Dutch Teen Brutally Beaten For Online Game Possessions

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Teen brutally beaten by rivals for mask and amulet he owned in medieval fantasy game



Dutch Supreme Court upheld the theft conviction



Court said the virtual objects had a value to the 13-year-old gamer because of 'the time and energy he invested' in winning them



By Jill Reilly Updated: 11:45 BST, 2 February 2012



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A Dutch teenager was beaten up and threatened with a knife after a row about virtual possessions in the popular online fantasy game RuneScape.



The 13-year-old boy was attacked because he 'picked up' an amulet and mask while playing, which two other teenagers wanted as well.



They kicked him and brandished a knife, while forcing him to log onto RuneScape and relinquish the objects.



Intimidation: The teenager was beaten up and threatened with a knife over a row about virtual objects in a popular online fantasy game called RuneScape



This allowed one of the pair, who were also playing the game to effectively steal the items.



RUNESCAPE.COM FACTS



RuneScape, which was founded in 2001, has approximately 10 million active players who are said to be regular users.



It is set in the medieval world of Gielinor which consists mainly of grassy rolling hills and large areas of woodland.



The game holds a Guinness World Records for world’s most popular free role playing game.



In 2009 a man hacked into computer accounts and stole virtual characters and their possessions from RuneScape and was given a police caution.



A few months before one RuneScape account was sold on eBay for £46,000.



Although the assault happened in 2007, and the two attackers were convicted in 2009, one of them appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court.



But yesterday the Netherlands' highest court upheld the theft conviction.



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The suspect's lawyer had argued the amulet and mask 'were neither tangible nor material and, unlike for example electricity, had no economic value.'



But the Court said the virtual objects had an intrinsic value to the 13-year-old gamer because of 'the time and energy he invested' in winning them while playing the game.



Their names have been withheld because they were juveniles and the defendant that appealed has now been sentenced to 144 hours of community service.



This is not the first time that virtual life has spilled over to real life scenarios.



The Dutch Supreme Court said the virtual objects had an intrinsic value to the 13-year-old gamer because of 'the time and energy he invested' in winning them while playing the game and upheld the theft conviction



In 2009 a man who hacked into computer accounts and stole virtual characters and their possessions from RuneScape was given a police caution.



The Dutch Supreme Court sentenced the defendant to 100 hours community service



In September last year, a middle-aged man in Devon charged round to the house of a schoolboy and throttled him after his online character was killed during a game of Call Of Duty. Apisa



Mark Bradford, 46, was furious when he was gunned down in the war simulation by the 13-year-old, and 'lost it' when the youngster goaded him over his online death.



Unemployed father of three Bradford stormed from his bedsit in Plymouth, Devon, and confronted the youngster at the boy's friend's house by placing his hands round the schoolboy's neck.



The pair had been playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops against each other online and talking using microphones.



The attack ended when the teenager's horrified mother pulled Bradford off the boy, who was left scratched and with reddening to the neck.



In 2005, a 20-year-old from Alabama who shot three police officers, argued unsuccessfully his actions were due to the hours he spent playing video game 'Grand Theft Auto' in which players shoot police officers and steal cars.



After his arrest Devin Moore told police: 'Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime. Apisa