Metaverse Registration Agency

Register Your Intelectual Propery

The MVRA (MetaVerse Registration Agency) is a WEB page for creators in OpenSimulator (and perhaps SL) to register their intellectual property. The first phase of this will allow creators to upload a picture of their creations. The picture will be stored in a database along with a date stamp. If you detect a case of intellectual property theft, you can then point to this WEB page to show an official date of your creation that predates any stolen copies.

Register Fingerprints of Your Creations

In addition to pictures, the MVRA can calulate fingerprints of many parts of your creations: texture maps, mesh files, sound files, etc. The MVRA does not store copies of your items, just several "hashes": A super-strong SHA256 cryptography hash and a "perceptual hash". Cryptographic hashes are excellent for detecting exact copies of an item, while perceptual hashes are good for detecting slightly modified versions. Perceptual hashes are currently calculated for 3D models and texture maps, with plans to include other types. Note that only the fingerprints are stored in the database and these hash codes are not reversible by design. Meaning your creations are not stored in the database and your creations cannot be reverse engineered from the fingerprint. If you detect a case of intellectual property theft, the fingerprints of the stolen copy can be compared to your registered and dated fingerprints to positively identify the data as your creation.

Easy Registration In-World

The second phase of this system will be to add an in-world component, where you can register fingerprints of your creations. An in-world "Registrar" prim will examine your item and generate a fingerprint (a SHA256 hash code) for each mesh, texture map, sound, etc. that it is built from. These will be added to your registered item automaticaly.

Register Your Customers

Another service that the MVRA would like to offer is a customer registration service. This would allow an item in-world to check to see if it is owned by a paying customer. If not, a message is sent to the creator with much of the information needed to file a DMCA takedown.

Generate License Acreements

Once your customers are registered, the MVRA can provide copies of license agreements for them. Every time a creator registers an item, they can select what type of license it is released under, some examples: "for personal use", "for resale as part of a build" or any of the Creative Commons licenses. This information can be automatically included in a document for each customer.

Easy Logon from In-World

There are 2 ways to log onto this WEB page: You can log on with a password and your account name (usually the same as one of your avatars). From in-world you can link one of your avatars to your account. Once linked, you can log directly into this WEB page from your avatar without having to remembmer any passwords.