's been popping up a lot is m.sparkgap.info. There's speculation that this is tied to CDS, but nobody's certain. Still, best to block it as well.
RedZone's mechanism for asking you to consent to have your alts revealed has changed. Instead of choosing to agree via a dialogue box, you're now asked to agree on zFire's website. Of course, by going to his website and consenting, you're also letting him scan your IP address, if he didn't already have it.
It is worth clarifying (and has been, over and over) that there are two separate RedZone functions being discussed here: scanning people's IP addresses, and providing RZ owners with a list of others sharing a given avatar's IP address.
- Sione's patch blocks the former. It has no bearing on the latter.
- Conversely, RedZone will now ask for consent for the latter. It doesn't ask about the former.
zFire continues to maintain that getting consent from any one person known to have used a given IP address makes it legal for him to share the names of every avatar to have used that address. Many of us believe this is going to come back to bite him.
zFire's forum has been up and down a lot today. It's unknown whether this is because somebody's trying a DDOS attack against him, whether it's been down for maintenance, or whether he just wanted the bandwidth free to watch the pre-Oscar coverage. This is widely considered to be a shame, as said forum is entertaining for all the wrong reasons.
We generally agree that it would be self-defeating for Linden Lab to try to establish a linkage between Second Life and Facebook accounts. There is no consensus about whether Linden Lab itself believes that.
There was a lot of other Facebook-related arguing that's not worth dwelling on, and somewhere in there Zidonuke displayed all the grace, style, and ability of a script-kiddie wannabe on a 1990s BBS before he got banned.
Opinions are somewhat divided here on the subjects of boycotts and blacklists. As near as I can tell...
- Everybody agrees that individuals are free to avoid merchants who still use RedZone, and a majority think this is not only allowable but advisable.
- At the same time, probably a majority do not think it's a good idea to start assembling, maintaining, and propagating a blacklist of merchants who use RedZone.
- This consensus starts breaking down when it comes to those who explicitly claim not to be using RedZone and are shown to be liars liars pantses on fires. Fewer are inclined to show restraint in the face of that kind of provocation.
Some suggest using the older version of GreenZone, which detects any prim made by zFire, on the theory that there's what to be said for hypersensitivity in these troubled times. Others point out that it will not detect RZ scripts placed in prims made by others, and that savvy RZ owners will already have moved the scripts for just that reason.
For those who enjoy redubbed Hitler/Downfall parodies, there's a brilliant one here. (Some don't.)

And that about covers it, I think.

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 08:02 AM

And third part:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha Poindexter

...that was on page 202. Another day, another 27 pages. Here's what's been going on:

