Seeds of Fire in Dream

What happens when someone claims they have a “new innovative direction” for you follow and they want to “cut you in on a stake in the company” on Second Life? And strangely enough they just want your signature on an NDA before they can talk to you about what this “new innovative direction” is.
Note: Folks, be careful whom you send your digital signature to. Even your fax signature. This fellow made a big deal out of sending an NDA to him. Now, normally I don’t have a problem with most NDAs, but in truth I didn’t know this guy from Adam’s housecat. He sends me an email out of the blue and then he starts asking for my signature on a document for him. He really is insistent upon it.

Here’s a transcript of our chat. I have changed his name and identifying information. But I want other folks to know that there is someone out there trying to pull something - and I have reason to believe it’s not entirely on the up and up.

Join me at the end of the transcript for some thoughts on this.

Unknown: hello sam

me: Hello Jason

Unknown: i can understand you do not want somebody to own your dig sig

1:39 PM me: nods

Unknown: however, we have to find a way to talk “freely” as well

have you got a fax

me: I’m unwilling to fax, scan, or otherwise provide you with my signature Jason.

1:40 PM However, if you would like I will agree verbally to the terms of your NDA

1:41 PM Unknown: sam, that wouldn’t work, we are working practically along the same lines but with significant differences. I believe, if we work together we can build something big

1:42 PM me: nods Well, I’m all about Open Source, Jason. And I want the project that I am working on to be Open Source.

That’s a high value for me.

1:43 PM Unknown: well some aspects of our project is /can be open source

1:44 PM me: nods I doubt very seriously you have any IP that is not already sufficiently covered by copyright or patent law.

Unknown: yes we do,

1:45 PM me: So…either you just accept my gentleman’s agreement, without any sort of signed documents, or we can just say farewell and I’ll be glad to do a full interview and article on your work when you bring it out.

Ultimately, none of this is worth breaking basic security practices for.

And I respect your need to protect your ideas

1:46 PM Unknown: what’s you motivation?

1:47 PM me: My motivation is to create an Open Source RP system for Second Life that can empower individual content creators / storytellers / RP event coordinators to run episodic or serial RP sessions for themselves.

1:48 PM They are free to charge for participation in the RP, but not for the Open Source System

Just as I am free to charge folks at a science fiction and fantasy convention for playing in my LARP, but I am not free to re-sell the LARP rules to someone if they are Open Source.

1:50 PM Unknown: okay, so you want to build something without any commercial benefit to yourself?

me: No, that’s not what I said.

I said that I want to create the basic system as an open source project.

Thereafter, I will be able to charge for admission to Second Life RP sessions based on the fact that I am running a story, people know I’m a good storyteller, and so on.

1:51 PM But the basic system will be free.

The system doesn’t cost, just the RP events. And if you want to take the system yourself and run your own game with it, then go ahead.

It’s just like this: you can take Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is an open source play right now - it’s copy-free

you could perform it on the streetcorner for free

1:52 PM OR you could charge $50 a seat in a fancy theatre

but the basic play - Hamlet - is free

Same thing here.

1:53 PM Unknown: our business model is not really different from this.I love linux,mysql etc… some aspects of our system is open as well

me: nods

1:54 PM I think it’s important to be totally Open Source, for me, because I want people to continue to develop the basic system, upgrading it, keeping it from breaking in light of new SL changes, etc.

1:55 PM The proprietary Intellectual Property in my games will be the setting, story, and charactes that are created by the content creator

characters, rather

1:56 PM Unknown: thats fine. So far, I do not see any conflicts but you neeed to see the direction we have taken, which I believes plugs signficant gaps in what you are proposing

1:58 PM i am willing to offer you a stalk in the venture but can for some reason you do not have sympaty with our need to protect our idea until we go public

2:00 PM me: I do have sympathy with your need to protect your IP, as I said before. However, I will not be able to fax or send you a digital scan of my signature. If you can’t accept my word of honor on it, then we’ve got nowhere to go.

2:01 PM Unknown: hmm, okay sam, it is a big pity. I would have loved working with you. We think alike in so many respects

me: So, you like gaming, what’s your background in gaming?

2:02 PM Do you have any favorite game designers?

2:03 PM It is regrettable that the day and age we live in has made this a necessity, yes. There are so many Nigerian scams, for example, out there, that cause problems with people.

Unknown: I love gaming like the next guy, not as involved as you are, but I am very innovative and think outside the box alot

me: Excellent.

Unknown: it not really the scam that bothers me, it is respect for other peoples ideas

me: Well, I wish you well in your endeavor.

2:04 PM nods Right, I understand.

Well, I do think you’ll go far if your IP is so unique and exciting. I’ll just have to smile and say, “I knew him when!”

2:05 PM Unknown: I once send a sms game to be played with (TV show), we couldn’t reach an agreement on licensing and two months later, i saw the game on tv

that’s what I am worried about

2:06 PM me: nods Understood. I am sure you will go far. Thank you for the opportunity, and maybe in the future there will be a safe way to legally authenticate such documents without bringing risk.

Farewell, now Mr. Yount

Unknown: bye for now, sam

First of all, this guy was unwilling completely to even begin to talk about RPGs or any kind of roleplaying situation, and his questions never belied any knowledge of the gaming industry. Secondly, he is very insistent on getting that signature, when I know for a fact that 1.) ideas aren’t protected under copyright and 2.) international Patent law is dicey at best.

The NDA was very vague, as well. I can find no reference to this guy or his project on the Internet, and as I said, I don’t know this guy at all.

I really do hope that my suspicions are false and that he’s not a Scammer, but I really feel at this point like the rest of the Second Life community needs to be aware of people like this.

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