agreed

I agree with the judgement. The defence's argument is that because the items are not real they can not be sold. The same could be said for the billions of dollars of financial products bought and sold on the stock exchanges around the world. It's a silly argument.

If the item has value, and particularly if those that stole the item ( whether tangible or not) can sell that item on and make a profit, then that virtual item exhibits the key properties of a real physical item and should be regarded as being the same.

Same could be said for intellectual property, and that clearly can be stolen, so defence's argument was clearly rubbish.

Um theft

Why is that not extortion, assault, assault with a deadly weapon

Totally clueless

As if to prove kids are dumb... Lord help them for they are dumber than a rock.

Can't happen now...

Jagex have nailed down interplayer equipment exchanges.

Caution

Because this particular item "the amulet" is transfered from on player to another and that the original owner cannot use it anymore after it is transfered, this is theft. But when something is only COPIED, it is not theft. (and hopefully never will).

This distinction must be made clear so dangerous criminal organisations (such as the RIAA/MPAA) are using the "copy is theft' excuse to STEAL money from innocent peoples across the planet.

a digital item can be stealed if the original owner cannot enjoy it anymore.. but if the digital object is only copied, it is no theft.

So when I get ganked?

Can I go to the police and demand to be compensated for the damages done to my 'goods' the armor I need to repair, lost time etc.?

re: There's an even simpler test...

Information,

I might knock the snot out of Jimmy to tell me who wrote "dickhead" on my locker. That gives me information which I value, but that would not constitute theft.

It is surely only theft when the thief gains value and others lose value. In the case of the virtual items, the victim lost the life-enhancing pleasures that he would have gained from ownership of the virtual goods.

RE: In game attacks don't count

Also, Scott, I take it you haven't played many MMOs, as you genraly can't "steal" items from other people in game. You can trade them but not steal them, unless they are BoP.

In the real world

Sounds like they got exactly what they deserved. Time spent away from their computers amongst real people. Admittedly, when I was younger, I had quite a few of those moments when you look up from a game and notice that is now light again outside [later on that tended to happen with programming ], but that's no excuse for giving some one a thumping offline instead of on.

The irony...

I had a mobile phone nicked and the twit that did it racked up £50 on phone sex lines before dropping it in the laundry basket where his mum found it and returned it to me. Do you think I could claim anything back? No. Apparently if it was a landline phone or stealing electricity, yes, but not mobile airtime.

ehh wait...

So I don't understand, why did they prosecute the theft and not the assault + knife threat?

Talk about a messed up world, where nicking something (virtual or not) is worse then beating someone up and threatening their lives (unless they're brown - then they're terrorists).

So what a lot of you are saying is

That its OK for someone to threaten you with a knife, so long as they only steal virtual things? I'm not following you here.

Under British Law, at least...

Theft is the act of deliberately taking something from someone with the intention of permanently depriving them of it.

And, theft with use of violence is robbery.

Law

1. the article does not say that the culprits were not also prosecuted for assault and battery (in English law, "assault" is, basically, a threat with the ability to carry it out, the act is "battery", no idea what Dutch law says). I think that carrying a weapon can make it Aggravated Assault. I imagine that they were done for the Dutch equivalent AND for the theft or

2. as in English law, prosecuted for robbery, which is theft accompanied by violence or the threat of violence, in which case I suppose that one would have to prove the theft part as well as the violence.

Theft, by the way, at least from what I remember from some years ago, is basically, the appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it, with exceptions covering such things as a reasonable belief that one has got a right to it, finding it and being unable to trace the owner etc.. So, in English law, it comes down to the defintion of property in this case (leaving aside the assault).

The poster talking about "extortion" needs to get out a bit and realise that not the whole world is under USA law, yet.

Even if they upheld the "can't steal something virtual" bit...

...holding a knife to someone and demand they do something is still illegal.

@ Mectron "copying isn't theft"

"...a digital item can be stealed if the original owner cannot enjoy it anymore.. but if the digital object is only copied, it is no theft."

I imagine you'd probably think differently if someone made a complete copy of all your personal information, HDD contents etc for their own enjoyment, and possibly profit? How about your ISP copying all your online actions and selling that - after all, it's to help you have a better online experience!

In neither case have you lost anything, but I'd still consider both cases to be theft. By railing against the RIAA etc, be careful you're not giving more ammo to the Phorms of this world....

arrr

> Also, Scott, I take it you haven't played many MMOs, as you genraly can't "steal" items from other people in game. You can trade them but not steal them, unless they are BoP.

... *sighs* Bring back Ultima Online in the pre-Trammel days when "thief" and "murderer" were career choices </nostalgia>

did

they get a virtual slap on the wrists?

@ P. J. Isserlis

@ P. J. Isserlis

Your definition is almost spot on - except the property taken must be COPOREAL moveable property. This is why cases regarding the theft of virtual goods in the UK (to my knowledge one hasn't been reported yet) will be very interesting.

Courts in England and in Scotland have previously held that stealing customer data on a floppy disk (case is starting to date!) did not satisfy the corporeal element of the crime of theft, thus the only crime committed was the theft of the physical floppy, not of the data on the disk. Of course you could sue for damages, but the theft of the data is only theft in the moral sense, not the legal one.

Something is wrong...

No, I don't mean about stating "theft of virtual goods". My concern is that they didn't charge them with "assault with deadly weapon" as well, being mugged is a much more serious threat than the theft itself!

Mike Crawshaw

"I imagine you'd probably think differently if someone made a complete copy of all your personal information, HDD contents etc for their own enjoyment, and possibly profit? How about your ISP copying all your online actions and selling that - after all, it's to help you have a better online experience!"

I would feal up set BUT it is not steeling it is a diffrent offence I do not nkow what but it is nt stealing