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Is Virtual Rape a Crime?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the because-/quit-is-so-hard-to-type dept.

cyberianpan writes "Wired is carrying commentary on the story that Brussels police have begun an investigation into a citizen's allegations of rape in Second Life. For reasons of civil liberty & clarity we'd like to confine criminal law to physical offenses rather than thought crimes but already threats, menace & conspiracy count as crimes. Could we see a situation where our laws extend?"

3 of 690 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Lame by Goaway · · Score: 4, Interesting

    rape
    n.

          1. The crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse.
          2. The act of seizing and carrying off by force; abduction.
          3. Abusive or improper treatment; violation: a rape of justice.

  2. Re:Think about that. by Seumas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Virtual rape is a crime as much as stealing a car in GTA is a felony and as much as killing an MMORPG character in PVE is a murder.

    Seriously, are we all suddenly a bunch of pussies? If someone starts calling us names online, we can't have the sense to block them on our messenger of email or forums or wherever else they're bothering us? Are we that fucking mushy and pudgy and brainless and spineless that all we can do is sit there and take the supposed "abuse" until some heroic legislator shows up on a white horse to save us from this life-changing and horrifying crime?

    Here, let's try another experiment:

    Someone writes "I am inserting my penis into your unwilling vagina" to you via instant messenger and you click "block this person" and never hear from them again.

    Or . . .

    Someone lures you into a private room at a party and then forcibly rapes and violates you. You try to cover yourself enough to escape the party afterward, go home and sit in a shower and bleed while inspecting the bruises that were left on your body and then when you go back to your group of friends, you feel compelled to pretend that nothing ever happened and even be civil to that person around them, because you somehow feel guilty for what they did to you and you spend the rest of your life being affected by the physical attack and it impacts your every thought and action - especially with the opposite sex - for the next forty years.

    Yes, I can see how the two are alike.

  3. Re:Agreed by MickDownUnder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    *COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*

    OK now that someone has explained how rape could be punished in second life.

    Can someone please explain to me how the hell one character can rape another in second life?

    What did they do?
    Walk off for a coffee came back to find three guys going to town on their their second life character?

    Having never played the game, my limited knowledge of the game's dynamics tells me "rape" as I know it is a little hard to accomplish in second life.