Dutch court imposes real-world punishment for virtual theft

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The price of crime varies with the severity of the crime committed. Probably the most common form of crime performed – whether it be of physical or virtual items – is theft. Because of copyright laws, illegally obtaining music, video, or other virtual content is punishable by law. Most people would agree at least to the idea that obtaining the media without actually purchasing it is stealing because it is something that somebody actually made, and it belongs to them. However, what happens if what you steal is entirely virtual? That is, something that never existed in the first place? Artists and actors work in the real world to create things that are available in the virtual world, so the things they make are actual items. If something is created online though, and nobody worked to create it and nobody paid any money for it, is it still real? Apparently the Dutch court system thinks it is.

In 2001, an online game was released. It was meant for a large number of users to access and the point of the game was to role-play. Players were placed into a virtual world where they could learn skills and crafts and they could earn money by selling things they made. However, the point of an online game is just that – it’s a game. The people in the game aren’t real, the items bought and sold aren’t real, and the world they are living in isn’t real. In order to make our lives even more confusing, the a Dutch court decided to declare the opposite of that: the items in the game are real property.

A fifteen year old boy in the Netherlands walked into a fourteen-year-old peer’s room and physically assaulted him and threatened him if he didn’t give him the “property.” While the assault is an established illegal act, the court case did not deal with that – it dealt only with the property stolen. The two teens were sentenced to community service because the items can “belong” to you and therefore can also be stolen.