Arrested for a virtual murder?

[HardScienceFan]

Amsterdam - A Dutch court has convicted two youths of theft for stealing virtual items in a computer game and sentenced them to community service.
Only a handful of such cases have been heard in the world, and they have reached varying conclusions about the legal status of "virtual goods".
The Leeuwarden District Court says the culprits, 15 and 14 years old, coerced a 13-year-old boy into transferring a "virtual amulet and a virtual mask" from the online adventure game RuneScape to their game accounts.
"These virtual goods are goods (under Dutch law), so this is theft," the court said on Tuesday in a summary of its ruling.
Identities of the minors were not released.
The 15-year-old was sentenced to 200 hours service, and the 14-year-old to 160 hours.

[dustinzgirl]

Originally Posted by HardScienceFan

Amsterdam - A Dutch court has convicted two youths of theft for stealing virtual items in a computer game and sentenced them to community service.
Only a handful of such cases have been heard in the world, and they have reached varying conclusions about the legal status of "virtual goods".
The Leeuwarden District Court says the culprits, 15 and 14 years old, coerced a 13-year-old boy into transferring a "virtual amulet and a virtual mask" from the online adventure game RuneScape to their game accounts.
"These virtual goods are goods (under Dutch law), so this is theft," the court said on Tuesday in a summary of its ruling.
Identities of the minors were not released.
The 15-year-old was sentenced to 200 hours service, and the 14-year-old to 160 hours.

Yeah, kids take Runescape way to seriously also. Way too seriously.

[Ursa major]

I think the verb to be noticed in that is "coerced". (I'm guessing that the length of the community service may be a pointer to the degree of coercion used.)

[Parson]

The victim, the perpetrator, and the police involved in this "crime" all need to take a chill pill and get a REAL LIFE!


edit: this is in reference to the origin of this thread. My opinion of the Dutch situation is quite different based on the "coerced."