The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Wandering around through the deepest vales of some random valley, I came upon a huge house tucked away beside the lake. Moving inside, I found that the owner had left all sorts of stuff laying around, including his sword. Picking it up, I turned it over, carefully looking it over before replacing it and leaving the house just as I found it. Is this true? Certainly. But what is also true is that this event happened entirely inside of my computer. I was in Second Life, an online world where I really donÕt spend much time. In Second Life, you are free to wander around through everything that exists, even the homes that people have bought and paid for with real money. But hereÕs the question: is the stuff that people leave lying around in their virtual houses real stuff? Is it property? Can it be legally bought and sold? Can it be stolen? These questions, which seemed silly a few years ago, are now getting some serious attention in law schools and courts around the world. Just last week, a group of teenagers in the Netherlands were convicted of theft for bullying another child into giving them some property in the game Runescape. These two teens bullied a third into going into the video game and using his character to deliver items to their characters. Was this theft? The courts in the Netherlands agreed that it was. They agreed that this property could be bought and sold, that it had worth and that it could be stolen. These two kids were both convicted of theft and sentenced to several hundred hours of community service. Beginning with Everquest and now with Second Life and World of Warcraft, you can buy anything you want for these games online. Everything from swords to clothing to houses to magical potions can be bought online with online a bit of searching. There are thousands of people who make at least a portion on their living creating goods to be used in these games. There are also researchers and economists who study these games and rate their stability and currency. Millions of real dollars change hands every week in these online games, but very few courts around the world have wanted to tackle the question of whether these virtual things are property. Are you willing to sue someone who stole your wizardÕs hat or your upgraded level 16 orc slayer sword? Sounds silly, but the fact is that all of this stuff has value and can be bought and sold, so why shouldnÕt it be as real as the stuff that sits in your house? The fact is that as more businesses move online, more stuff is going to exist only online. Think of the hundreds or dollars that people spend on music for their iPods, on software or for ebooks that need to be read on your computer. Would it be theft if someone stole a bunch of real books from your house? Of course. So why wouldnÕt it be theft if a bunch of books that only exist as computer files are stolen? Billions of dollars each year change hands supporting the information and computer economy. Virtual property is one area that is still the wild west, and lawyers and the courts need to soon get their heads wrapped around all that virtual property means. ([email protected]) Tech Notes runs Mondays.
