Elizabeth Shreve
September 20, 2015
Eng 111 4-5:15
Professor Roof
Paper 1
Prosecution in the Virtual World
Many online gamers will pay for virtual items with real money. Some people want laws in effect for the real world to protect their rights to their belongings. Theft in the virtual world occurs quite often. In an article titled, “Should Gamers be Prosecuted for Virtual Stealing?” the author Alex Weiss calls out a young teenage boy who is being prosecuted for stealing in a video game. It seems to be a legal blunder that is very straight forward, but becomes a heated debate. It begins with the argument should we prosecute a gamer for stealing via the virtual world? Alex Weiss is ...view middle of the document...
They
would fail to set a limit of time into games and choose to sever themselves over the real
world. If this were to become legal, it would someday bring people to “sue” their co-worker for too much talking or some other non-existent crime. If some choose to spend their time unproductively, would they not expect to be compensated for such types of loses?
While some people see turning to the law for in-game crimes, they fail to realize
that video games have their own ways of punishment, so the actual physical prosecution
should not be necessary. Weiss observes how games like World of Warcraft will strictly
punish their gamers for theft, scamming, and vulgar language. He says, “Violators can be
banned and victims’ lost goods are refunded.” Weiss then goes on to point out how in
EVE will actually encourage players to have a behavior of piracy to give them a sense of
pride. (729) There are many different games with different styles of engagement and how
the game is to be played. To have a universal punishment for these crimes seems unfair
and unfit. In spirit video gamers build their video games from the start of nothing, laying
out the rules and all the abilities of the game. The chances of being able to steal in the
virtual world without hacking is nearly impossible.
Physical prosecution for virtual theft may be providing justice for the theft
committed yet providing injustice on a law abiding citizen. Video games make it very
easy to steal in, so what will happen when a non-criminal citizen takes the opportunity to
do so because it’s not necessarily legal? There is a great sense of curiosity and fantasy
that is easily overlooked when someone accuses as in game theft. All depending on the
game, there is usually a different direction each character types laid out on the table;
pirates, philanthropist, vigilantes, and even barbarians. In our be-who-you-want-to-be-
world it is nearly impossible to determine the type of character in the real world based on
the one who is in the virtual world. Revisit the question of, do in game actions accurately
reflect the players’ actual ethical beliefs? Lots of gamers enter the virtual world of gaming.
as an everyday escape from a bad day or as a way to enlarge their creativity. So within
these virtual worlds, people tend to not be who they actually are. I myself occasionally
play video games. My favorite being Grand Theft Auto. Just in this title alone is the word
“theft”. The object of the game is to choose missions to go on and steal other objects;...
