Regulating Virtual Behaviour: The Evolution of Law in Real and Virtual Spaces

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Regulating Virtual Behaviour The Evolution of
Law in Real and Virtual Spaces

• Lynne Hall
• University of Northumbria
• lynne.hall_at_unn.ac.uk

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Introduction

• This virtual life
• Virtual Society
• MUDs
• Legal Structures in MUDs
• Crime and Punishment

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This virtual life

• 6 out of 10 children have access to the net
• Biggest growing user population women over 50
• Increasing ubiquity of computer
• Computer provides an alternative to traditional
  forms of home-based recreation
• letter writing
• telephones
• games
• reading

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Living the virtual life

• Web
• Email
• Chat
• Gaming
• Working
• Shopping
• Communicating
• Interacting

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Virtual does not mean alone

• Raison detre of the net communication
• Growing possibility to find others to communicate
  with.
• Many small societies in many spaces on the net
• interest groups
• café society
• village communities

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Multi-User Dimensions

• Text-based synchronous communication forums
• Multi-user
• Recreational
• Communication not just limited to speech
• Stable, well-used technology
• Geographically bounded spaces
• Immersive...

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MUD Society

• Occurs in context
• MUD provides plot, storyline and landscape
• Involves primarily violent activities
• Tends to be highly stratified
• deities / admin equivalent
• known players (high level, long time)
• mid-ranked players (approved of players)
• low-ranked players (low-level or invisible)
• newbies

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Role Playing MUDs

• Most typical sort of MUD
• Fantasy / Sci-Fi genre most common
• Players become a virtual character in an
  interactive novel
• Gaming activities focus on gaining experience,
  money, possessions

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The populace

• Group identity often strong
• race, guild, clan, city, church
• Strong personal loyalty between players
• Tendency to e-romance
• High potential for conflict
• between formal, identified groups
• between informal player groups

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Legal Systems

• Common / case law
• precedent
• hierarchical judicial structure
• adversarial
• judge as neutral arbitrator
• Code law
• codified
• permanent
• inquisitorial

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Legal Theories

• Legal Formalism
• scientific, positivist
• Legal realism
• law as action, judges as people
• Natural Law
• underlying fundamental moral principles

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Basis of law in MUDs

• Legal Formalism
• scientific, positivist
• Legal realism
• law as action, judges as people
• Natural Law
• underlying fundamental moral principles

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Deviant Behaviours?

• Ownership
• when is the object yours and when does it become
  public property?
• Property
• the right to private space
• Acceptable interactions
• what is acceptable in a RP MUD?

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Law in Virtual Communities

• Similar to real systems
• based on wrongful acts
• sources, enforcement agencies, penalties
• But not like real -gt crimes committed, judged and
  punished in virtual space
• Precedent for separating the real and the
  virtual.
• LambdaMOOs Virtual Rape (Dibble)

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Administration of Law

• Games Admin as law providers
• dictatorial / oligarchical control structures
• codes of conduct
• Players as law providers
• tend to build on code of conduct
• increases democracy and player loyalty
• often highly successful, based on status in the
  MUD community

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Crime

• Harassment
• most serious MUD crime
• focused at the player not the character
• Theft
• often in-role
• Malicious Intent to Harm
• RP Muds rape, violent assault, murder
• Social MUDs destruction of property, verbal
  attacks

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Punishment

• Needs to be appropriate to context
• Varying degrees of severity
• Site / Player banning
• Toading
• Imprisonment
• Removal of status / experience
• Removal / destruction of possessions

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Virtual Law

• Credible
• within the context that it is applied (similar to
  nation / state based law)
• Effective
• has to be enforced to have an impact (similar to
  real world law)
• Relevant
• within any multi user environment deviance occurs
  and must be dealt with

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Virtual Law

• Incredible
• its not real, why should there be any need for
  it?
• Ineffective
• has no effect, very easy to avoid enforcement
• Irrelevant
• it doesnt matter what people do in virtual space
  as this has no effect on the real

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Summary

• Sustained growth in computer supported
  co-operative recreation
• Need for social framework to regulate behaviour
• Crime and deviance do exist
• Virtual and real is there a cross-over?