It has been suggested by a UK politician in parliament that gamers who steal digital items in games should be punished in the same manner as their real-world counterparts.
Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove, East Sussex, has asked Mike Penning (the Minister of State for Justice) to introduce legislation that would see those who stole in-game items that carried a monetary value to be treated as they had stolen physical items.
Weartherley, himself a World of Warcraft player, told the Independent: "The video games industry has raised concerns with me on behalf of gamers who have clearly being targeted by hackers and while I've not personally been a victim of online theft, but certainly sympathise with those who have had something stolen from them.
The MP then added: "Legitimate in-game theft of something with a real-world monetary value should be treated in the same way as people who steal physical items. Small individual thefts might seem trivial, but if targeted and carried out hundreds or thousands of times it does present a serious problem."
The Justice Minister did say that those who are caught committing online crimes "face severe maximum sentences" and that it "is a matter for the courts".
Weatherley responded by acknowledging that those caught are subject to penalties, but he also said: "I have raised the point before in Parliament that crimes committed online should not be treated differently from crimes committed offline, as I believe that it sends out the wrong message."