Should stealing in video games be punishable in real life? In his essay, “Should Gamers Be Prosecuted for Virtual Stealing?,” author Alex Weiss responds with his opinion on a case where a teenager is convicted of stealing two virtual items while playing the massively multiplayer online (MMO) video game, Runescape. In other words, the two items that were stolen did not really exist. I never really cared about this type of stuff, but I definitely agree with Weiss’s perspective. This ruling does indeed place too much value on the time people spend playing video games (727). As a freshman in college, I find most of Weiss’s information informative and helpful. Weiss thoroughly explains all of the other MMOs, what their policies are, and how the
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I agree with Weiss’s assertion that putting monetary value on time spent in a virtual world seems dangerous (729). This case is the perfect example of why it seems dangerous. The teenage gamer probably thought that nothing could go wrong while he was enjoying his game and then he gets in trouble for something that there was no rule against in the first place. Runescape had no rules against the theft at the time, so the court was just trying to put real world laws where they don’t belong. What I mean by “putting real world laws where they do not belong,” is the court is trying to charge the teenage gamer with a crime that he never really committed. There were no rules against it at the time, so in actuality, the theft was …show more content…
As Weiss explained in his essay, there are many people that put a lot of real money and time into these games and it could all be ruined by someone who wants to be a jerk (728). For example, Weiss states that “… in 2010 pirates destroyed a ship that another player had filled with six years’ worth of in-game renewal subscriptions” (728). Weiss explains how those six years’ worth of in-game renewal subscriptions had a monetary value of $1000 at the time (729). That’s a lot of money to lose to a video game. Stealing something with that much monetary value should definitely be punishable. The problem is that Runescape had no rules against the theft so therefore it should not be punishable. The gamer was doing wrong by stealing but, at that time, the theft was basically permitted. Of course the gamer is wrong for stealing but, should he be punished for something that there is no rule
I agree with Weiss’s assertion that putting monetary value on time spent in a virtual world seems dangerous (729). This case is the perfect example of why it seems dangerous. The teenage gamer probably thought that nothing could go wrong while he was enjoying his game and then he gets in trouble for something that there was no rule against in the first place. Runescape had no rules against the theft at the time, so the court was just trying to put real world laws where they don’t belong. What I mean by “putting real world laws where they do not belong,” is the court is trying to charge the teenage gamer with a crime that he never really committed. There were no rules against it at the time, so in actuality, the theft was …show more content…
As Weiss explained in his essay, there are many people that put a lot of real money and time into these games and it could all be ruined by someone who wants to be a jerk (728). For example, Weiss states that “… in 2010 pirates destroyed a ship that another player had filled with six years’ worth of in-game renewal subscriptions” (728). Weiss explains how those six years’ worth of in-game renewal subscriptions had a monetary value of $1000 at the time (729). That’s a lot of money to lose to a video game. Stealing something with that much monetary value should definitely be punishable. The problem is that Runescape had no rules against the theft so therefore it should not be punishable. The gamer was doing wrong by stealing but, at that time, the theft was basically permitted. Of course the gamer is wrong for stealing but, should he be punished for something that there is no rule