The day began with this video about RedZone, recorded back on February 20th.
- That video was billed here as being by zFire, but that was quickly called into question. The person in the video doesn't identify himself; he seems to be speaking as a fan, not as the creator; and while zFire posted the link approvingly on his forum, he didn't claim it was by him.
- Whoever it was, the guy in the video earnestly explained, using Wikipedia, that RedZone did not fit the definition of "spyware." He further added that to the same extent that RedZone could be described as "spyware," attacking RedZone could be described as "terrorism."
- He then reiterated that both definitions were highly charged, but incorrect, and that one should beware of those using such charged language.
- The majority view here was that that, no, RedZone does fit the definition of "spyware."
- The unanimous view is that whether or not it fits the definition, this argument is playing a semantic game; what you call RedZone is far less important than what it does.
We appear to have ascertained that m.sparkgap.info is used by CDS, and that CDS is much more widespread than RedZone is. (But it doesn't turn avatars into skeletons that shatter into a pile of bones, which may explain how it's managed to stay comparatively under the radar.)
Sione's patch (probably Henri's version, but I'm not certain) is now live in Dolphin Viewer 1.5.46.3627.
Some on zFire's forum are suggesting using redirects on various other servers, so that RedZone wouldn't invariably show up as isellsl.ath.cx, but could instead have any number of URLs. zFire appears to be considering this one.
Other suggestions on the other forum include having the central database mirrored and shared (zFire unsurprisingly isn't going for this one) or giving RedZone the ability to ban users of particular SL clients, specifically those that are adding Sione's patch. Because turning away potential customers is the best way to keep your business safe.
It seems to some of us as if the ideal club or business from a RedZone forumite's standpoint is one that nobody can enter.
zFire himself is claiming to be just fine with Sione's patch, and has suggested that if Tonya's version is used in Phoenix, masking URLs using dots, he might employ similar approaches towards the names of alts, perhaps revealing how long the names are and some of the letters.
Some of us have pointed out that the reasons for masking URLs are different from the reasons for not revealing the names of alts, and that the parallel doesn't stand up.
Some forum Nazi named S......a P........r complained about people replying to messages several pages before the end of the thread, only to find out that their points were made or questions were answered immediately thereafter. Nobody else seemed to care much. It was pointed out that the multi-quote function could be useful to flag messages one wanted to reply to along the way, which could then be dealt with en masse when one got to the end.
Over on the JIRA, Soft Linden said "Thank you to the many of you who filed ARs with specific details, especially where unrelated groups of alts were disclosed. Stay tuned."
Blondin Linden noted that everybody at the Lab was aware of our concerns, but didn't otherwise say anything of import.
Also on the JIRA, zFire has backed off the idea of using implied consent by anybody who didn't specifically say "no" when prompted. He is otherwise unwavering. (Those of us who don't like the product? We're copybotters, cheaters, stalkers, griefers, home invaders, or people who have bought into the terrorist rumors spread by the above.)
This thread is now longer than "Show Your Style," but shorter than some of the threads in "Forum Games."

tl;dr: There's completely groundless but fun speculation of a video by Torley on keeping your media streams safe, which may or may not include demonstrating how to stretch a condom over a watermelon. I could not find a suitable image to accompany that in a cursory search (and just as well), so I leave you with this instead:

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 08:10 AM

Other related threads in SLU that might be interesting for anyone looking for more info:

How to stop zF RedZone

Psyke tries to offer land owners alternatives to these systems:

RedZone, Alt tracking, Privacy invasion: Whatever! I have fixed it.

How to use CoolViewer to detect and Block this system and others:

Cool VL Viewer, with Media (anti-spyware) Patch
Patch Update:
In today's release (Cool VL Viewer v1.25.0.24), the Media Filter feature got a (potentially exploitable) bug fixed. Users of the Cool VL Viewer v1.25.0.23 should upgrade. There is no known current exploit, but should one arise, it could possibly defeat the filtering by triggering a race condition that could lead you to allow/whitelist a wrong domain (no problem for already blacklisted/denied domains).

This new version also got a full floater implemented to allow editing the filters. See the screen-shots here. To toggle the Media Filter floater, use the "Edit" -> "Media Filter" menu item. The media filtering feature is now also active by default (can still be deactivated from the Preferences floater, "Cool features" tab, "Miscellaneous" sub-tab).

Note that the blacklist/whitelist file had its format changed, and was therefore renamed (from medialists.xml to media_filter.xml, to be found in your user logs/per-account-settings folder), so if you used v1.25.0.23 you will have to rebuild the list using the shiny new floater.

Dolphin Viewer has a media filter now too:

Dolphin Viewer 1.5.46

Thanks to Coyote we can even pledge

Pledging against RedZone

Have you posted on the big thread Cristiano as the statistics here:

Posts in the Epic Redzone Thread

Sione´s patch for Snowglobe and Phoenix for anyone who can mess with code and want´s to add it to their Viewer´s

https://bitbucket.org/Sione/snowglobe-1.5-media-filter

http://jira.phoenixviewer.com/browse/PHOE-2514

Sione i completly <3 you for this

External Links and Blogs:

