Stealing Virtual items in MMORPG = Real Life Arrest

[venk]

Click Me

Pretty soon TKing in CounterStrike is going to get you put up on 2nd degree murder charges. :Q

How the hell can you steal an item that does not exist?

 

[acemcmac]

:shocked:

 

[FleshLight]

Awesome! The more the legal system is intertwined with games, the better! I look forward to sueing the people that pwn me for mental anguish damages =)

 

[Pepsei]

yeah, just like stealing softwares/mp3, as long as you don't burn it to a cd then it's just a bunch of data/numbers.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Because he stole them online, and sold them for real money. He is making a real life profit.

 

[shimsham]

i was thinking its the resell for real cash that got him in trouble. but then again:

Kobe University professor Masakatsu Morii told the paper there are no Japanese laws governing the sale of items from online game sites. He said that game site operators should take measures to prevent fraud.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Because he stole them online, and sold them for real money. He is making a real life profit.

Exactly.. that's the only reason why he was arrested.

 

[venk]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Because he stole them online, and sold them for real money. He is making a real life profit.

then let the creaters of the game ban him for violating the eula. There is no property being stolen.

Mp3s and stuff are different than this as songs and video games are the fruits of ones labor that they aren't being compensated for. You already paid for the right to play the game and anything you do wrong in the virtual world should be handled by the Lineage people, NOT THE POLICE!

 

[SilentZero]

Now only if they would do that to the chinese gold farmers in WoW

 

[LeiZaK]

Originally posted by: Pepsei
yeah, just like stealing softwares/mp3, as long as you don't burn it to a cd then it's just a bunch of data/numbers.

?
still is a bunch of data/numbers when you burn it to a cd, it is only the media that has changed

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: venk

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Because he stole them online, and sold them for real money. He is making a real life profit.

then let the creaters of the game ban him for violating the eula. There is no property being stolen.

Mp3s and stuff are different than this as songs and video games are the fruits of ones labor that they aren't being compensated for. You already paid for the right to play the game and anything you do wrong in the virtual world should be handled by the Lineage people, NOT THE POLICE!

Notice that the word being used is "fraud." Not the same as "theft."

 

[venk]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: venk

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Because he stole them online, and sold them for real money. He is making a real life profit.

then let the creaters of the game ban him for violating the eula. There is no property being stolen.

Mp3s and stuff are different than this as songs and video games are the fruits of ones labor that they aren't being compensated for. You already paid for the right to play the game and anything you do wrong in the virtual world should be handled by the Lineage people, NOT THE POLICE!

Notice that the word being used is "fraud." Not the same as "theft."

fraud? Did he take money without giving the buyers what they payed for? where is the fraud?

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Because he stole them online, and sold them for real money. He is making a real life profit.

Stealing virtual items isn't stealing at all...if you "steal" virtual items from someone and then sell them, it's like picking them up off the ground and selling them. There's no such thing as stealing in an MMO.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: venk
fraud? Did he take money without giving the buyers what they payed for? where is the fraud?

Cheating the game and then selling the ill-gotten gains? The article doesn't say whether he is suspected of defrauding his clients or defrauding the provider of the game. I'd guess the latter.

 

[neutralizer]

Originally posted by: Mrvile

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Because he stole them online, and sold them for real money. He is making a real life profit.

Stealing virtual items isn't stealing at all...if you "steal" virtual items from someone and then sell them, it's like picking them up off the ground and selling them. There's no such thing as stealing in an MMO.

So true.

 

[state 08]

It is only the Game Developers fault if items can be stolen. If they aren't meant to be taken from other people, then they should fix it, and they should be blamed. Not the stealers.

 

[treemonkey]

I don't even see what's wrong with making a bot play a game. What's the difference between that and a real person winning and selling stuff online?