Digital Property Law [was RE: [MUD-Dev] Selling training]

[John Buehler]

Jon Lambert writes:

> Joe Andrieu wrote:

>> To be more specific, if, in real-life someone attacks you and takes
>> your stuff, that's a violent crime, stiffly punished.  If it
>> happens in a game, it's "just part of the game." No big deal.

> And in the vein of the PD thread.  What if they didn't really take
> your stuff but killed you, or caused you to die losing all your
> stuff?

> Is this just vandalism or property damage or ....  Will we see
> wrongful death suits in cyberspace.  >:->

Just to toss in the 'opposing camp' viewpoint (without going point for
point through another large post), how about the view that these games
are really just games and that in the end nobody but a tiny percentage
of the population will take them seriously enough to consider the
virtual 'lives' and virtual 'property' as anything approaching real.

Take a step back.  Game publishers provide a service where players get
to entertain themselves.  End of story.  If they dislike the
entertainment that they are obtaining from the service, they can vote
with their feet and their wallet.  If a game company charges more
money for additional services (such as having the ability to use
certain virtual items), it's also up to the game company to make it
clear what that service implies.  To claim that the player can never
have that service deprived of them by another player in the typical
game world would be worthy of a lawsuit.  The entertainment service
that was advertised was not delivered.  If the game company makes it
clear that the entertainment that the player is paying for may very
well be transient because of the nature of the entertainment, then the
player has no recourse.  He decided to pay money for a clearly-defined
service.

The idea that we will take our real world justice system and apply it
to the machinations of virtual characters is, to me, ludicrous.  We're
going *way* overboard and we're taking our games far too seriously.
Let's remember that these things are an entertainment service, and
that's how society must perceive them.

Blast away,

JB

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