An entrepreneur-friendly EULA?
Warning: Graphic imagery, mixed metaphors and mad linkz
Most people think themselves reasonably intelligent and a humanitarian at heart until they read documents written by lawyers and wish that they had the power to stain the pavements of the world with the blood of obtuse, stuffed-shirt lawyers. Of course, I'm not somebody who thinks like that 
but I do have sympathy for their viewpoint. 
Baron, a user from our community, had some questions in the closed beta forums about our current licenses in terms of what they allowed an entrepreneur to do with our platform. Confusion? It cannot be! Personally, I think legal documents ought to be so clear and simple that savvy folk can read them and grok the concept. Baron is definitely a member of the "savvy folk" so I went and did some reading of my own documents. Yikes, a legal quagmire! What's the lawyer's address and where is my .38 Special? Damn, I don't reside in the US *yet* and Australia has normal developed-world gun controls so I don't have access to a gun and thus both my lawyer and I are statistically safer. Watch out legal eagles, I'm heading stateside in February. Anyway...
Reading our current terms of service, etc, they seemed out of touch with what VastPark is aiming to become: a virtual worlds platform that enables any community or individual to create, publish, share and even profit from their own virtual worlds (without needing years of 3D experience or programming skillz).
Caveat on the skillz: Without mad skillz you are left using the work of others, but as the Metaversed team believe, that's really not a bad idea: How else are we going to create the high quality content that all these virtual worlds will need so that Gartner's prediction can come true?
After stuffing my digital monocle back into my breast pocket, I was left pondering "How did this happen?" And "Why God, why? Why must things always change?"
It became clear to me that our views on how open we could afford to be had moved a long way since March 2007 when the terms of use were agreed upon. As a team, we've always hoped that our platform would become more open over time. We weren't ready (then or now) to cut off our options of solid revenue by giving away the horse and cart before we understood what our future users find uniquely valuable about our platform. In March, Second Life seemed to be losing its way and pissing off both its core community and the corporates. Then in October 2007 there was a stampede of platforms talking up open specifications that might bridge multiple worlds. We sat there thinking "Whoa, wasn't that in the framework we'd been working on since we started our R&D in 2003?" The world seemed to take a sharp turn in our direction! Now we're heading towards a radically open and distributed future - and we can't wait to show you the power of a distributed network future where you all have the freedom to shape and share your own digital world!
Along the way to this change, I made some big claims and was sort of proved completely wrong. I said that the 1st rule of the virtual web is that "open source doesn't matter" and engineers agreed, but managers, entrepreneurs and artists disagreed in droves. I still stand by the importance of open standards (rule 2), but now recognise the warm feelings of comfort that open source brings. It dawned on me that I love Firefox and as a user it makes me irrationally happy that I can access its source code, because I never really want to see it. Never! And don't force me, alright. Phew, glad I got the fear of other people's code out in the open.
Will open source ever take over in virtual worlds? Hmm... YES if you look at Second Life. And NO, if you look at World of Warcraft. Game developers generally would rather cut off their fingers than hand over their source code to the players. They know that players will exploit cheats even if it destroys the experience of the game so they DON'T feed the trolls, the hacksaws or the noclip cheats by handing out the code. Instead a whole industry exists around cheats in games. Remember kids, if you have to cheat to win then you don't deserve to play. Ok, ignore me then.
As a platform that wants to allow developers to create competitive as well as cooperative environments, we've got a dilemma about which side we're on... Or maybe there's a middle road.
VastPark is aimed towards becoming a platform that the most people can adopt and integrate however they like. And we're working out how to make this work as we continue to develop the project and talk with you guys about how to achieve that mission. The notion of virtual worlds now covers such a massive range of opportunities that are just coming to birth. Therefore we have to expect massive changes in the discussions over the next 18 months. People are commenting lately that even some commercial games refer to themselves as virtual worlds nowadays. So we don't feel this is the end of the conversation; just the beginning.
Today we are taking one step. We're redeveloping our legal documents, starting with the VastPark Creator EULA. We're also keen to get your feedback. For those of you who would like to slay lawyers and might sign up for a virtual world promising that as a core activity, you might like to stop now. And I just want to remind you, IANAL.
The new EULA aims to be more entrepreneur-friendly. It's readable. It's clear. It's simple. It's based on Mozilla's very sensible (we think) EULA. I'm curious what you think. I've made some small changes because we're not currently offering source code.
Does this new EULA makes you itchy to stride out into the VastPark's virtual Matrix-white wilderness and stand in its digital nothingness and say "I am a twenty-first century shaman" - otherwise called an entrepreneur - "and I have a vision for a new world and there is a business model." Or do you feel I've wrongly entered the temple, violated the daughter of Mozilla and should pray to the GPL for forgiveness? On the other hand, do you see traffic lights flashing and a bullet-train coming. Are we mixing metaphors as we head up a slippery slope towards..[Insert your own epiphany here].
