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1344 EMORY LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 57 theft of virtual furniture, while five others were questioned by police. 307 The theft took place within the UK-based virtual world Habbo Hotel. 308 “[S]ix teens allegedly tricked a number of other users into handing over their usernames and passwords, and then” proceeded to move those users’ virtual furniture into their own rooms. 309 The seventeen-year-old arrested is accused of stealing some €€ 4,000 worth of virtual property. 310 If China, Taiwan, Korea, and the Netherlands are able to successfully apply their criminal theft statutes to virtual property, then the United States, as shown in this Comment, should also be able to classify the theft of virtual goods as legally cognizable theft. Moreover, given the international scope of MMORPGs, the United States should seek to protect virtual property rapidly so that United States virtual-property theft victims and offenders are afforded as much protection (or punishment) as other international players. CONCLUSION If, in fact, the United States government is entertaining the idea of taxing the sale of virtual goods (and, thus, acknowledging their real-world value), it is only logical that the government should afford owners of these goods property rights to protect such investments against theft. This Comment has argued that virtual goods, under current state penal statutes, should be classified as “property.” Moreover, virtual goods must be afforded the property rights of chattels, as opposed to the rights of intellectual property, for their owners to be protected effectively from theft. Finally, this Comment has shown that current theft statutes could be applied to virtual good thefts, eliminating the need to draft additional legislation. In sum, “[g]overnments should make clear to [online] participants that, except where the special characteristics of the online medium require otherwise, existing law . . . is fully applicable to . . . conduct that is conducted via online communications.” 311 307 Jacqui Chen, Online Property Theft Once Again Leads to Real-World Legal Action, ARS TECHNICA.COM, Nov. 14, 2007, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071114-online-property-theft-onceagain-leads-to-real-world-legal-action.html. 308 Id. “Habbo Hotel, a UK-based web site that mixes social networking with a virtual world . . . [allows] users [to] purchase furniture and other belongings with their (real-life) cash to decorate their virtual hotel rooms.” Id. 309 Id. 310 Id. 311 Rothchild, supra note 277, at 969.
2008] REGULATING THEFT OF VIRTUAL GOODS 1345 Although it may initially prove difficult for the government to prosecute thefts of virtual goods—considering there is no reporting or investigatory system in place for virtual good thefts 312 —this does not mean that successful prosecution is impossible. China, Taiwan, Korea, and the Netherlands have all successfully prosecuted the theft of virtual goods through their traditional criminal laws. And, as this Comment has shown, the United States could also use current criminal theft statutes to prosecute the theft of virtual goods. Local or federal legislative bodies may need to establish new regulatory agencies to investigate these crimes (or at least to form a coalition with MMORPG developers), but current statutes do permit the theft of virtual goods to be classified as legally cognizable theft. Moreover, criminal law is the right institution to address the problem of virtual theft. Criminal law helps set societal standards: people obey criminal laws not only because of the consequences, but because criminal law is perceived as legitimate and deserving of compliance. 313 Thus, through criminal law, both state and federal governments have the opportunity to communicate to the masses that the theft of virtual goods is contrary to American values and to deter behavior before it happens. The Internet has redefined society’s ability to communicate and interact. Criminals can now commit crimes that past legislators never envisioned were possible. Current rules, however, do not have to change. Instead, current and future legislators should reinterpret the boundaries of old rules to accommodate changes in society evoked by the Internet. After all, crime, irrespective of the setting, is still crime. ANDREA VANINA ARIAS ∗ 312 The design of this regulatory system is beyond the scope of this Comment. 313 John C. Coffee, Jr., Does “Unlawful” Mean “Criminal”?: Reflections on the Disappearing Tort/Crime Distinction in American Law, 71 B.U. L. REV. 193, 193–94 (1991). ∗ J.D., Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia (2008); M.A., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2004); B.A., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2004). My sincerest thanks to my advisor, Professor Kay Levine, whose countless revisions helped this Comment surpass even my greatest expectations. I also would like to thank Professors Sara K. Stadler and Polly Price, Emory Law students Jessica L. Rosenthal, Caroline Branch, Eric Swibel, Craig Linton, John Mittelbach, and Liz Gould for their helpful comments. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their unwavering support.
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