KittyCats & InWorldz?

[Tad Carlucci]

While OpenSim grids are good for testing, there are a number of features which Second Life offers which OpenSim does not.

"Expanding" to another world is, effectively, especially for highly scripted objects communicating over the Internet, creating an entirely new product line, with separate code base, separate web servers, as so forth. Basically, one would need to double the technical and support staff simply to offer the same level of service.

In addition, there are a large number of alternative grids out there. The business models, when admitted to (which is actually rather rare); track records are all but non-existent. Proper due diligence before committing to the investment will often be problematic.

And the reason for doing all this? Because every time LL makes a change to the ToS there's a great hue and cry?

Sure, taken out of context, a lot of the changes over the years can seem frivolous. Has no one ever noticed that when corrections and clarifications appear, showing the changes really are not some nefarious plot by Linden Labs, the Chicken Littles on the Forums always seem to ignore them and continue to insist the sky is falling?

All in all, given the risks involved, as a serious businessman, I'd prefer the (probably non-existent) risk that Linden Labs would abscond with my intellectual property long before I'd prefer the (probably extremely high) risk that some johnny-come-lately, fly-by-night alternative grid would simply fold up shop and I'd lose my entire investment.