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Dutch court convicts 2 teens of stealing virtual items.
Kagera
Imitating the worst people. Since 2004Registered User regular
Imitating the worst people. Since 2004Registered User regular
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_fe_st/eu_netherlands_virtual_theft
The jist is this.
A 15 year old and a 14 year old conned a 13 year old to give them some Runescape items under false pretenses.
So somehow this made it to a judge who called this theft and convicted the two older kids to community service, 200 hours for the 15 year old and 160 for the 14 year old.
My question is this: should this be a law for the US as well and what would the maximum penalty be if you think so?
More importantly, how would this affect MMOs, if at all?
The jist is this.
A 15 year old and a 14 year old conned a 13 year old to give them some Runescape items under false pretenses.
So somehow this made it to a judge who called this theft and convicted the two older kids to community service, 200 hours for the 15 year old and 160 for the 14 year old.
My question is this: should this be a law for the US as well and what would the maximum penalty be if you think so?
More importantly, how would this affect MMOs, if at all?
My neck, my back, my FUPA and my crack.
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I don't think it should be law because the 'virtual items' in game technically belong to the company providing the service. Regardless of that, if virtual items are enforceable property, do you get to file suit when a server goes down, not allowing you access to your property? What about a database failure, deleting your property? I'd rather there be no legislation covering in-game items because I don't see how it could ever be anything but a limiting factor for the games.
As should be obvious, two of the three majority parties right now are Christian.
This. Giving virtual items in a game legal status outside that game leads to all kinds of quirky bullshit, and really isn't worth it. I can think of very few situations in which it's appropriate to pursue such a case, and this is not one of them. This should be handled through the company running the game.
Exactly.
There's really very little else to say on this subject. The entire idea is ludicrous to begin with.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Dutch news reported that the kid was beaten and kicked in order to force him to hand over his login details. They also threatened him with a knife.
AniList
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
The only way I can see this is maybe if the fraud was perpetrated in person, or possibly if the virtual items in question carried a specific monetary value (as in, you paid the developers for access to those specific items...I'm thinking about things along the line of cards in M:tG online, or something...not sure how that game actually works, though).
Otherwise? It still sounds like this case is giving virtual items in an MMO legal status in meatspace, which is retarded. I'm sorry, your Bow of Almighty Whupass is not real, has no value outside your computer, and if I take it from you you should have no recourse against me. Except through the company running the MMO.
That still just makes it assault (with a weapon, no less), not theft.
Because, again, the latter gives virtual items legal status in the real court system, which is problematic at best. Kids should still be in prison, but not for theft.
For the assault with a deadly weapon.
Or possibly for some form of fraud/unauthorized access relating to logging in as him, if they used his login details.
See, all of these things are very legally distinct. Adding "theft" to the charges might seem like a good idea, but again you start getting into issues of legal precedent and what the long-term ramifications are of granting virtual items real legal status.
See, now with this I would rather they just get them on the threats and stuff. And they seem to have gotten off easy. This is possibly what the courts DID do, but the article makes it seem like they are starting to give legal status to virtual items, which in most cases I can see as being dangerous.
This gets more complicated when you remember that money is electronic as often as solid, an a computer program can be a valuable and expensive tool (look at what Photoshop'll run you).
If Blizzard decides to delete my world of warcraft characters, I'm not entitled to fuck all because it says right in the terms of service that it was never my character to begin with. If some other party fucks over my character I'm still not entitled to anything, but blizzard can go after them for breaking the terms of service or hacking blizzard servers or whatever.
I know there are some games where you can pay real cash for in game items legitimately. I'd be interested to see how they word such a "sale". If I pay cash to the service provider for an in game item, and then someone takes that item away from my in game character via conning me, then maybe they should be subject to prosecution the same as any other con man. I think a lot should depend on the terms of service. I mean, people do mean/immoral things in online games all the time, sometimes being able to grief other players is a selling point a game.
I think the service provider should be able to easily resolve these issues (ban accounts/restore stolen items) and if the service provider is shitty, don't pay for that service....
TL;DR
I think if terms of service are broken, real world penalties should not be out of the question
Money's entirely different. Transferring funds electronically is possible because of a web of contracts that give those bits real-world value legally on either bank's end.
Photoshop is different because you have a license you purchased for a specific value (even if that value was $0) from the company that created it.
Your Sword of Pretty Much Instant Death in World of Everwhatthefuckever? Not so much.
Unless, perhaps, that item was "sold" to you for a specific value (in real-world currency) by the company running the game. Which is why I brought up something like M:tG online, or maybe that crazy Korean golf game that Super Swing Golf is based on.
Only between you and the enforcers of those terms...in this case, the game publisher/developer/whatever. Not between you and other users.
I'm pretty sure that were it legal, it would be treated like buying the lease on an office (my dad's a dentist, and apparently owning your own office is quite rare).
The photoshop analogy isnt entirely accurate. When you purchase software you are paying for the 'value' of the software. In photoshop, the value is that it helps you do graphic stuff. In an MMO the value is that you get an experience, part of which involves obtaining and possibly losing items/in game gold.
Well, IMO this is arguable on a case by case basis. In most cases the dispute should be between the company offering the service and the person who broke the terms of service (person who got their character fucked has no say), but I can see where the person who was using the service and got fucked over has rights.
Say there is an MMOG that is basically photoshop+chat (maybe mixing colours gives you points and unlocks new colours or whatever, who cares). The terms of service state you can only see other peoples art and you may not copy it, steal it or use it in any way.
