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"BEIJING (Reuters) - A Shanghai online game player stabbed to death a competitor who sold his cyber-sword, the China Daily has said, creating a dilemma in China where no law exists for the ownership of virtual weapons.

Qiu Chengwei, 41, stabbed competitor Zhu Caoyuan repeatedly in the chest after he was told Zhu had sold his "dragon sabre", used in the popular online game, "Legend of Mir 3", the newspaper said a Shanghai court was told on Tuesday.

"Legend of Mir 3" features heroes and villains, sorcerers and warriors, many of whom wield enormous swords.

Qiu and a friend jointly won their weapon last February, and lent it to Zhu who then sold it for 7,200 yuan (464 pounds), the newspaper said.

Qui went to the police to report the "theft" but was told the weapon was not real property protected by law.

"Zhu promised to hand over the cash but an angry Qui lost patience and attacked Zhu at his home, stabbing him in the left chest with great force and killing him," the court was told.

The newspaper did not specify the charge against Qiu but said he had given himself up to police and already pleaded guilty to "intentional injury".

No verdict has been announced.

More and more online gamers were seeking justice through the courts over stolen weapons and credits, the newspaper said.

"The armour and swords in games should be deemed as private property as players have to spend money and time for them," Wang Zongyu, an associate law professor at Beijing's Renmin University of China, was quoted as saying.

But other experts are calling for caution. "The 'assets' of one player could mean nothing to others as they are by nature just data created by game providers," a lawyer for a Shanghai-based Internet game company was quoted as saying."


Source: Reuters

Wtf .... i never tht games could be so harmful
* John Anderton stops playing pc games

It is an interesting concept, would stealing e-property count as theft?

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Originally posted by saralk
would stealing e-property count as theft?

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It does i think
Pretty sure it does.

Now, it doesn't. And I really don't think such a law would be made.

quote:

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Originally posted by blade
Legend of Mir 3" features heroes and villains, sorcerers and warriors, many of whom wield enormous swords.

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I would never do anything like this... unless you even TOUCH my The Earthshaker PvP reward set (when it gets implanted in the game, that is)(and I get it).


EDIT: Considering laws, many MMORPG companies declare all accounts and in-game stuff their property so selling it for money is considered breaking the law.

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Originally posted by Ezra
Now, it doesn't. And I really don't think such a law would be made.

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Well it's an interesting thought, because if stealing a virtual item isn't considered theft, then stealing from a person's online bank account could also be considered to be in the same category


It's a very odd thing to think about either way.

quote:

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Originally posted by Ezra
Now, it doesn't. And I really don't think such a law would be made.

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It should be there. If its theft of anything that u own rightfully and if the person is caught then he should be punished rite ?
I think that the person is guilty

quote:

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Originally posted by blade

quote:

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Originally posted by Ezra
Now, it doesn't. And I really don't think such a law would be made.

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Well it's an interesting thought, because if stealing a virtual item isn't considered theft, then stealing from a person's online bank account could also be considered to be in the same category


It's a very odd thing to think about either way.

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But online bank accounts are semi-online. Because the money is in the 'real' world, u just use the net to spend it...

quote:

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Originally posted by Ezra

But online bank accounts are semi-online. Because the money is in the 'real' world, u just use the net to spend it...

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Well then consider PayPal. If I was to hack your PayPal account and take all your money then that wouldn't be theft, would it? It's not in your REAL bank account, just like the item is not in your REAL house