Sentenced for a virtual crime

A crime scene in the virtual world, Second Life.

Two Dutch youths were sentenced for stealing virtual goods last week, while a Japanese piano player was jailed for killing her virtual ex-husband.

The 14 and 15-year-old boys forced, in reality, a 13-year-old to open his "RuneScape" account and hand over a virtual amulet and mask to the elder boy's account. Although the pair beat and allegedly threatened the victim, the boys were only charged with the theft of the imaginary items, and not for any physical abuse. In a rare case, the Leeuwarden District judge ruled early last week that "goods don't have to be material for the law to consider them stolen", and sentenced the pair to 160 and 200 hours community service respectively.

Meanwhile, a 43-year-old Japanese woman was jailed last Wednesday on suspicion of hacking into her virtual ex-husband's identity and deleting him, as he had recently divorced her virtual self on "Maple Story". If convicted, she could face a five-year prison sentence, despite having no plans to harm the real-life man behind the virtual character. The cases have highlighted a shift in the application of law in non-real scenarios and caused bloggers to question the emotional value of virtual goods and identities.

"Depending on the amount of time, dedication, labour and money invested in an avatar [this] could be a considered a loss of a limb"

Patrick Beisser is a Dutch Second Life member who has had a virtual self there for almost two years.

"Virtual world-related crimes differ from other forms of virtual crimes, like hacking someone's bank or email account, in such a way that visually and audibly led characters - avatars - are violated, rather than character-less, abstract accounts. Avatars are as much led by our minds as their real-life counterparts, our real-life bodies. In virtual worlds, the integrity of an avatar appears to be valued almost as much as the integrity of real-life bodies. I stress 'almost', since virtual bodies don't feel physical pain that could traumatise us in such a way that it would influence subsequent behaviour. Yet, mental pain may play as much a role in virtual worlds as they do in the real world.

I have a character in Second Life, which is almost two years old. In a way, it is a reflection of my real-life character. For almost two years it has evolved from, what virtual world inhabitants would call a 'noob', into a colourful detailed being. On the outside, my avatar sports several distinct features, such as illuminating, colour-changing goggles, an ever-fuming Cuban cigar and rather noisy leather boots adorned with barbed wire and rusty nails. On the inside, it has the potential to express its emotions with many home-brew gestures and animations, as well as to wield a variety of physical objects that have been forged and collected over time at considerable cost. Many a psychologist might be inspired to analyse the mind responsible for such a display. Yet, many avatars in Second Life feature such peculiar attachments by which their 'puppeteers' choose to represent themselves.

One interesting consequence of leading a unique and complex character though a virtual world is psychological vulnerability. I would be somewhat upset if someone would be able to enforce the removal of the virtual cigar from my virtual mouth. In a way I would feel naked, and I would go through some length to find a substitute. As silly as it may sound, such is the impact of having the integrity of my avatar violated -an avatar that had been shaped over many months. It may be the result of the human brain linking to virtual extensions to real-life personality.

The 'virtual robbery' may have traumatised the victim more than just in a (virtual) material sense. Apart from having to lead a physically weaker avatar through this virtual world - the direct result of this robbery, the victim may also have lost some of its confidence and trust, key requirements for enjoying social interactions in virtual worlds - key elements channelled by our avatar forms. Depending on the amount of time, dedication, labour and money invested in an avatar, the recently reported 'virtual murder' in Japan, could be a considered a loss of a limb, a psychological amputation. A futile notion to those who are not acquainted with virtual worlds. No laughing matter for virtual worlders with even the tiniest shred of empathy."