One Big Blond Moment - by Theia Magic - http://theiamagic.blogspot.com/?zx=6dca47e73328f1e2
no2redzone - http://no2redzone.wordpress.com/
Boy Lane´s Blog - http://my.opera.com/boylane/blog/how...ock-zf-redzone
Ann´s Blog - http://annotoole.wordpress.com/2011/...redzone-users/
The BDSM Institute site - http://www.bdsm-institute.com/en/sl/...one.html#index

Older Threads on Grid wide ban systems/media exploit and other Background info:

Copybot ban link system in clear and multiple violation of ToS
Please vote: Improvements regarding media and privacy. (SL datamining)
CDS and your store
CDS and Red Zone patched.
The Onyx source code has been leaked.
No-Shopping guide - List of CDS sims
Trouble for Gemini Industries?
Onyx Bots Everywhere

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 08:23 AM

I would like to add here too the link to all JIRA´s born from this, or somehow trying to help land owners fight the root problems of these systems:
They are quite a few so please pm me if i miss any.

The Main JIRA open with over 1500 votes now: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-24746 - RedZone Security violates TOS, exposes private information and is being misused

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/STORM-1037 - Remove the 'Hide URL' checkbox for media URLs because it is misleading

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-18371? - Shared Media permissions proposal

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6751 - Make parcel_media_agent_command and similar request user permission

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-25062 - Add the ability to allow or deny domains that parcel owners want to play in the viewer's media and audio players

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-21305? - Potential Privacy Exploit - It is heuristically possible to use MoaP to link a client IP address to an avatar

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-9236 - Automatically play media setting ignored plays anyway - PARCEL_MEDIA_COMMAND_PLAY

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6793? - Establish a do not track opt out system

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-24807 -Add ability to filter cookies into the browser

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6815? - Create a new Permission if Master Account Services are created

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6212 - Create Master Account Name, Linking to Avatar Names

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6801? - Parcel Ban -> Parcel Mute

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-3692 - Marketplace FLAG needs 'ToS/CS violation' category

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6205 - Allow Ban by IP Address (this one is tricky some people stay neutral on it myself included since it´s not the best way to link alts)

Please remenber to vote and watch due to the JIRA changes coming in effect soon.

SL Blog: A Better JIRA for Everyone (... who wants it)

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 08:31 AM

What url´s IP´s to block while using the patch:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kara Spengler

Hmm .... you may want to include IP #s too then. Of course, if they are on a dynamic DNS they can just get new ones, but at least they can not just change the alias name for the website

My current expansion of your OP is this then as of right now:

Code:

## Boy Lane's stuff about ip stealers in SL 20110307
127.0.0.1 isellsl.ath.cx
127.0.0.1 isellsl.com
127.0.0.1 zfire.isellsl.com
127.0.0.1 girlsofthevip.com
127.0.0.1 hamlinpro.com
127.0.0.1 syscast.net
127.0.0.1 media.syscast.net
127.0.0.1 apache2-blow.port-au-prince.dreamhost.com
127.0.0.1 quickware.net
127.0.0.1 www.quickware.net
127.0.0.1 quickware.zapto.org
127.0.0.1 wh0.zapto.org
127.0.0.1 m.sparkgap.info
127.0.0.1 policedepartmentonsl.info
127.0.0.1 sparrowindustries.net
## ip numbers in case they change names 20110307
127.0.0.1 184.82.109.195
127.0.0.1 76.104.212.177
127.0.0.1 68.178.232.100
127.0.0.1 69.163.231.197
127.0.0.1 193.93.174.118
127.0.0.1 69.163.222.23
127.0.0.1 173.201.98.1
127.0.0.1 188.121.62.245
##

[or does that work? it looks like traffic is going to those ip #s rather than my localhost]

Other useful info:

Some Horse Breeders have been having trouble finding free RZ areas to buy horse food from:

Quote:

Originally Posted by bronxelf

I posted this on the horse thread but I am told by one of my DJs, whose primary SL gig is breedables on a large scale, that the Fingerlakes sim is RZ clean for food and supplies and the Jewel sim is clean for auctions.

