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To whom the bits belong?
Clever_Glove
Member Posts: 996
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-12/19/content_1240226.htm
Here's the 1st virtual property loss case I've heard of. I think this topic very interesting. Granted this happened in China, but it won't be long until we start hearing more cases like this else where.
The question at the heart of this, does your character belong to you, or to game company?
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BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- An on-line video game player who lost "weapons" and "treasure" in the virtual world turned to the courts for help and won China's first virtual properties dispute case.
The Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court ruled Thursday that the on-line game company, Beijing Arctic Ice Technology Development Co. Ltd., should restore the player's lost items.
Li Hongchen, a 24-year-old company employee in north China's Hebei Province, had spent two years and over 10,000 yuan (1,205 USdollars) playing the game and purchasing virtual "bio-chemical weapons", which enabled him notch up victories in the game.
However, he found all his "weapons" had been stolen in February, and were allegedly being used by another player, with the ID, "Shuiliu0011".
Li then began a legal battle to reclaim his "properties" in the real world.
He first asked the company to identify the player who had stolen the items and close his ID, but was refused on the grounds that they could not provide players' personal details, which were regarded as private.
He then resorted to the police, but came away with no satisfaction.
The on-line game, Hongyue or Red Moon, is widely played. Gamersfirst register and then buy cards from the operating company to pay for their playing time.
Li demanded 10,000 yuan in compensation. "I exchanged the equipment with my labor, time, wisdom and money, and of course they are my belongings," Li Hongchen said.
"The value of the virtual properties only exists in the games and they are just piles of data to our operating companies," said vice-general manager of Beijing Arctic Ice Technology Development Co. Ltd. who provided his family name as Qiu.
The court found the server programs had loopholes, making it easy for hackers to break in, so the company should take responsibility for the property lost.
The China on-line game industry has been booming in recent years, raking in about one billion yuan each year. Disputes over virtual properties have also been soaring in recent years, but relevant laws are still unavailable. Enditem
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"elimination of any downtime and you don't have a chance to really talk. The result is no one gives a crap who you are. It's so incredibly anti-community building." - Brad McQuid (sigil games, maker of EQ)
A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50%
Games and players have a type. What type are you? click here learn what it means here.
Comments
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Killer 86%, Socializer 53%, Explorer 33%, Achiever 26%
Red Moon (Another Korean MMORPG, a lineage clone),
Read the original posting. I've already read this article somewhere.
I don't think the game matters as much as who does your charater belong to? Does it belong to you, or does it belong to the game company?
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"If you respawn then isn't PD, it's something else."
A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50%
Games and players have a type. What type are you? click here learn what it means here.
-=-=-=-=-
Achievers realise that killers as a concept are necessary in order to make achievement meaningful and worthwhile (there being no way to "lose" the game if any fool can "win" just by plodding slowly unchallenged). -bartle
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% The Test. Learn what it means here.
I believe that it can all be manipulated, but at that point if you're serious enough. You can win these battles, big companies depend on the little people. We'll see a few turn arounds soon enough
The charecter should belong to the player. He's paying to keep their company above water, why would you fight someone who so generously gives is beyond me...
- MMORPG.COM STAFF -
KillerTwinkie - That one guy who used to mod mmorpg.com's forums.
Let me play devils advocate here:
Your character exist in company X's memory. It's nothing more than int's and strings keep in a database that belongs to the company X. How can this data that was created by company X's software and exist in company X's database belong to anyone but company X?
Your paying for the opportunity to access to the game. Not to have access to certain data within the game.
What ownership do you have on something that you never actually own? You pay for access to cable TV yet all data belongs to the stations.
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"If you respawn then isn't permanent death, it's something else."
A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50%
Games and players have a type. What type are you? click here learn what it means here.
-=-=-=-=-
Achievers realise that killers as a concept are necessary in order to make achievement meaningful and worthwhile (there being no way to "lose" the game if any fool can "win" just by plodding slowly unchallenged). -bartle
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% The Test. Learn what it means here.
You are absolutely right. This should really sum up any arguement over ownership of a mmorpg character and associated items.
- Malkavian
"When you find yourself falling into madness... Dive." - Malkavian Proverb
"When you find yourself sinking into Madness, dive"
I don't believe this case would hold up in a US court. When you purchase a product you expect to use it, and if you cannot use what you purchased then you have be defrauded. Where this falls down in cases like this, however, is that the user had access to the product he bought...he didn't buy the character items from the company, he bought access to his character and access to said items.
It's interesting to see that the case went to court. I have no idea how the Chinese legal system works...but I wonder if this is an important precedant. If the same results happened in a US civil court that would be a huge precedent.