Scamming - What's your take on it?

[Crissa]

From a legal stand point, a virtual item in a game that does not allow selling of items for real life cash does have zero value; tort requires harm done, generally in a financial sense. Losing something of 'zero value' (even if it has value to the owner/victim) will not hold up in a court of law, unfortunately.

This is blatantly untrue.

Just because something cannot be sold does not mean it has no value - that is libertarian dogma which is hogwash and unsupported by case law. That effort is taken to create something - that effort has value. That something exists and can be appreciated - that has value.

We assign value to lives (which we can't sell) even if they're infants with severe disabilities. We assign value to our pets, and more than replacement value.

Don't buy into libertarian nonsense that values everything only at its ability to be bought or sold.

You go to a small bed and breakfast and they offer you terrible service, don't change your sheets and bring you dirty towels the next day. Are the owners going to jail? I don't think so.

Violating health and safety law is usually punishable by fines, but sometimes jail time. Violating contract - which they are, by not providing the service they promised - defaults to a felony. They might be violating even more laws, so it would depend upon the local laws on that sort of transaction.

And lastly, no, people do get arrested for taking off with materials and monies and not doing the work. http://www.veronews.com/32963_featur...7651fc690.html

It's generally local news, and a civil issue rather than criminal, because it's not always as cut and dried as it can be in a game system where someone just waltzed off with a deal and there's actual logs of the event. Also, people would rather get their stuff than throw someone in jail.