Japanese woman arrested for avatar-icide

hiccups · Future Queen in Zion

Japanese woman arrested for avatar-icide

arbilad · Head Chef

I saw this story. I don't think that it is video games per se that is the problem. The problem is that some people have obsessive personalities, and will obsess on anything available: religion, cars, football, collectible dolls, etc. Of course, computer games add a fair degree of anonymity and a much wider scope. You don't often read about a beanie baby collector from Omaha ripping apart a doll in a rival's collection in Santa Fe. But that sort of thing is possible in a computer game.

hiccups · Future Queen in Zion

I get that, it's just strange that she can get up to 5 years in jail for killing off a game character.

arbilad · Head Chef

Well, what they're actually going to put her in jail for is accessing a computer system without permission. Hacking (or cracking, to use the correct term) is a crime, and that's what they're going after her for.

hiccups · Future Queen in Zion

Yeah, that might be hard to prove since the guy willingly gave her his password and all before he "dumped" her in the game and she decided to seek revenge. That might be hard to prove as hacking. At least from my perspective based on how the US court systems work. No clue about how Japan does things.

Not that I'm saying her behavior was acceptable... just maybe that the possible punishment seems exessive and I'm not sure her behavior fits the crime she's been charged with. I'd be more impressed with a warning, having her character on the game deleted and maybe a small fine. Which might be closer to how things turn out. Who knows.