(I don't do breedables so I have no idea.) Go have a run-by.

any horse breeders here?

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 08:32 AM

And if you are feeling curious and feel like peeking into the other side here is a link to the RedZone forum: iSellSL.ath.cx/MadSci • View forum - zF RedZone

Update:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amber Guity

Oh, and I forgot to mention this:

WARNING!!!!!

To anyone going to zFire's site for any reason.....

Some of the ads on his site will take you to very nasty sites that try to do bad things to your computer. DO NOT CLICK on any ads on his site, and be careful where you do click. I apparently hit something accidentally.

I am currently trying to nurse my laptop back to health.

Update:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amber Guity

Ok, here's a funny.

Yesterday I was perusing the RZ forum, and apparently accidentally clicked an ad on the site. It hijacked my browser and wouldn't return back to the forum, so I disconnected and ran all my spyware stuff, which didn't really find anything.

So today, I went back to the forum and that same blasted site took over and whisked me away to their no escape pages.

Bottom line, after some digging and experimenting, it turns out this site, xxx.mevio.com, was using my IP (which I was using a proxy, lol) to hijack me from zFire's site to their's!

This whole debacle is just so full of ironic happenings, one could write a book!

Eva Ryan · 03-01-2011, 08:34 AM

So, this is like the Cliff-notes version of War and Peace.

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-01-2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eva Ryan

So, this is like the Cliff-notes version of War and Peace.

I´ll try and update it as much as possible like post above you.

Free Xue · 03-01-2011, 09:08 AM

Shit, we're so flooded we're getting Redzone overflow!

Radge Rumble · 03-01-2011, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free Xue

Shit, we're so flooded we're getting Redzone overflow!

Maybe these will help?

Inara Pey · 03-01-2011, 09:57 AM

How long before we need a summary of the summary?

On a serious note, please don't forget the following JIRA as well:

SVC-6793 - Establish a do not track opt out system

VWR-24807 -Add ability to filter cookies into the browser

These are both pretty important going forward.

Ta!

**Trasee Darkwatch** · 03-01-2011, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free Xue

Shit, we're so flooded we're getting Redzone overflow!

The flood waters turned from GREEN to RED.

Free Xue · 03-01-2011, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trasee Darkwatch

The flood waters turned from GREEN to RED.

DISGUSTING! (Think about it...)

**Samantha Poindexter** · 03-01-2011, 11:35 PM

Part four:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha Poindexter

Here's the summary of the past 34 pages!

As an aside, any distillation of 1500+ posts into a few lines is going to involve judgment calls about what to include and how to summarize it, especially when it comes to gauging support for one view or another. I'm doing my best to cover the major developments as objectively as possible, but I make no claim to infallability.

