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Japanese Man Arrested For Virtual Theft

Posted by michael on from the watch-out-pk'ers dept.

Kethinov writes "The Daily Yomiuri is reporting that a 21-year-old man was arrested for "illegally accessing an Internet game server to sell a virtual 'house' owned by a woman to another game participant for 50,000 yen, police said Thursday. According to the MPD, Ryusei Sakano of Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, posed as a female game player he met online while playing 'Ultima Online,' a popular Internet-based game. Sakano reportedly asked the game's system administrator to provide the female player's entry password on the pretext that she had lost her password to the game.""

2 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Thinking about it.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There must be some huge houses in UO. Back when I played the game, a good three years back, I saw some large houses that were full packed to the walls with stuff. All hoarded by the owners. Usually gangs of Player Killers but sometimes genuine people too. UO was such a crazy game back in the day. All the bugs that let people get into your house etc.. quite humourous. Of course, the duping period was fun too.

    Anyone remember Skunk Works?

    The point is .. UO must have some pretty major players who own *alot* of stuff if the world hasn't been wiped since I played. If people have stuck around since then, they must own lots.

    I can see the appeal of selling a good character, its like allowing someone to win the UO lottery.. for a price, they get to enjoy all the rewards they may not have been able to get.

  2. Re:The world's oldest (male) profession... by jamesangel · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Well, according to the FAQ, in the new Star Wars Galaxies game players who do not obey the laws (murdering, looting etc) can be declared outlaws. They can then be hunted down by virtual cops (bounty hunters, also other players) and get that virtual punishment (being killed).

    Such rough justice could only happen in a virtual environment, of course. Or Texas.