http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/10/23/avatar.murder.japan.ap/index.html TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- 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. Online environments such as "Second Life" -- where users control avatars -- have emerged in recent years. 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. The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said. 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. iReport.com: Anger in a virtual world The woman was arrested Wednesday and was taken across the country, traveling 620 miles from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, the official said. The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world. In recent years, virtual lives have had consequences in the real world. In August, a woman was charged in Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through "Second Life," another virtual interactive world. iReport.com: Share your stories from Second Life In Tokyo, police arrested a 16-year-old boy on charges of swindling virtual currency worth $360,000 in an interactive role playing game by manipulating another player's portfolio using a stolen ID and password. Virtual games are popular in Japan, and "Second Life" has drawn a fair number of Japanese participants. They rank third by nationality among users, after Americans and Brazilians
wow.... I googled the maplestory thing and man, that looks so lame. Japanese people are so weird. ....I know it's politically incorrect, but that culture is WAY out there.
Probably due to the rampant xenophobia in their nation. They've culturally segregated themselves from the rest of the world, so they've developed in a vacuum. Man, I hope I just got "move to D&D" points for that.
True. Especially considering their their history was one of isolation, forced upon them by their past gov.
Onion? Can't be real. Thats not real. 5 years for killing a virtual persona? Thats not real. None of this is real. Not real.
I remember I read this a month ago and was annoyed at how misleading media could be for the sake of hits or to popularize a story. It's obvious the title was purposely ambiguous. If it said "deleted husband's character," no one would care (Maple Story is a cartoony kid's game and you can't "kill" a character forever). It doesn't even say the woman is going to jail for five years or pay $5000 for the deletion; in fact, that's probably the sentences you get for hacking and doing some minor offense. Of course CNN doesn't bother to clarify and specifically chooses sensationalized and ambiguous phrases. Another reason why I almost never watch them now and stick to NPR, and other international news stations when I want real news.