There's debate over whether CDS is really in the same league as RedZone, or really a problem at all.
- Like RedZone, CDS uses media streams to get information about avatars.
- Officially, CDS detects whether a given avatar is using a CopyBot viewer -- which is to say, a CopyBot viewer dumb enough to *identify* itself as such -- and bans any avatars who do so.
- By and large, we doubt it's effective at this intended purpose.
- Unlike RedZone, there's no known component to CDS that allows its users to find out the names of any other given avatar's alts.
- With that said, CDS's workings are shrouded in secrecy, and we pretty much have to take their word for it that there will be no shenanigans with the database containing everyone's information.
- Some here are willing to take their word for it. Others are not, to put it mildly.
- See past CDS threads for much more on all this.
More people are getting comfortable with blacklisting RedZone and/or CDS users. A listing of alleged RedZone and CDS locations is on Tumblr and Twitter.
That said, some of us still really don't like the idea of blacklists, and/or have reservations about this one.
Some genius has put an anti-RedZone tool on the market that apparently checks parcels against a blacklist, warns you if you've set foot someplace owned by an undesirable, and then spams said undesirable with instant messages.
We collectively consider this to be a very bad idea.
Reportedly, there are ads on zFire's site with ads that can do Very Bad Things to your computer. Caveat browser.
There's been a fair amount of discussion over whether griefers will go away if you ignore them, or whether they'll run rampant if you give them half a chance. Those in the former group tend to think security devices are useless, if not counterproductive, in most cases; those in the latter camp tend to think that the closer one can get to a device that will ban all griefers, copybots, and stalkers without actually joining Team Evil, the better.
The one RedZone user who's been coaxed into this thread has indicated that, in her case, it's not about the alt-scanning, but more about having a convenient, full-featured Web-based interface, an unlimited ban list, and the ability to get demographic information in the aggregate.
- This has been met with no small amount of disbelief and scorn, and people definitely have issues with the "demographic information" bit, which uses the media stream to get people's countries.
- On the other hand, nobody's yet suggested a competing product that fills all the other, non-invasive features of RedZone in quite the same way, suggesting a possible business opportunity for somebody who can fill the void.
This just in... KalEl is pushing Phantom Zone as an alternative. This will end well. (See previous threads.)
Blah blah terrorism blah Hitler blah blah. There, that's about a half-dozen pages you don't have to read.
zFire has sent a survey to past and present RedZone users, in an attempt to drum up support for the product and show the Lindens that it would be a really bad idea to cut it off. Really.
There is now a thread containing all these summaries and links to other related threads, JIRAs, and websites at Notes on: ZF Redzone, Disclosure of SecondLife Alts.

**Cristiano** · 03-02-2011, 12:48 AM

I am normally pretty lenient on threads, but given the fact that there is a large thread already and the information here is important, I would ask that all discussion/off topic comments go into a different thread. Let this remain a summary for those who would like updated information. Thank you.

Marianne Little · 03-02-2011, 03:22 AM

Can you post links to Theias blog here? I know she has it in her signature, but it's easier to find here. Oh, and it was a link to another site with confirmed CDS and RZ users. I can't find that one?

**Samantha Poindexter** · 03-02-2011, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marianne Little

Can you post links to Theias blog here? I know she has it in her signature, but it's easier to find here. Oh, and it was a link to another site with confirmed CDS and RZ users. I can't find that one?

Theia Magic's blog, One Big Blond Moment
Probably the main RedZone post, linked to in her signature: One Big Blond Moment: Important! MAJOR changes to Redzone!
There are links at the top either of those pages to various lists of places without RedZone, for your shopping convenience, and to her blacklist of places that have RedZone and hide it.

**Trasee Darkwatch** · 03-02-2011, 03:48 PM

As this is a summary thread, and this is important news from LL front, I thought I'd put this here.

Quote:

Soft Linden commented on VWR-24746:
-----------------------------------

Hey, all. I got the go-ahead to give an update on zF Red Zone specifically.
Again, thank you for the ARs with specific info about violations. These have
been very helpful for letting Lindens know what's going on.

Tuesday morning, we removed zF Red Zone from the Marketplace for a second time.
We removed the in-world vendor distributing the item as well. We determined that
zF Red Zone was still in violation of our Terms of Service and Community
Standards.

We asked for removal by no later than today of all zF Red Zone functionality
that discloses any alternate account names. That is, even if consent is asked,
the service may not act on the consent. In addition, we asked for removal by no
later than Friday of the interface for and any remaining implementation of the
zF Red Zone consent mechanism because it does not comply with our policies. If
these updates are not made, we will take appropriate steps to remedy the
violations.

As before, we appreciate your help in keeping an eye on content. If you find
that any merchant's product is not in compliance with our TOS or our Community
Standards, please file an abuse report about the product. Do this even if you
filed against a previous version. Include a specific explanation of what you
believe is a violation, and ideally select and report the in-world object at
issue in case it behaves differently than what's in the Marketplace. Before
reporting, make sure you have first-hand knowledge of the issue. Support can
best react if you explain specific steps to reproduce or confirm a violation.

