This chic ensemble is one of the expansive galaxy of options available when you buy the Rebel Hope Tuxedo – available at Rebel Hope Designs. Yesterday, Rebel Hope was the target of the most brazen content theft I have ever seen. It has been well-covered in Shopping Cart Disco here and here and my goal is not to cover the incident but suggest a way we as a community can show solidarity with the creators and combat content theft.

I am asking fellow bloggers to showcase some of the wonderful Rebel Hope content – gorgeous clothing like this or the homes and furniture and to educate their readers to the fact that content theft hurts all of us. We all reach different readers, so the more that take a few paragraphs to educate their readers, the broader the outreach. Normally I would insert a cut here to shorten the length of this post on the feed. Please indulge my longer post on the feed for this important issue.

The Juliet Boots from A-Bomb are smoking hot with the lovely tuxedo. I could have worn pants...but honestly, is this not the hottest tux in the West?

Content theft is a constant worry for SL creators whose defensive tactics are constantly trumped by new viewers and stratagems for copying content.  Thankfully, many SL residents are sympathetic and disapprove of content theft and actively help by alerting creators to incidents of theft they encounter. Sadly, though, some residents just see it as an opportunity to enjoy free or cheap content and brazenly wear their stolen content or add anti-inspect shields to hide their shame. What they fail to understand is that stolen content affects us all negatively – that those bargains have a cost they do not perceive.

The hair is from Elle F - by Launa Fauna, who makes Chai skins. It's the perfect tuxedo hair.

What are the costs? Here’s just a few.

1. There’s a few stores that employ irritating anti-theft stuff such as click to prove you’re real dialog boxes, that little bit of chat spam telling copybot to quit, etc. These are minor annoyances, but they slow down and lag our SL experience.
2. We all know one or two stores that have closed after being copybotted, discouraged by not only the theft of their hard work, but by the complacency of Linden Labs and the SL community. This means less content and less innovation.
3. Costlier products as store owners build into their prices the anticipated early loss of revenue when their products are ripped.
4. The annoying presence  and hideous lag of anti-inspection devices that people who buy from thieves use to hide their complicity with thieves.
5. Suspicion and distrust by store owners who employ tactics to fight theft that impinge on all of us.
6. Ban lists that can be misused and abused and even, it seems, hacked.
7. Long preachy posts like this one

Dutch Touch CLeO - what a gorgeous face!!!

So, now that we acknowledge that we all pay a price for content theft, what can we do to stop it. First, we can never buy stolen content.  Of course, it’s hard to know sometimes if something is stolen, but there’s one neon-bright clue we can follow. If the prices are unrealistic and too good to be true, it’s probably stolen.  If someone hands you a free box of hundreds of high quality, contemporary hair styles, it’s probably stolen. Don’t accept it, don’t buy it. Secondly, many newcomers and folks who don’t read blogs are unaware of the problem, so we can tell our friends. If you see someone wearing stolen content, let them know – but in a respectful, nonjudgmental way. Assume they purchased it in innocence and judge their complicity by their reaction to your information. Third, if you see stolen content, send a snapshot and slurl to the creator of the original content so s/he can address it. Sometimes what may appear to be stolen is not, so I would not rush to announce it from the hilltops and instead leave it to the creator to lead the charge. The biggest thing we can do though, is be responsible for our own actions and not wear stolen content.

Sui Generis Mari shape shown in three moods.

Last but not least, we can all take a strong step against this sort of brazen and shameless theft that was done solely to inflict personal harm by each and everyone of us making a purchase of the real thing and going to Wildwood and supporting Rebel Hope and  RH Engel. This might help sustain them while the recover their business and build new content and also lift their spirits which have taken a hard blow.

***STYLE NOTES******
Promotional Copies are denoted by a Bold R

• Poses: Long Awkward Pose
• Shape: sui generis: Mari
• Skin: dutch Touch CLeO
• Eyes: Poetic Color Night Forest
• Lashes: Dutch Touch
• Hair: Elle F Cassandra
• Suit: Rebel Hope Designs RH Signature Ladies Tux
• Shoes: A-Bomb Juliet R