If you want to curse us with questions or grace us with the boons of your supreme intellect, contact our lesser legal minds at: IANAL []@[] vastpark [].[] com
VASTPARK CREATOR END-USER SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT
Published: Not yet! | Updated: Not yet!
VastPark Creator (Version 0.9 Beta 2)
The accompanying VastPark Creator and related documentation (the "Product") is made available to you under the terms of this VASTPARK CREATOR END-USER SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT (THE "AGREEMENT"). BY CLICKING THE "ACCEPT" BUTTON, OR BY INSTALLING OR USING THE VASTPARK CREATOR, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO BE BOUND BY THE AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT CLICK THE "ACCEPT" BUTTON, AND DO NOT INSTALL OR USE ANY PART OF THE VASTPARK CREATOR.
DURING THE VASTPARK CREATOR INSTALLATION PROCESS, AND AT LATER TIMES, YOU MAY BE GIVEN THE OPTION OF DOWNLOADING, INSTALLING AND EXPERIENCING ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS (INCLUDING MEDIA CONTENT, WIDGETS AND VIRTUAL WORLDS) FROM THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE PROVIDERS AND CONTENT PUBLISHERS. THE INSTALLATION AND USE OF THOSE THIRD-PARTY COMPONENTS MAY BE GOVERNED BY ADDITIONAL LICENSE AGREEMENTS.
1. LICENSE GRANT. VastPark Pty Ltd grants you a non-exclusive license to use the executable code version of the Product. This Agreement will also govern any software upgrades provided by VastPark that replace and/or supplement the original Product, unless such upgrades are accompanied by a separate license, in which case the terms of that license will govern.
2. TERMINATION. If you breach this Agreement your right to use the Product will terminate immediately and without notice, but all provisions of this Agreement except the License Grant (Paragraph 1) will survive termination and continue in effect. Upon termination, you must destroy all copies of the Product.
3. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. Portions of the Product may be made available in both binary and source code form under commercial and/or open source licenses (collectively, "Developer Licenses") at http://www.VastPark.com. Nothing in this Agreement will be construed to limit any rights granted under the Developer Licenses. Subject to the foregoing, VastPark, for itself and on behalf of its licensors, hereby reserves all intellectual property rights in the Product, except for the rights expressly granted in this Agreement. You may not remove or alter any trademark, logo, copyright or other proprietary notice in or on the Product. This license does not grant you any right to use the trademarks, service marks or logos of VastPark or its licensors.
4. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY. THE PRODUCT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH ALL FAULTS. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VASTPARK AND VASTPARK'S DISTRIBUTORS, LICENSORS HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES THAT THE PRODUCT IS FREE OF DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGING. YOU BEAR ENTIRE RISK AS TO SELECTING THE PRODUCT FOR YOUR PURPOSES AND AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PRODUCT. THIS LIMITATION WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY REMEDY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THIS DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
5. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY LAW, VASTPARK PTY LTD AND ITS DISTRIBUTORS, DIRECTORS, LICENSORS, CONTRIBUTORS AND AGENTS (COLLECTIVELY, "VASTPARK") WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, AND COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY (CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE) UPON WHICH SUCH CLAIM IS BASED. VASTPARK'S COLLECTIVE LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF $500 (FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS) AND THE FEES PAID BY YOU UNDER THIS LICENSE (IF ANY). SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS EXCLUSION AND LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
6. EXPORT CONTROLS. This license is subject to all applicable export restrictions. You must comply with all export and import laws and restrictions and regulations of any United States or foreign agency or authority relating to the Product and its use.
7. U.S. GOVERNMENT END-USERS. The Product is a "commercial item," as that term is defined in 48 C.F.R. 2.101, consisting of "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation," as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212 (Sept. 1995) and 48 C.F.R. 227.7202 (June 1995). Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 12.212, 48 C.F.R. 27.405(b)(2) (June 1998) and 48 C.F.R. 227.7202, all U.S. Government End Users acquire the Product with only those rights as set forth herein.
8. MISCELLANEOUS. (a) This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between VastPark and you concerning the subject matter hereof, and it may only be modified by a written amendment signed by an authorized executive of VastPark. (b) Except to the extent applicable law, if any, provides otherwise, this Agreement will be governed by the laws of the state of California, U.S.A., excluding its conflict of law provisions. (c) This Agreement will not be governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. (d) If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that part will be construed to reflect the parties' original intent, and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. (e) A waiver by either party of any term or condition of this Agreement or any breach thereof, in any one instance, will not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof. (f) Except as required by law, the controlling language of this Agreement is English. (g) You may assign your rights under this Agreement to any party that consents to, and agrees to be bound by, its terms; VastPark Pty Ltd may assign its rights under this Agreement without condition. (h) This Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.