I just came across this blogorum thread where a resident decided to take one last look at the freebies on XStreetSL, knowing that they may disappear within the next few days.
The OP of course seen "junk that needed to be cleaned up, but quite some jewels", but that became irrelevant when the first replier asked a poignant question: "So when does the axe fall?"
What makes this question good is that, according to the original announcement, the freebie listing tax should be in effect by January 18th, and in the FAQ accompanying the announcement they stated residents will be given 2 weeks notice before the changes go in effect. There are four days left in the expected delivery time span and so far there have been no notices at all from the Lab. In fact, the Lindens have kept very quiet on the matter since Colossus Linden got burned in the blogorums(in two threads) after the announcement.
This has caused a bit of confusion and speculation about what will actually happen. Some say they have quietly backed down after feeling the backlash resulting in the increased prominence of third-party marketplaces. Others say that it's merely been delayed because of implementation problems. While I would hope for the former theory, I'm more inclined to believe the latter.
Why? It's quite simple, really. If the Lab finally decided to back down, no doubt they would loudly announce it in an attempt to recoup the losses incurred from the previous backlash, and to blunt the newfound popularity of XStreetSL's competitors. Since that has not happened, it's clear that the Lab is still in the process of putting the listing taxes in place, it's just taking longer than planned.
Regardless if the Lindens roll out the taxes this month, May, or whenever this year, I still believe I made the right choice and I will continue to boycott XStreetSL until this policy of pure greed is eliminated.
4 comments:
I may return to XStreet on a limited basis. Namely, I'll just put a few of my better-selling items up there and use the listings themselves as inexpensive advertising for my store.
well, free (like in freedom) content will change its face anyway with HPA (see https://liferain.com/projects/hpa ), and I think it's not that far away in future that almost all viewers I like best will have it ...
@Zauber: You're free to do so, if you want. But I'm sticking to my guns on the listing taxes. If I go back to XStreetSL while they pursue this policy, I'd be implicitly supporting it. Instead I'm going to concentrate more on my metaLIFE and Metaverse Exchange stuff(made my first sale there today, btw), and looking into getting a vendor spot at Raglan Shire and with the Twisted Co-Op group.
@armin: Hmm, while I don't exactly see what the new XStreetSL listing policies have to do with the development of HPA, it's good to see an attempt at making an interoperable and open content archival and restoration format. Seems a lot like it's the next step in the trail blazed by Meerkat and Imprudence.
lol, I admit my thought is a bit far fetched... having those archives gives of course the possibility to exchange content in "new" ways, like from torrents or git repos. So maybe XStreet would have become less interesting for open content anyway - well, we'll never know.
Post a Comment