Stealing in games - punishable in RL?

No it wasn't me who went crazy, it's UK politician who's WoW account got hacked and "ransacked" - Mike Weatherley.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_t..._stealing_in_video_games_should_actually.html
http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...ld-warcraft-real-prisons-tory-mike-weatherley

I do sympathize with people who lost virtual stuff this way, not only in WoW… But let's be real. All those games are MMOs. You say cigarettes are bad for me and MMOs are not just as addictive and unhealthy?
Just look what Japan did to that poor woman. Hell instead of going to bed with her in RL, that person was "bedding" his bloody avatar! I'd delete that avatar too!

IMO this idea of protecting your MMO "wealth" is completely wrong and can lead to undesirable consequences and even worse laws like:
Friendly fire - RL prison for an attempted murder and possibly high treason
Killing mobs in woods - RL prison for hunting out of season in a national park with rare species
Buying guns ingame - RL prison for tax evasion

What if in-game stuff was bought with RL money ? Is is still in-game theft or RL theft, then ? Anyway, RL money would be involved in this case at least ...

In Second Life, all those assets are equivalent to real dollars -- and in most games they're worth some real money to somebody.

But -- when real money becomes subject to being won, lost, or cheated away in traditional games, it's subject to gambling laws, not "theft".

Should parallel laws be made for in-game wins and losses in online games?

Hacking or stealing someone's account entirely, is different than stealing in game and should be prosecuted IMO.

Where do you draw the line tho? For sure some items are worth decent money and should have repercussions if stolen. Its a tricky question. Is banning from the game and item replacement good enough?

In the early days of Asherons Call I sold that set of armor that you collected the shards to get for $250. I would have been pissed if the guy had just stolen it from me.

joxer said:

IMO this idea of protecting your MMO "wealth" is completely wrong and can lead to undesirable consequences and even worse laws like:
Friendly fire - RL prison for an attempted murder and possibly high treason
Killing mobs in woods - RL prison for hunting out of season in a national park with rare species
Buying guns ingame - RL prison for tax evasion

Click to expand...

Umm, no, that's not even on the slippery slope. If something in a game has real world value though, then there is no reason that stealing it couldn't (though maybe shouldn't) be considered theft if its outside the terms of the game. (IE you get hacked rather than a thief character in the game pilfers your gold)