Op-Ed: When the Game Goes Too Far

by the Teflon Don

A recent incident in which three Louisiana high-school students were arrested for something called "cyber-bullying" should put the fear in some MMOG residents, as it now appears that what some groups do in-world can be considered a felony.

"Cyber-stalking," for example, is considered a "relative felony." According to the article, "A judge can decide if it is a misdemeanor of the more serious felony crime. It's punishable with a $2,000 fine or one year imprisonment."

Many virtual-reality Mafia groups and other corrupt organizations engage in activities which could be considered felony cyber-stalking or cyber-bullying, just in the everyday business of enforcing their codes of conduct. The three teenagers who were arrested had only put up a Web site which only talked smack about a fellow student and made threats against him.

Granted there was no game involved in the arrests, but if this article indicates a growing trend, then a lot of those who play MMOGs and have Web sites for their groups may be in jeopardy of being arrested. In his extensive experience, the Teflon Don has seen numorous Web sites made by player groups in which individuals are threatened and talked about negatively. Mainly in the Mafia sector, these Web sites could be considered cyber-bullying, depending on how the intended victim takes the message.

Some players and groups do take things too seriously at times and the line can get grey between what is reality and what is virtual reality. When that happens, players put themselves at risk of getting busted. So, it's bully beware. To quote from the article, "Kris Wartelle with the Attorney General's Office said, 'It sort of was like bullying on the Internet that got even worse, and we're lucky it didn't escalate to something even worse.'"

Comments

[JC Soprano]

Fughedaboudit! hahaha That's hilarious..

JC Soprano
www.thesimmafia.com
He insulted me!! Arrest him!!!

[SHAFT]

JC Soprano
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As always we are looking for soldiers to join our family. We average 5-10 soldiers per Capo and we do not list soldiers names on this website for security reasons. Soldiers do not have the Soprano last name. It is a perk of holding rank within the family. Anyone in game who has the Soprano name in Alphaville and is not on this list is a fake.


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Youre the ultimate paper tiger JC Fughedaboud YOU !

[JC Soprano]

hahaha Wow, because I have been too busy at work to update the site.. lol Honestly, stop wasting your breath and time... lol I'm still getting shit done so like I said before.. FUGHEDABOUDIT! But thanks for the free advertising of my website.. Much appreciated.

JC Soprano
www.thesimmafia.com
That all you got? Come on, you can do better.

[Dante Dracos]

I seriously doubt anyone would be arrested for harassing an avatar. In the aforementioned case, the threats were directed to real people and intended real-life harm. Harassing an avatar is not a real person committing a crime against aanother real person.

[The Teflon Don]

Yes but there is a real person behind the avatar and a lot of the time the attacks turn personal.

The Don

[Zmajrxi]

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