Analysis: Should Gamers Be Prosecuted For Virtual Stealing

"Should Gamers Be Prosecuted for Virtual Stealing" -author Alex Weiss argues against the decision of the Dutch Supreme Court to rule in favor of a 13-year-old victim of virtual theft. Playing virtual reality games requires investing time and occasionally money to achieve a goal. With the loss of a shield and amulet, it was enough for the boy to seek legal action. When taking into account the time the 13-year-old spent to get the items, the court's decision to rule in his favor was not completely unjustified. Within Runescape, there was a theft of a shield and an amulet. Runescape is a massively multiplayer online game or MMO. The Supreme Court ruled in the favor of the victim because the time the boy spent obtaining the items gave them value. On …show more content…
The game has a fair trading system implemented so players cannot be scammed to trade away their items without receiving compensation. Although if someone had another's account information they could simply log in, drop the items on the ground, and with their character pick them up. As I had in the past anyone can make an account under an alias, leaving the owner of the account unknown, traceable only by their IP address. The courts would have a difficult time trying to find someone to persecute if they have no known thief. Until MMO's use real currency and a strict set of rules it would be next to impossible to govern the VR games. Creating laws against certain acts would diminish the population of gamers, because there are some that enjoy playing the antagonist, such as a barbarian, theft, or bandit. For those who choose to play this way, even though they may be an upstanding citizen in society, they would still be prosecuted if they broke the "law". The reason MMO's and other games are so popular are because you get to be someone you're not and build a life. Trying to bring the law into the virtual reality is