virtual crime

[Dent]

Found this through another game forum I belong to.

 

I thought it was especially pertinant here, as EL is gaining in popularity and in #of players. We here have already been targeted at least once, and I imagine it is only a matter of time before some numbskull thinks about doing it again.

 

Computer characters mugged in virtual crime spree

 

The important conclusions from the article:

 

the line between virtual and real cash has already disappeared

 

the growing number of online game players will only increase the incentive for scammers. "There's nothing exceptional about the virtual world," he says. "Wherever there is that sort of money, there's always crime too.

 

"I regularly say that every form of theft and fraud in the real world will eventually be duplicated in cyberspace," Schneier wrote on his weblog. "Perhaps every method of stealing real money will eventually be used to steal imaginary money, too."

 

People are being arrested and prosecuted for virtual crime. Think about a permanent criminal record for stealing things in a game. Hehe. I can see it in the cellblocks now:

 

Cellmate: 'What are you in for?'

 

V-criminal: 'Stealing a magic sword from a 14 year old and selling it on ebay'

 

Cellmate: 'Welcome home, honey, smile like a doughnut.' :lol:

Edited August 20, 2005 by Dent

[Phaet]

I don't think there is an international law that forbidds online gaming theft.

[Dent]

Then let me add another quote, which you would have gotten if you had read the article:

 

A man has been arrested in Japan on suspicion carrying out a virtual mugging spree by using software "bots" to beat up and rob characters in the online computer game Lineage II. The stolen virtual possessions were then exchanged for real cash

 

It is the first paragraph in the article. Pretty hard to miss.

[Daxon]

Believe it or not Phaet, but online theft has contributed to a number of rage-murders. Such as the boyfriend stabbing the girl to death and the four boys killing one boy who was killing them over and over in the game while taking their items. Not like the last one is really relevant, but they have to take a stance somewhere on where the law is.

[Aislinn]

That was in Japan, obviously Japan has laws about it. (And yes I read the article). Of course there have been violent and fatal crimes reported stemming from online gaming. But again, each case gets prosecuted or not, based on the laws of that specific country.

 

But Phaet said "international" law, not the same thing.

[Dent]

each case gets prosecuted or not, based on the laws of that specific country.

 

But Phaet said "international" law, not the same thing.

189378[/snapback]

 

True.

 

However, it should be pointed out that NCSoft is Korean, and the arrest and prosecution are in Japan. As well, crime on line is being treated as cross-border by any nation that I know of. In the US, it is the FBI that investigate it, not podunk police department.