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-02-2011, 08:33 PM

After the big anouncement another summary:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha Poindexter

I was going to wait a few more hours, but very well. Here's the synopsis of the past 36 pages:

The Redzone Reports blacklist linked in my last summary has disappeared from both Tumblr and Twitter.
GreenZone incorrectly shows Avatar Bizarre as using RedZone, which it so does not. (It seems that an adjancent parcel does, and GZ doesn't make the distinction.)
Again, using a viewer with Sione's patch is way more reliable than GreenZone.
Soft Linden posted to the JIRA. (Seriously, if you read only one post, that's the one.)
- RedZone has been removed from the Marketplace again!
- And it's been removed from inworld sale!
- Soft confirmed that it was removed by LL the first time around as well, contrary to zFire's claims!
- All reporting of alts must cease immediately!
- zFire's version of "consent" is confirmed to be in violation of the TOS!
And there was much rejoicing!
And zFire put RedZone right back up for sale again in-world.
And Soft Linden removed it again, saying "Thank you for the additional ARs about the vendor being replaced in-world while the consent request mechanism was still in place. We've removed the vendor again and made conditions for recirculation more explicit."
Some are now sitting back and enjoying the show, satisfied that LL's starting to reel zFire in, and that this is inexorably going to end with RedZone entirely in ruins.
Others take a more cynical view, noting that we won a battle, but the war is still going.
CDS is still in the Marketplace, and apparently unaffected.
Scraping and using information from media streams is apparently still okay with LL; only outright alt reporting is out.
zFire's just explained that while alt names will no longer be reported on request, RedZone will continue banning those it considers to be alts. Opinions here are divided as to whether that will be acceptable to LL.
Whether RedZone can continue scanning in SL and do its alt-reporting on the Web also seems to be an open question. At this point, he doesn't seem to be pursuing that, but stay tuned.
Still... a good day. Party on.

tl;dr:
YouTube - ‪Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight‬&rlm;

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-03-2011, 09:37 AM

Awaitng official confirmation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugar

News flash..
I just heard in the GZ group that someone heard RZ was removed from inventories.. can anyone confim or denie this?

All while the official site is dow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugar

ok just to clearifie.. reports are now saying they item goes missing when they attempt to update it..
That leads me to think it has to do with his server being down

Seems it´s how his update system works somehow. And several reports of site being up again.

He's back. He writes,

Quote:
I wish Comcast had a "grid status" page but they do not.
It sounds like a joke when I say that Comcast itself had a huge outage from 2am till late.
If you are in the USA you can call 1-800-391-3000 and ask, their entire call center was swamped with calls last night.
So when I say Comcast was down, believe me.
Two people have claimed responsibility as "hackers" so far.
I had to reboot everything and change a router number.
The outage lasted 5 hours 50 minutes.
Apologies, but it is back now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha Poindexter

Apparently Comcast service did go down in Washington.

__________________

Lance Corrimal · 03-03-2011, 09:50 AM

Boy Lane · 03-03-2011, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elysium Hynes

Awaitng official confirmation.

All while the official site is dow.

Sems it´s how his update system works somehow. And several reports of site being up again.

Eventually he took the money and ran away. Best he could do, if he managed to get it somehow out of SL without paying tax for it. After all he cheated the casino in his other life

Ann Otoole · 03-03-2011, 10:08 AM

I seriously doubt he is gone. He has Tiger Blood and is a WINNER!

Probably just cooking up a new scheme to continue violating TOS Section 8.3(i). He is not the only one so LL needs to patch that exploit they are using..

**Elysium Hynes** · 03-03-2011, 04:20 PM

And a new JIRA is open this time by a Linden:

Remove the 'Hide URL' checkbox for media URLs because it is misleading

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/STORM-1037

Enter a parcel previously set up with a Music or other web media for which the Hide URL checkbox had been set with an earlier viewer version.

