BPN 1255 Virtual theft punished

A Dutch court has punished two teens for theft of virtual goods. The two teens had stolen under force the password from a school mate and appropriated virtual possessions such s a virtual amulet and virtual mask, the boy had gained in the game Runescape.



The ruling is important as virtual artefacts were defined as virtual goods for the first time in Dutch law. Despite the fact that these goods had been aquired by playing the game, the artefacts were seen as property of the teen. Goods can be stolen and in this case, they were stolen with force.

Last year a teen was in custody of the Dutch police for stealing artefacts from a private room in the Habbo Hotel, for which the owner had paid 2400 euro. The goods had been annexed through a bogus site, imitating the 3D Habbo Hotel.

Theft of virtual goods is a growing issue. In 2005 a Chinese gamer Zhu Caoyuan was stabbed to death in a row over a sword in a game.

Blog Posting Number: 1255

Tags: virtual goods