Thousands of 'Second Life' Bunnies Are Going to Starve to Death This Saturday

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My heart is breaking for the lives of these adorable, soon-to-die virtual bunnies.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/thousands-of-second-life-bunnies-are-going-to-starve-to-death-this-saturday
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An interesting little snapshot on what could happen should Steam/Xbox Live/PlayStation Store ever shut down.

Edit: Also, live by the sword, die by the sword. Looks like Ozimals has filed some Cease and Desists of its own in the past. http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2011/01/second_life_ord.htm

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Tbh, people steal assets and sell them in Second Life all the time. I remember someone trying to sell swords from a Skyrim mod in SL and the Skyrim modder taking legal action against them, which is probably about what happened here.

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Here’s the response from the people who filed the C&D:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-_7k-VigxufaTM5b18yVXpvZU0/view

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This adds a considerable layer of intrigue to the whole “virtual pets starving” angle.

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Well isn’t that a huge mess. I’d love to get more information from the others involved in this whole thing, but I’m going to bet that’s the last we’ll hear of it.

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Any game that is not Everlasting will be unable to authenticate and will hibernate within 72 hours.

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This is equal parts horrifying and entertaining. Thanks for the extra context @deliciousbees.

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My friend has been telling me about this case over the last few days, so here’s a collection of links they’ve collected:

Where they first heard about the situation:

Amaretto Ranch Breedables, LLC v. Ozimals, Inc.:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaretto_Ranch_Breedables,_LLC_v._Ozimals,_Inc.

Akimeta’s portfolio page for Ozimals:
http://www.akimeta.com/blog/?p=789

The press release from Akimeta/Distelhurst was already posted above by Deliciousbees.

Their opinion on the situation is it sucks for the Ozimals’ customers who are going to be out of who knows how much real life cash and what kind of precedent the following days/weeks/months will set for any future breedables that either decide or are forced to close up shop.

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I’m now really sad about this. I’ve never played Second Life, and never knew about this pet marketplace or these little bunnies before reading this… but I can’t help but feel a little distraught to think about all the people who bought these critters in earnest who are forced to lose them.

The idea of losing little collectables is always heart-breaking to me, so I hate to think that this is happening to so many people.