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Old 10-24-2008, 05:50 PM   #11
Orrin
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Name: Matt
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Re: Dutch police arrest online thief

Cases like this are worrying to industry people for a whole lot of reasons. If virtual goods are deemed to be property then as a game designer you can't go changing that property by nerfing items or taking it away by banning players for fear of legal action.

Scandum your analogy about losing winnings at poker is an unfortunate one that leads to another worrying scenario, namely that virtual goods can be seen as the proceeds of gambling. For example, if the Sword of Doom is a rare drop from the Orc King and I can sell that Sword of Doom on ebay for $10 it may be that we have an online game of chance with a cash reward, and that's illegal in the US.

Most service agreements for games which sell virtual goods make it clear that the real world value of these goods can change. They may also stipulate that you aren't purchasing anything tangible, rather the right to use the service in a particular way (while making it clear that the service can change at any time!). For a lot of years game companies tried to fight against RMTs, possibly because they were concerned about the legal impllications, but in recent years they have tolerated them and in some cases embraced them (SOE being the major example).

It's a complex area and in many cases the law is unclear as it applies to virtual worlds and virtual property, but hopefully we can arrive at a regulatory framework that protects the rights of purchasers of virtual assets while still allowing companies to do business.
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