| From: | rtomasso@*******.com (Richard Tomasso) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Gamer wins back virtual booty in court battle |
| Date: | Thu, 25 Dec 2003 12:45:01 -0500 |
>
>Gamer wins back virtual booty in court battle
>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.
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