Friday, October 24, 2008

The present's made of Virtual Insanity

You may have already read this:
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TOKYO: A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband's digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking, police said Thursday.

The woman, who is jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.

Players in "Maple Story" raise and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting against monsters and other obstacles.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four questions pop into my head after reading that:
1. What the fuck?
2. I'm sorry, so did someone actually die?
3. Why didn't you stop at the bank this morning? You're leaving for out of town after work today and you have no money on you. This would have saved a lot of time.
4. Is that game rated "M"?

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1 comments:

  1. Jerms Says:

    lol this reminds me of when Jim made an Avatar in Second Life in The Office when Dwight was playing it at work...

    does this at all make you wonder how busy police must be in Japan if they respond to these types of complaints?

    "excuse me, is this the Osaka police? I want to report a kid napping"
    "What's that, someone took your kid??? Jesus Christ lady what can we do?"
    "Oh, no, i mean, no one took him... I mean he is napping in his room right now..."
    "WE'LL BE RIGHT OVER!!!"