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

[John Buehler]

Matt Mihaly writes:

>> 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.

> My lord, I actually agree with you!

It's a miracle! :)

> However, while they are an entertainment service, they are also
> definitely real. And the idea of paying $300 for a virtual sword
> (such as you might do for a really nice sword in Achaea) definitely
> does bring up issues of what right you have to continue to use that
> sword.

Sure, but only as it applies to the 'sword' being a source of
entertainment.  It isn't an object.  It's a feature of an
entertainment service.  It also happens that other people can affect
that feature in your entertainment service.  All of that needs to be
clearly indicated when the feature is purchased.  The essential point
here is that when we think about in-game thefts, killings, muggings
and such, they should only be interpreted according to their real
world impact.

Thus, if I pay $10 for a weapon in the game and that weapon is stolen
from my character, that's the end of the story.  I payed to use a
feature of the game and that feature worked the way it was advertised
to work.  In Achaea, of course, that item would be returned to my
character, making paying that $10 more attractive to some.  But in the
end, it's money paid for entertainment.

I'm just averse to discussions of treating in-game crimes as real
world crimes.  Game theft is real world theft, etc.  It doesn't work
that way.  Game theft is not a real world crime at all.  Hacking a
game in order to change the access to entertainment *is* theft (or
vandalism, whatever) because it steals revenues from the game service
provider.  Or deprives players from their access, etc.

JB

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