In the world of online gaming, virtual items are just as, if not even more, important as your real-life possessions. People who struggle to get food on their table sometimes struggle even more to get that stupid little panda helper in World of Warcraft (or maybe it’s a dragon? a unicorn?). So when hackers strike, it’s rough times. It’s even rougher when your virtual items are taken from you in real life.
Well fret needlessly no longer, genius of the internet! The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that forcing a 13-year-old boy to relinquish a virtual mask and amulet in RuneScape, an online game amounted to real-world theft.
The Netherlands’ highest court confirmed Tuesday that a boy who threatened the 13-year-old with a knife to make him drop the objects in the online fantasy game RuneScape was guilty of theft and ordered him to perform 144 hours of community service.
Somehow, I feel like theft should be the least of it, considering that whole “being threatened with a knife” part. But hey, now you nerds have a legal precedent! Also, since the parties involved went to a court, a hygienic precedent wouldn’t be bad either.