Latest News with Tag 'Crime'

There has been much speculation that the global recession would cause an increase in crime. However, nothing has been said about an increase in virtual crime. That was until a player robbed Eve Online's biggest user run banks:

"Facing real world debts, a trusted figure in a popular online game stole money from the virtual bank he ran and exchanged it for cash through the black market.

The CEO of EBank, a 27-year-old Australian tech worker who identified himself only as Richard and used the online name Ricdic, embezzled about 200 billion interstellar kredits, the game's virtual currency."

Eve Online is known for letting it's players "role-play" crooks for a more authentic experience.

"He broke the rules of the game by exchanging the stolen virtual funds for $6,300 Australian ($5,100) with players who preferred to buy virtual money rather than earn it playing the game.

Ironically, if Ricdic had merely stolen the online money he could have stayed in the game. But exchanging the virtual cash for real dollars broke the rules and CCP banned Richard's EBank accounts."

And this is why companies keep spamming people:

"He said a spam email for a black market website that traded online money for real cash popped up on his screen, prompting him to exchange the virtual cash for real money to cover a deposit on his house and expenses related to his son's medical problems."

Here is what we don't understand however:

"Asked if he had any regrets about the scam, Richard said he felt he let down his fellow EBank staffers, many of whom he considered friends.

"I'm not proud of it at all, that's why I didn't brag about it. But you know, if I had to do it again, I probably would've chosen the same path based on the same situation," he said."

Other players could have choosen to sell the currency as well and in effect Richard stole that money directly from other players. Even if it is a game, if you play poker with a bunch of friends and you steal a few extra chips from the pot, you are still stealing. With Eve Online it is a tad bit different as the rules of the game actually allow you to steal from others, but just because the authorities of a game don't punish you for it... doesn't mean what you did wasn't wrong. If you want to sell your virtual currency to pay medical bills then sell your own virtual currency. Don't use your power as head of a bank to screw over a lot of other real people who trusted you.

There still seems to be a great deal of disconnect that just because the person on the other end is represented by a virtual avatar that they aren't actually another person.

News from China last week brings possible vast legal ramifications:

“Four young men were convicted of and sentenced for theft of virtual facilities and coins of online games, according to sources with a local court in Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

On Oct. 22, 2008, Wang and his three friends beat, coerced and forced “Shenyang fellow” to transfer to 100,000 yuan worth of QQ coins, a kind of virtual money, and a large amount of virtual facilities to Wang.

Wang Xiaoquan received three years’ imprisonment and his three accomplices received reprieved sentences, each of the four was fined 5,000 yuan (about 735.3 U.S. dollars), according to a verdict statement of the People’s Court of Dongling District on Saturday.”

The virtual currency was worth about $14,700 USD and comes from the Chinese web portal Tencent with over 300 million active users. It is important to note that since the virtual QQ currency once purchased or won can not be converted back into cash the traditional argument for it having value was not deployed. Instead the court found that:

“…although no law has acknowledged legitimacy of the virtual property, game players have paid time and real money to accumulate their virtual property, which should be protected by the law.”

As more and more online companies use virtual currency to generate revenues, it will be interesting to see what happens when such cases go to U.S courts and what ramifications it will have on secondary markets.

On a side note QQ made it in the WSJ some time back because players were using it as a real alternative to China’s heavily regulated currency.

Via Mindblizzard

"On September 6 last year the boys from Leeuwarden, at the time both 14 years old, forced a thirteen-year-old victim to hand over virtual goods, a mask and an amulet, and to transfer the items to their account. The thirteen year old had collected a large amount of credits with which artifacts could be purchased. The boys forced him to a house and there he was kicked and threatened with a knife, until he transferred the goods and credits..

Community Service

The lawyers argued during the meeting that virtual goods do not really exist, and transferring it does not conflict with the rules of the game, but the court thought otherwise. The court charged one boy with 160 hours community service and 1 month of conditional youth detention, where the second received a sentence of 200 hours of community service and two months probation. a month conditional jeugddetentie, the other 200 hours of labor and two months conditional detention. The prosecution had demanded 180 hours of service and 1 month detention with a 2 year probation.