Getting away with murder - crime & punishment online

Last month there were two reports of virtual crimes which hit the NZ headlines. In one case, a Japanese piano teacher was reported to have been arrested for ‘murdering’ her virtual husband who had just divorced her online character without warning...

In one case, a Japanese piano teacher was reported to have been arrested for 'murdering' her virtual husband who had just divorced her online character without warning. The woman used the log-in details of her ex-husband to enter his account and delete his character, and is therefore being questioned in relation to illegal access of a computer and manipulation of data. If found guilty, the woman could be liable for a five year jail-term or a fine of NZ$10,000.

There was also a report of two youths being convicted by a Dutch court for theft of virtual items in a computer game. The court considered the virtual amulet and mask to be goods under Dutch law, and therefore punished the pair to a total of 360 hours community service.

Since the growth of the internet, online communities have been described as the "wild west", where members have suffered everything from mugging to murder.

The people who created these virtual victims often feel emotionally affected in light of the significant amount of time and personal input they invest in developing an online character. Given that virtual characters, goods, land and intellectual property can have value in real money, members can also suffer actual loss too. But, should real punishment be enforced for a virtual crime?

Overview of reported cases of virtual crime:

• 1993 - first sexual assault reported…
• 2002 - the first cyber-brothel was reported by a user called Evangeline.
• 2002 - a company called Blacksnow Interactive, confessed to using workers in a "virtual sweatshop" in Mexico to farm money and items from virtual worlds.
• 2005 - a Chinese exchange student is arrested in Japan for using software "bots" to mug characters in an online game, and then selling the valuables for real cash on an auction website.
• 2005 - in a fantasy world the Legend of Mir 3, after loaning a "dragon sabre" to another player who then sold it on eBay for more than $1,000, the owner stabbed the player to death. The owner had been told by police that the act would not be considered theft since the weapon was not real property.
• 2006 - the operator of EVE Investment Bank set up an illegal investment scheme (known as a ponzi scheme, where existing investors are paid returns from the capital provided by new investors) and ran off with more than $200,000
• 2007 - a child pornography investigation was commenced by authorities in Germany when it received pictures of an animated child character engaging in simulated sex with an animated adult figure.
• 2007 - a Dutch teenager was arrested for allegedly stealing virtual furniture in an online hotel called Habbo. The virtual furniture was said to be worth more than $6000 in real money.
• February 2008 - a US court held that a teenager was in breach of a restraining order in sending a MySpace friend request to a woman and her 2 daughters, whom she had been ordered not to contact.
• August 2008 - a woman was charged in the US with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through the virtual reality website "Second Life"