What if:
1. Someone hacks the service provider, gets all my art, and sells it.
Or
2. Someone cons me into making my online art accessible to them and sells it.
Or
3. Does 1 or 2 but no one will pay them for it so they just keep their stolen copy.
Clearly in all these cases the terms of service were broken, but also I lost control of my creative art when I never willingly gave up my control of it, so I think I'd be entitled to sue whoever stole copies of my work in addition to having the service provider go after them.
Anyway, part of the problem here is that online property, like it or not, is taking on the characteristics and implications of real property. People buy and sell it with real money. People work for it, spending time that might otherwise be engaged in other profitable activity. Businesses pay people to generate it and then sell it. And so on. How large does this virtual economy need to be, and how much effect can it have on the real economy, before issues like taxation and property rights are too big to ignore?
If people start killing each other IRL over virtual property, then wouldn't that necessitate governance, including property rights? Isn't that sort of why we have property rights and government?
But again, part of the reason I play games is to be able to be a thief and steal game money. Or to PVP and kill people in game. This may set them back hours of game play. But if that upsets them, they are playing the wrong game. This is because you are NOT paying for the items/money in the game, you are paying for the experience the game developers have created. And the virtual property that you work so hard for is NOT yours, it is owned by the MMO developer.
But internal thievery is a mutually agreed upon form of acquisition. Making a virus that infects others and transfers their stuff to you, on the other hand, is not.
I think in this case though, the damages are to the MMO company, not the player. The MMO company can set stuff right by reseting the players goods. And then the person who used the virus would be liable for the work/lost funds/downtime etc to the MMO company. Same as if they hacked a website.
I'll stab you unless you hand over X sounds like pretty cut and dry extortion to me. Does it really matter if X refers to a tangible good?
No, because (and correct me if I'm wrong) doesn't require that the attacker take a tangible good. Or even a valuable one, which is the issue here.
Theft generally does. Generally "theft" requires the taking of a good or service that has a tangible value, even if the good itself is not tangible.
I guess that's what some people are getting hung up on, because they think that I'm saying a good must be tangible to have value. Of course not. If I take $5000 out of your bank account, obviously I'm guilty of some form of theft, even if that money is merely deposited electronically into mine (and no tangible goods move).
But the point here is that the "goods" being "stolen" in this case have no value. It's not just that they don't exist (in that they are intangible) it's that they are not sold. You don't pay for them. They are not traded for money by the company that created them. In this way they are different from the dollars in your bank account, or the games in your Steam account.
Now, I'm talking in the context of the US (in response to Kalkino) since the OP mentioned the idea of whether or not this should happen here. There are a dozen other laws in our legal system (including the criminal side) to handle this particular situation. There's no reason "theft" should apply to the "goods" in question here, which are not only intangible but completely valueless as well.
These kids are guilty of assault (with a weapon, no less). Possibly extortion. Probably unauthorized access to a computer system (if they used his login), which is also an incredibly serious crime. Then, on the civil side, the creator of the MMO may be able to go after them for some form of damages as well.
My only issue is with the classification of this as theft.
Oh, and it's my understanding that there is some transfer between in-game money and "real" money on EVE Online? In this case things are arguably different, because at that point every item within the game does have a fixed dollar value. This probably poses some pretty significant legal questions, though, because you're talking about a virtual world where taking things "by force" is part of the game, as is destruction of that property...so does this mean that ToS violations could be criminal violations in the real world?
Fuck if I know.
The EVE reference, I assume, is because that game is notoriously brutal in how much you can be set back. Stories of massive amounts of in game setup of people infiltrating Corporations (guilds) working their way up, and taking everything in the end destroying years of in game work and wealth etc. Some of these are very extensive with real world phone calls and other such out of game things happening. The developers actually encourage a lot of this type of behavior too.
Well yeah, I know people sell their loot on eBay to each other. That doesn't necessarily give it a value, though, particularly since (as you said) it's generally not sanctioned by the company that still owns those virtual items.
I can give you $500 for your Bow of Awesomeness, that doesn't make it worth $500, nor does it even make it mine.
Oh god.
"There was a several hour long standoff today, where a group of thieves made off with billions and left several dead..."
Was it a +2 Knife of Stabbing?
Sure, your terms of service cede any rights over your items and characters to the company maintaining the game. However, I don't see that as giving anyone else the right to interfere with those same items and characters. If a person were able to maliciously destroy my character and items through some sort of non-game avenue (a hack, stealing my password, etc)*, then they've harmed me and there should be some civil recourse.
Of course, the easiest way to rectify that harm is to have the game company restore the account. That seems the most important distinction to me between in-game goods and real-world goods; in-game goods can be regenerated with a keystroke. Real-world theft law would probably look a lot different if someone could snap their fingers and give you all your property back.
*EVE and similar games red herrings. There's a difference between thievery that's supported by the game mechanics and stealing passwords.
There's also a difference between unauthorized access to an account (or using force to extort passwords) and theft.
But yeah, good point on how different laws would be if property could be regenerated.
Right. One is already illegal. The other isn't controlled by law and instead by the company that owns the rights to the product and it should stay that way.
People need to stop bringing up hacking/stealing passwords/viruses. That shit is already illegal. Not. A. Valid. Comparison.
The original hacking.
In my 3DS: Super Smash Bros, AC New Leaf
Last game completed: Steamworld Dig
We don't have to pretend it's not the same thing, because the time spent is not spent acquiring property. It's acquiring the ability or privilege to access a restricted area of a program. When you grind gold for 2 hours, you're not acquiring anything, but building access privileges. You then turn that in and are granted access to an area of the program you couldn't access before. That is, the virtual item. It is not property, but a form of limited access.
Granting property rights to a form of software access would be kinda weird. You'd potentially be able to charge a company for theft for nerfing an item.