Theft in the digital: Can you steal virtual property?

Abstract

This article explores issues arising around the theft of virtual property. It first explains a number of perhaps counter intuitive concepts vital to the understanding of the importance of extending ‘real world’ criminal law and criminal liability to conduct inside virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft or Second Life. This article focuses on theft of virtual property and explores how other jurisdictions are developing responses to this issue. It then develops an analysis of the operation of ‘real world’ New Zealand criminal law rules around theft, in the context of the evolution of virtual property.