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http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=172826

Landbots 101

Long before the SL client was open sourced, it was reverse engineered by a group in Second Life. Although against the TOS (at the time), LL turned a blind eye to the reverse. Yet, a few bad apples choose to use the source code to exploit others. Up until now, one of the better known exploits by this group is CopyBot. This is not to suggest that all members of the group are nefarious, but in fact, they have done things to improve SL is many ways. It is not my intention to discredit the group as a whole.

The object of this lesson, is to educate residents about bots lurking in the shadows, who want nothing more than to take the lion's share of the profitability from the land business and eliminate any resident's possibility of finding land deals.

What is a bot?

At libsecondlife, you may download a modified version of the SL client. This client is not at all like the normally user friendly version of the current SL or FirstLook viewers. It requires .NET Framework installed on your computer and you will need a C# compiler (if you wish to make further modifications)

libsl is a stripped down version of the SL client and does not have many of the features of the normal viewers, but it has features suitable for bots.

What are these features?

Much of SL is dependant upon database queries. Logins, assets, land data to name a few. This is accomplished by using command prompts. Much like the days of DOS 6.22, certain functions can be accomplished in sequence using batch files, executeables and/or other utilities.

What are landbots doing, that others cannot?

Landbots use a variety of utilities and files from the command line, essentially bypassing the widget we commonly know as Search/Land Sales - Mainland. Bot controllers query the database much like the search widget does, with a few exceptions. Firstly, they create a utility which hammers the database in repetition (throttled to 5 seconds recently) until a plot of land appears below a preset value, normally price per square meter. Upon collection of data of the cheaply priced land, the bot is automatically directed to teleport to the sim and the purchase process is initiated. A wise bot controller will use "comparators" to cross reference the search data with the data aquired from the land parcel to verify the price and size of the parcel. This is to prevent the bot from buying a parcel which has had a recent price change, subdivision or data error. A bot cannot buy remotely from anywhere in SL, but must attend the sim, or nearby region. Some TP to the parcel, some TP to an arbitrary location in the middle of the sim.

Can bots reprice and change land parcel details?

Yes. One bot in particular does so. The others change some details, but usually attend the land eventually, to prepare it for resale.

Are bots legitimate under the TOS?

Yes, since the SL viewer was made open source, bots have been permitted.

What are the dangers of bots?

Bots can go awry and purchase otherwise overpriced or incorrectly interpreted data. New updates to SL often change functions, so sometimes bots require recompilation or modification to be brought back online.

The real danger lies with residents making errors while selling or contributing their land. No matter what changes LL makes to the land buying process, there will always be people who are uninformed about the dangers of lurking bots. On a daily basis, there are three common errors which victimize land owners. Firstly, errors in land transfer. People are often too quick to presume they are alone in a sim and set land to anyone for 1 dollar, expecting their friend to claim it and be done, meanwhile the bot swooped, reset price the land to higher price and another buyer comes along. The current buyer is unable to return the land without taking a loss and is often implicated as complicent with land bots. I've wittnessed huge disturbances and angry accusations on multiple occasions. Secondly, errors in setting price, ie misunderstanding the size of the lot or neglecting to include enough zeros in the price. Once set, upon re-examination of the land parcel details, the land will be lost to a bot. It takes mere seconds to lose your land.

Don't bother IMing a bot, in fact, they don't even have chat, nor do they care to, for numerous reasons, mainly to avoid dealing with your error or maximize the speed of the bot. One bot controller is rather diligent about following up on land purchases and is more than willing to return errors, another controller might return your land, but is often offline and has a hidden group, presumably to avoid appeals and retain the profits from your errors. Another bot will ignore your errors, reprice the land and sell it while you are standing there, happily taking your land and reselling it at an immense profit.

What can I do to prevent being swooped by a bot?

Lots of things.

1- NEVER, EVER sell your land to "anyone" for $1 UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

2- If you must sell your land quickly, for whatever reason do not sell it for less than you could otherwise get, given the situation. Take a few seconds to look at the list and understand what the "base market value" is. Sell your land for the price per square meter relative to the lowest price of land available. Blindly selling your land for ridiculously low rates is no faster than selling your land at base rates. It's your land and you deserve the best value, based on current trends in the market.

3- Ask someone. There is a wealth of information available to you with regard to fair land prices. There are numerous land resellers who have been squeezed out of work by land bots and are more than willing to offer you instant cash for your land at fair market value. Alot of people in SL do not prefer to sell to bots or greedy individuals, but currently, ignorance of the presence of bots, is an exploit they are using to bilk you out of your land.

Why would someone operate a bot?

Money. No other reason.

Don't let random acts of benevolence muddy your perception of their intentions. It's all about excessive greed and little else. They are patently unfair, because the lower end of the land market is controlled by a few people. The use of bots thwarts the entry level abilities of new business and eliminates the "stepping stones" to other business development within SL. Many land barons (even the crooked ones) eventually move along to island ownership/rentals. Reputation used to mean something in SL, but since the land bots hit the scene, reputation has been kicked to the curb... favoring greed and demonstrates preferential treatment by Linden Lab. Under the current system, 99.9% of land sales go to a handful of bot controllers. The amount of resources used by each bot, are widely disproportionate to resources used by any other resident. It's patently unfair to allow bots to hammer our database to near failure, for the sole purpose of stuffing the pockets of certain individuals.

An executive officer of LL stated in a PM to me "The landbots are creating an unfair market, and we have some ideas how to deal with them. Banning them is only a short-term fix, and not terribly likely to succeed, so we're working on a solution we hope will make them a poor business choice." Unfortunately, they did quite the opposite. By throttling the search mode to 5 seconds, effectively eliminated the probability for an average resident to aquire cheaply priced land. Multiple bots twarted the throttle and since this was implimented and a few individuals have exclusive access and dominate the land market.

This is nothing less than blatant favortism to a certain group in SL. LL is obstructing equal access to anyone, re-directing huge sums of money to a few individuals, causing the unemployment of more than forty people.

To allow this to continue at the current level, is patently unfair and hence the lesson in landbots and land sales, because if they refuse to acknowledge and change a bad policy.

At the very least, I can do my best to inform residents of their rights. Perhaps over time, education and awareness will errode the greed and put the economy back on a level playfield.

Please, be careful and when you sell or transfer land.

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