News MP calls for MMO crimes to have real-life punishments

Eve would suddenly get a lot less - or more - interesting.

 

I'm no lawyer, but how is theft of other digital "work" dealt with. i.e if someone hacked into a company and stole the only copy of some digital work, or caused other forms of damage.

Point I'm probably badly trying to make is, isn't theft and hacking already punishable by the legal system ?

 

That's firstly computer misuse act before it's anything else, and they would probably start with that. Most things are computer misuse act, accessing things you shouldn't etc. I don't know where digital theft falls, I assume you can get done for it. I am no lawyer either just speculating.

 

Ownership is such a hard one these days, I think most of my digital things are merely licensed, most of my games, music etc. It's all subscription service. The law I feel maybe is a bit old fashioned in it's approach to safe-guarding consumers in this arena. I don't think the laws should be specific to mmo's, they should just make laws that better protect consumers with licensed material.

 

"Here, there can only be lies" --Pat Cadigan, on virtual reality

 

Weatherly's older constituents are wondering why the hell their MP is wasting time with such pointless gaming nonsense, 'Won't be voting for him again!' and the younger gamers in his constituency are unsurprisingly, too busy gaming to notice what he's said and generally have little interest in politics and don't vote, so overall, he's not helped himself a lot

 

This explains why the country is the way it is...Dave and his mates are running raids instead of running the UK!

for the horde!

 

No, I don't agree with that, I think that's too much of a sweeping generalisation. Older people are just young people who have been around a long time - they're not a different species!

While many of them won't understand the intricacies of online gaming, (some will of course) they'll understand perfectly words like 'targeted', 'victim' and 'theft'. I don't understand the finer points of brain surgery, but I don't dismiss it as pointless.

Going back to what other people (and the article) have said, there clearly is a real-world time and financial impact of this kind of thing, so it definitely needs addressing. I think Margo Baggins hit the nail on the head, in that the law needs updating for consumer protection of online services in general.

 

Hahahahhaa good one

 

Literally cried with laughter reading this, brilliant!!

 

"corruption"

corrupting

 

I, for one, would prefer to see far more MPs taking action that isn't self-serving. This is a good thing

 

^This^
MP's are meant to do what is right for us, not themselves.
IMHO it's why so many people dislike, distrust politicians, because they are perceived as being self-serving.

 

It would be even less self serving if he didn't happen to be a wow player
...

This article seems (or, by way of the title, tries) to give the impression that in game "crimes" and "theft" will end up in court.

In fact he is talking about people hacking accounts and taking digital properties that have value, which you would have though would be crime under existing law anyway, albeit one that is very difficult to enforce.

 

Honestly, I do hope they atleast give some of the companies a bollocking (I'm looking at you Valve) about how they handle theft of accounts, theft of items, trade scamming, account bans, etc.

Valve's policy is simple: Go Fork yourself.
(except for account theft, then its jump through all of these 1001 hoops, before we try and help you. Then, IF you get your account back and your items are all gone, tough ****.)

Get banned for any reason, there is no way in hell you will ever see your account again. I've seen people being banned for downloading a mod of the goddam Steam Workshop get banned... and the mod is still up there!

 

Todays news: MP gets scammed in WoW, vows revenge.

 

Hang em', the thieving little scrotes, I went back to a chest in Skyrim where I had put The Warhammer of Everlasting Winegums only to find it ad' been bleedin' alf inched. I'm bettin' it was her from number three Riften St. her eyes are way too close together and she's always hangin' around The Dodgy Geezer Inn pleedin' bleedin' poverty

 

I agree, but the majority of his constituents will probably think he should be doing far more important things for his local area, with so many issues such as the bedroom tax, rises in council tax, combined with councils having less money to spend there are day centres, drop in centres and many facilities being closed and council services being stopped, what happens in the cyber-world of gaming is of absolutely no interest to people having serious life problems in the real world.