Virtual Laws

Slashdot:
News for nerds, stuff that matters:

"'A Reuters article details the story of (what I believe is) the first online-gaming lawsuit won regarding virtual theft, with a Chinese court ordering a game company to 'return hard-won virtual property to a player whose game account was looted by a hacker'. Apparently, the article feels the need to throw in that the RedMoon-playing gamer's looted booty included 'a make-believe stockpile of bio-chemical weapons' for some reason... 'I exchanged the equipment with my labour, time, wisdom and money, and of course they are my belongings,' said Li Hongchen (the gamer) and the courts agreed, ordering the game company to restore his bounty.'
We've covered earlier stages of this lawsuit in the past."

this is interesting, it brings up the question wethere the laws of the realworld really exist/apply to the virtual world. although the chinese court has ruled on this matter, it still begs the question.

granted, i know how much it would suck to lose all your gear and whatever else you had in a game to some haxor, but it's not something that is tangible. the gamer argues that he's lost time, money, etc. the thing is, he has "lost" these things regardless of wether the haxor took them or not.

this, eventually puts all the actions of gamers into question. is pk'ing murder? is cybersex adultery? and does the company have an obligation to police and enforce its policies.

gunbound's makers are very concerned about hacking. the police the servers, looking for people who are botting, or abusing the game. at the same time, they are not held responsible for lost accounts or lost items just because a player is negligent.

i find it extremely interesting how reality has bled into the virtual. and how the virtual has bled into reality.