Open the Media or Sound tab (depending on which was used to set up the parcel media) - the checkbox should no longer be in the dialog, and the URL should be visible both to the parcel owner and to others.

03-01-2011, 08:10 AM	#4 (permalink)
Elysium Hynes Elysium Hynes is Typing.. *SLU Supporter* My animal spirit is the lolcat Join Date: May 2010 Location: Atlantic Posts: 4,995 My Mood: SL Join Date: 5/7/2007 Client: V3	Other related threads in SLU that might be interesting for anyone looking for more info: How to stop zF RedZone Psyke tries to offer land owners alternatives to these systems: RedZone, Alt tracking, Privacy invasion: Whatever! I have fixed it. How to use CoolViewer to detect and Block this system and others: Cool VL Viewer, with Media (anti-spyware) Patch Patch Update: In today's release (Cool VL Viewer v1.25.0.24), the Media Filter feature got a (potentially exploitable) bug fixed. Users of the Cool VL Viewer v1.25.0.23 should upgrade. There is no known current exploit, but should one arise, it could possibly defeat the filtering by triggering a race condition that could lead you to allow/whitelist a wrong domain (no problem for already blacklisted/denied domains). This new version also got a full floater implemented to allow editing the filters. See the screen-shots here. To toggle the Media Filter floater, use the "Edit" -> "Media Filter" menu item. The media filtering feature is now also active by default (can still be deactivated from the Preferences floater, "Cool features" tab, "Miscellaneous" sub-tab). Note that the blacklist/whitelist file had its format changed, and was therefore renamed (from medialists.xml to media_filter.xml, to be found in your user logs/per-account-settings folder), so if you used v1.25.0.23 you will have to rebuild the list using the shiny new floater. Dolphin Viewer has a media filter now too: Dolphin Viewer 1.5.46 Thanks to Coyote we can even pledge Pledging against RedZone Have you posted on the big thread Cristiano as the statistics here: Posts in the Epic Redzone Thread Sione´s patch for Snowglobe and Phoenix for anyone who can mess with code and want´s to add it to their Viewer´s https://bitbucket.org/Sione/snowglobe-1.5-media-filter http://jira.phoenixviewer.com/browse/PHOE-2514 Sione i completly <3 you for this External Links and Blogs: One Big Blond Moment - by Theia Magic - http://theiamagic.blogspot.com/?zx=6dca47e73328f1e2 no2redzone - http://no2redzone.wordpress.com/ Boy Lane´s Blog - http://my.opera.com/boylane/blog/how...ock-zf-redzone Ann´s Blog - http://annotoole.wordpress.com/2011/...redzone-users/ The BDSM Institute site - http://www.bdsm-institute.com/en/sl/...one.html#index Older Threads on Grid wide ban systems/media exploit and other Background info: Copybot ban link system in clear and multiple violation of ToS Please vote: Improvements regarding media and privacy. (SL datamining) CDS and your store CDS and Red Zone patched. The Onyx source code has been leaked. No-Shopping guide - List of CDS sims Trouble for Gemini Industries? Onyx Bots Everywhere Last edited by Elysium Hynes; 03-05-2011 at 01:09 PM.

