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Science Forum Index » Philosophy Forum » Virtual Virtual Reality
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| Frederick |
 Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2003 3:01 pm |
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Ha!
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Gamer wins back virtual booty in court battle
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994510
14:37 23 December 03
NewScientist.com news service
A court in China has ordered an online computer games company to return virtual belongings to a
player whose account was hacked and looted.
The Chaoyang District People's Court in Beijing ruled last Thursday that the company must return
the player's virtual stash because it had allowed the theft to take place in the first place.
Li Hongchen, 24, spent two years and more than 10,000 yuan ($1,210), amassing a cache of virtual
money and weapons in the online game "Hongyue", or "Red Moon".
In February, however, Hongchen found his belongings had been pilfered by a hacker who gained access
through the game's central servers. The software firm behind the game, Beijing Arctic Ice
Technology Development, responded that his possessions had no real world value and represented only
"piles of data". Hongchen took the company to court requesting 10,000 yuan in compensation.
"I exchanged the equipment with my labour, time, wisdom and money, and of course they are my
belongings," Hongchen told the Chinese news site Xinhuanet.
Virtual property rights
The court ruled that the games firm must return Hongchen's virtual belongings. The company was
found liable because flaws in its servers had allowed the hacker to gain access to Hongchen's
account. It has not been revealed whether the company must also pay out damages.
The court battle is the "first virtual property rights dispute case" in China, says Xinhuanet. But
the case is just another example of how the line between online games and the real world have begun
to blur. Some gamers already trade game goods and characters for real money through online auction
sites like eBay.
Edward Castronova, an economist at California State University at Fullerton, calculated that those
playing the popular US game Everquest could make on average $3.42 an hour by simply playing the
game.
Some companies have sought to exploit this phenomenon by developing games that integrate real
money. Project Entropia, launched in January 2003, lets players buy equipment with money and
exchange goods acquired through the game for real cash.
Will Knight |
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