Should Gamers Be Prosecuted For Virtual Stealing Analysis

Why Gamers Shouldn’t Be Prosecuted for Virtual Stealing
In an essay by Alex Weiss called “Should Gamers Be Prosecuted for Virtual Stealing?” he writes about a Dutch Supreme Court case where a teenage boy was convicted for virtual stealing in the online video game RuneScape. Weiss argues that playing video games are just an escape from reality and is not work which has a monetary value. The author then gives an example from his teenage years where he played a game called EVE Online where players actually spend their own money to purchase in-game currency in order to build a world. Many times building a world can sometimes take up to months to build. He explains that gamers take risks when playing video games which can include having things
Alex’s stated main purpose was that “Video games are not work or investments for which people should be compensated; they are escapism.” (Weiss,731) The theme that came across to me was that he was against the court ruling. There were only a few parts of his essay that back this up claim he made his thesis. However, there is an abundance of information to support Alex’s opinion on the court
He then states that “this ruling makes no sense to me” (Weiss,731) which I believe could be his thesis and his stated thesis could serve as evidence to support it. Weiss gives the example of the online game he played when he was a teen called EVE where people put real money toward buying money for in-game use. This gives the game more meaning to those players if they are putting their own money into the game. This seems to contradict his purpose by saying that gaming isn’t an investment if people are putting money into this game. Either way this gives a larger impact of the risk that comes with gaming. This I feel would also let his original thesis provide extra support if the thesis was why the ruling made no sense to him. After this, Weiss added more of his own personal experiences from when he played EVE which included “messing with people, making fake investments, engaging in corporation thievery, and even having an extended e-relationship with someone who thought I was a girl.” (Weiss,733). While this information gives insight of the author’s knowledge of the world of online game; it almost seems as if Weiss was trying to just compare himself to the convicted teen. It comes across if he is just trying to add to the justification that since he didn’t get in trouble for his actions in EVE that he doesn’t see the point of the teen being punished for his theft