03-01-2011, 08:23 AM	#5 (permalink)
Elysium Hynes Elysium Hynes is Typing.. *SLU Supporter* My animal spirit is the lolcat Join Date: May 2010 Location: Atlantic Posts: 4,995 My Mood: SL Join Date: 5/7/2007 Client: V3	I would like to add here too the link to all JIRA´s born from this, or somehow trying to help land owners fight the root problems of these systems: They are quite a few so please pm me if i miss any. The Main JIRA open with over 1500 votes now: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-24746 - RedZone Security violates TOS, exposes private information and is being misused https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/STORM-1037 - Remove the 'Hide URL' checkbox for media URLs because it is misleading https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-18371? - Shared Media permissions proposal https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6751 - Make parcel_media_agent_command and similar request user permission https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-25062 - Add the ability to allow or deny domains that parcel owners want to play in the viewer's media and audio players https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-21305? - Potential Privacy Exploit - It is heuristically possible to use MoaP to link a client IP address to an avatar https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-9236 - Automatically play media setting ignored plays anyway - PARCEL_MEDIA_COMMAND_PLAY https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6793? - Establish a do not track opt out system https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-24807 -Add ability to filter cookies into the browser https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6815? - Create a new Permission if Master Account Services are created https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6212 - Create Master Account Name, Linking to Avatar Names https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6801? - Parcel Ban -> Parcel Mute https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-3692 - Marketplace FLAG needs 'ToS/CS violation' category https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6205 - Allow Ban by IP Address (this one is tricky some people stay neutral on it myself included since it´s not the best way to link alts) Please remenber to vote and watch due to the JIRA changes coming in effect soon. SL Blog: A Better JIRA for Everyone (... who wants it) Last edited by Elysium Hynes; 03-06-2011 at 02:27 PM.

03-01-2011, 08:34 AM	#8 (permalink)
Eva Ryan I can haz Cookie? Drinking Margaritas on the beach... YAY! Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: California Posts: 1,071 My Mood: SL Join Date: July 6, 2006 Client: Phoenix/Cool VL	So, this is like the Cliff-notes version of War and Peace. __________________ ElyHynes Elysium @EvaRyanSL is so FIC Humble follows her

03-01-2011, 09:08 AM	#10 (permalink)
Free Xue SUPER BANNED *SLU Supporter* Never too tired to hi five. Join Date: May 2009 Location: USA! USA! USA! Posts: 24,952 My Mood: SL Join Date: May, 2008 Business: [ Xushi ] Client: Viewer 3.beta Blog Entries: 9 Awards: 1	Shit, we're so flooded we're getting Redzone overflow! __________________ Single people should be allowed the right to marry[/controversial!]

03-01-2011, 09:57 AM	#12 (permalink)
Inara Pey I am your Alt Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: England Posts: 447 SL Join Date: 05-12-2006 Business: IPD Designs Client: Phoenix / Firestorm / Klee S21	How long before we need a summary of the summary? On a serious note, please don't forget the following JIRA as well: SVC-6793 - Establish a do not track opt out system VWR-24807 -Add ability to filter cookies into the browser These are both pretty important going forward. Ta! __________________ I'm a peripheral visionary: I see into the future, but way off to one side...

03-02-2011, 03:22 AM	#17 (permalink)
Marianne Little ...loading... Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2,584 My Mood: Client: Flavor of the week	Can you post links to Theias blog here? I know she has it in her signature, but it's easier to find here. Oh, and it was a link to another site with confirmed CDS and RZ users. I can't find that one? __________________ http://www.flickr.com/photos/27764102@N02/ "My opinion is, a designer should always try to enhance the inworld experience for his clients. In a virtual world, where individuality is hard to obtain, selling modifieable items is like selling a bit of freedom. Think about that." ~Silent Sky

03-03-2011, 10:08 AM	#24 (permalink)
Ann Otoole Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 15,943	I seriously doubt he is gone. He has Tiger Blood and is a WINNER! Probably just cooking up a new scheme to continue violating TOS Section 8.3(i). He is not the only one so LL needs to patch that exploit they are using..

03-03-2011, 04:20 PM	#25 (permalink)
Elysium Hynes Elysium Hynes is Typing.. *SLU Supporter* My animal spirit is the lolcat Join Date: May 2010 Location: Atlantic Posts: 4,995 My Mood: SL Join Date: 5/7/2007 Client: V3	And a new JIRA is open this time by a Linden: Remove the 'Hide URL' checkbox for media URLs because it is misleading https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/STORM-1037 Enter a parcel previously set up with a Music or other web media for which the Hide URL checkbox had been set with an earlier viewer version. Open the Media or Sound tab (depending on which was used to set up the parcel media) - the checkbox should no longer be in the dialog, and the URL should be visible both to the parcel owner and to others.

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