Joining the ranks of the virtual enforcers: Japan

[zhai]

Japan steps up and takes real life judicial action for a virtual crime:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/10/23/international/i063235D45.DTL&tsp=1

A 43-year-old player in a virtual game world became so

Comments

[areitu]

I'm surprised Korea didn't do something like this first!

[zhai]

Oh, they did.

The issue of how to handle disputes within the virtual world was one that countries worldwide are grappling with, said National University of Singapore law professor Lim Yen Fen.

In South Korea, she said, statutes have been passed on virtual world 'crimes' and it now treats virtual theft as severely as physical theft.

In 2004, more than 1,000 South Korean teenagers were arrested for offences related to virtual 'crimes'.

This is strictly western news. The asians pretty much look at stuff like this and say "it took you guys this long?". But then again far fewer over here have died in any connection to game space.

[eclipsegryph]

The only thing she should be charged with is hacking this guy's computer account, and erasing his information. That's a bona fide crime.

Plus the journalistic integrity of this piece is kind of shady - the woman simply deleted someone's character account in a video game, yet the author tosses in wonderful key phrases such as "killed his digital persona" and "carry out the virtual murder".

But then it wouldn't be proper journalism without some sensationalism, would it?

[zhai]

The article is hard to dig through because it's difficult to tell what their source is, not to mention what's being reported in Japan and whether that is even accurate, which it may or may not be. Then there's the complication of the issue itself, and what they're charging this woman for, and what exactly she did. The basics seem pretty clear: she had his password from when they were "married", he didn't change it when he divorced her, and she logged in and offed his character. The permanence of said deed we don't know, nor Maple Story's response, nor the actual outcome of her arrest (whether it was a misunderstanding, whether they initially thought she was potentially violent, etc). The reporting could be media sensationalism or it could be how it's being reported in Japan. In Asia they do take virtual assault much more seriously than it's taken here, though primarily you hear about these things in China, South Korea, and Singapore more than Japan.

[zhai]

Aha. This one is a bit tamed down, and does seem to specify that she's going to be charged on some kind of illegal access, though it isn't definite, apparently police are still deciding. Hauling her to Sapporo I'm sure was traumatic enough for her...

[kiohl]

She can definitely be convicted of the real-world crimes of going into his account without his consent (I don't actually consider it hacking since he'd probably given her his username/password previously). 5 years though? That's a bit harsh. Like, I want the hacker that got Rob's WoW account caught and fined, but I wouldn't throw them in a cell for anything over a few months.

I do think companies should be more attentive to things like this, though, especially MMO companies. I read that story you wrote about Michelle, and I think that blows so, so, so bad. I might have quit after an experience like that.

Also, what game lets you divorce so quickly and so one-sidedly?? o.o Hah, they should fix that first.

[zhai]

Yeah. I'm unsure of the details here. The 5 year sentence is extreme, but responses to any kind of computer fraud are extreme in most countries, because (as you've experienced) the perpetrators are very difficult to catch. The judicial response to a difficult-to-catch crime is usually to make the penalty so high that even a minute risk of incurring it is enough of a deterrent. But we just don't have enough information based on that very sparse article as to what was going on

[ext_111951]

Wow. 5 years in prison!

[zhai]

People are latching onto that, and I can understand why, but it's a maximum sentence, and probably has something to do with penalties for computer crime being slanted high, unless they're charging her with some kind of physical assault.

[zhai]

PS, congrats on the launch!