A few days ago I wrote here about the new system developed by Gemini Cybernetics, enabling land owners, content creators, estate managers and in fact anyone, to at last acquire a reasonable method of protecting their content by detecting the use of malicious viewers.
Many will be pleased to know today of the release of an update and publication of FAQs.
First of all, the FAQs
GEMINI Industries’ CDS FAQ
“Why did I get banned for using the official LL viewer/Emerald/Imprudence/etc?”
During the first months of beta testing, avatars using flagged viewers were added to the database. Upon the GEMINI CDS’ official release, the auto-ban feature was implemented and flagged avatars found themselves banned and ejected regardless of the viewer in use at the time. While there has not been a case of a false-positive, there have been a handful of situations where an avatar was accessed by someone else (i.e. “my friends have my passordw” and “my little sister wanted to try Cryo”).
In these cases, the best course of action is to file an appeal.
Appeals will be first reviewed by the GEMINI team, acted upon in a way that best protects the effectiveness of the CDS, and ultimately left in the hands of the parcel owner.
“What are the right and wrong viewers to use?”
As a rule, any viewer that has the capabilities to go around the permissions systems set out by Linden Labs will be targeted by the GEMINI CDS.
Please refer to Linden Lab’s Policy on Third-Party Viewers.
“How does it work?”
When an avatar passes through the region, the CDS looks for signs someone is using or has used a flagged viewer. That information is processed and the avatar may be banned from the parcel, teleported home, or both. In the case of a ban, it is a temporary ban precautionary to ban lists filling up. In all cases, the flagged avatar is added to the database shared with all CDS devices identifying the avatar as a potential threat. The CDS ships with bans and kicks disabled by default. Local unbanning is an upcoming feature.
“What data are you storing?”
The specifics of the data cannot be disclosed. However, no MAC or IP addresses are stored, nor any other sensitive data. The most personal data is the avatar key and which viewer was used. This data is continuously monitored and updated.
“Does the CDS use the same methods of detection as the Emerald Viewer?”
While the Skill Hak is on the Emerald development team, the GEMINI CDS is not affiliated with Modular Systems, and the detection methods are completely different and updated as necessary.
“It works this way and here’s how to get around it.”
There are multiple methods of detection, none of which involve an avatar’s IP or MAC addesses. The effectiveness of the CDS relies on keeping the details of its operation discrete. There are occasional lapses in service whiel the Gemini team updates the system. During this time, detection continues without banning or kicking. This slows the success of potentially harmful viewers bypassing the system, allows GEMINI to monitor their progress and continue updating the methods of detection, and increases the longevity of the CDS as a copybot deterrent.
“Do we disclose any information to outside parties?”
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others’ rights, property, or safety.
“The CDS is only active for 25 days and not a month as advertised.”
This is a very rare bug and has since been fixed.
“Is there a list of GEMINI CDS owners?”
The choice in advertising the presence of the CDS is left with the end-user.
“Skills Hak is also Skills Hax!!!!! Scroll to the bottom of this site here!!”
From: Skills Hak
re: Copybot allegations
“The drama is years old and I couldn’t care less which side you believe.”
you can read it yourself here
The updated version will be available on Xstreetsl in a few hours time.
***LATEST***
CDS now available here
Arabella's Amblings 
3 comments
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February 26, 2010 at 11:45 am
Leo
yeah the thing is this person is making money off the client hacks selling this. I’m going to rip the code and make it open source. this should be free. This idiot probably made the hacked clients, then turned around and made this to make money. It’s sad.
February 26, 2010 at 6:58 pm
arabellasteadham
I have only decided to let this comment through so readers can see you for what you are. Let me point out your errors:-
1. The creator is not making money of client hacks
2. Is that an open threat to steal content? You know what MUST happen now
3. Why should it be free? SL has a viable economy and will not develop and grow with freebie everything. Besides, any creator has the right to seek to make money after having spent hours and hours in development
4. The creator of this device did not make hacked clients. Its actually not a good thing for you to make wild unsubstantiated comments like this
5. The only sad thing I see here is your totally misguided view of things. I suggest you do a little research before making more of a fool of yourself
February 26, 2010 at 12:49 pm
New Device/System to Ban Copybot Viewers Released | Kabalyero
[…] data and information is worth the protection it claims to give. Although, the creator claims in the FAQ of the device that it only records the avatar key of those detected and caught using illegal viewers, trusting […]