Court awards real world money for seized virtual assets
Filed under: Real life, Culture, News items, Legal
But it doesn't stop there. Zhang plans to take Shanda back to court for a whopping 150,000 Yuan (that's a smidgen over $20,000 US) which he claims to have spent on the game over the last five years. That's a lot of Yuan.
It will be very interesting to see what - if any - global legal ramifications come out of this. The fact that virtual things have been given a real world value by a court - even if it is Chinese court - may or may not be a good thing. We'll find out soon I'm sure since we all know the good ole U.S of A. is one seriously sue happy country. I bet there's more than a few people out there just dreaming up ways to sue Blizzard or NCsoft for something.
_thumbnail.jpg "Aion Beta: Asmodian Ascension Quest")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ghen said on 8:13PM 12-28-2007
As far as clarification goes, does that game state that all items are not your property like every other MMO worth its salt?
Reply
Coherent said on 9:26PM 12-28-2007
Hmm, I'm not sure that the decisions by a Chinese court will have much weight over here in the U.S. However, it could still be argued that he sued them not for the monetary value of the items, but for unfairly depriving him of the time that he spent acquiring them.
As an analogy, consider winning a sporting competition and receiving a medal as a prize. If that medal is unfairly taken from you, you can sue for financial damages even if the dollar value of the medal is worthless. You would be suing for the emotional distress of having the prize taken from you, not the value of the item.
In a way, all online gaming items are prizes for in-game accomplishments. That's what gives them value, the ability to display them to other players and say proudly, "I earned it."
Reply