Woman jailed after 'killing' virtual husband

jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data

CavemanLawyer: Right you are. Lessons learned:

a. Don't give out your password and User ID

b. Change Passwords of you think they have been compromised.

Computer tampering and data manipulation may be illegal but once it happens the damage is done.

The virtual killer is sitting in a jail cell in Hokkaido and her home is in Miyazaki.

Odd as heck isn't it?

And the number of people who still don't understand what she was arrested for is not odd, but rather pathetic. --Cirroc

I hope there is a follow-up on this, I wanna here what happens next ! The virtual killer is sitting in a jail cell in Hokkaido and her home is in Miyazaki.

I think this story is virtually retarded and hope it's virtually over.

This is pathetic. I don't know who is more pathetic though...the idiot for going to the police about it, or the police for actually arresting her for virtual death!

Good point, Bushlover. Your romantic tendencies notwithstanding, we agree on this virtual issue. ;)

What the heck is an "online husband" anyway? Insane.

It s maybe the most stupid story that i saw. a guy wich go to the police because his virtual character was killed. who care ? they guy is so stupid. maybe he must be charged to wasting taxes. did she hurted him No maybe they never met in real life. persecutor is moron too. charged and convict someone because this person killed someone in a game. it's no sense even they will charge her for ID stealing or don't know what. Maybe in her futur she will have some big problems just because a stupid guy found his avatar dead. maybe it s will be better for this guy if he die in real life. because if a game is the most important for him i waste his own life. i don't understand all this story. but if your avatar die. you can doing a new one right ? you don't go to the police to complained about that.

It's because people in Japan are losing face-to-face communication skill..

I feel sorry for these loosers trying to live their lives out in "virtual cyberspace worlds."

Easy big fella.

I feel sorry for these loosers trying to live their lives out in "virtual cyberspace worlds." All of this virtual nonsense just makes me sick to my stomach!

I wonder if she'll hafto register as a virtual offender? I.T. people not allowed at her home without supervision.

bah, probably did him a favor. Too many people out there live in the virtual world and lose touch with the real world. I have to assume this would also be the maximum sentence one could get if they hacked into a securities bank and erased all records and transactions resulting in the bankruptcy of the company and they made no profit from doing so.

Jailed for killng a virtual husband or ex???? This sounds too odd!!!!

And they complain about frivilous cases in the United States. Jailed this woman for what? OMG < :-)

Mmm, I still dont see how his character "died" in Maple Story... You just press a button and "whamo!" it's back again...

idiotic.

I've been killed in WoW a zillion times but if my character is deleted i'd complain to the company no to the police pluh-ease! Only in Japan

What is the world coming too when a fake relationship between two people who never met turns to this and the police have the nerve to waste taxpayer money to entertain this...WOW

waste of court's time. Just let er go.

Too bad they don't allow virtual axe murders in game, that might have solved the problem.

I think they are misusing the law here. If somebody deleted serious data or accessed bank accounts that's one thing. This numb nuts gave her his password. That is essentially permission to use the account. Her actions were malicious but that's about it.

The game should be able to restore the character anyway. I assume they do backups? A virtual defibrillator....

So they put her in a virtual jail, right? Otherwise, this just insane.

5 years for data deletion? Yikes.

JT: Woman jailed after 'killing' virtual husband BBC: Virtual murder of 'husband' leads to real-life jail for Japan woman

"She has not yet been formally charged. If convicted"...

Hey who cares if article titles are completely untrue as long as it attracts readers, right.

I hope she bought all kinds of goods on his virtual credit card beforehand.

She should have used the access to hook him up in a gay virtual marriage.

I wonder if this woman would also be able to make the world sinking faster. Internet should be convicted and sentenced to death. There will never be peace on earth until this vulgaric games and crap are out from Internet. Today anything you want just touch the button on keyboard, and all will be coming your way.

When the guy went to the cops to file the complaint, they should have told him to "unplug the computer and go get a real life". --techall

This reply had me in stitches, and it is so true!!! Great answer!!!

It sounds really scary.It seems that sooner or later all of us would become schizophrenic.

Did anybody notice that there is not a name in the whole story. Not the yogisha, not the victim, not the police spoksman.

If she killed him for real she would only get 3 years ;)

Only in Japan is this possible!

In a virtual world, I might give a crap.

This sure is a twisted country. I have heard about giant organized orgies in Japan and drama fights break out. Not virtual, but real. Actaully have seen the videos. It was an unreal virtual sight.

Sk4ek:

He gave her the password and didn't change it. Why would you give someone the password if you didn't expect them to use it?

She wasn't charged with killing the character, only with stealing the identity and password required to do it. Identity theft is a crime just about anywhere, I think. So is breaking into another person's computer.

When the guy went to the cops to file the complaint, they should have told him to "unplug the computer and go get a real life". This happened in May - this is October! has the guy been in a coma for 6 months? Also, he GAVE her the ID and Password......did he ever think of changing them after the "divorce"?

Spidey: I have had personal experience with identity theft and I couldn't agree with you more, it's not fun. Sorry but I don't know the code of conduct for gamers but isn't that the point? Beat the other guy???

Only in Japan, this situation can happen !!!!!

If you can't beat them join them. Pass the crack pipe

Hey! Indentity theft is identity theft no matter what universe you're in. Playing the "virtual" card won't get you any leniency whatsoever.

S

P.S. I kinda hafta agree with Blue Tiger...J-cops at their finest.

S

In Tokyo, a 16-year-old boy was charged with stealing the ID and password from a fellow player of an online game in order to swindle virtual currency worth 36 million yen.

Again, this sems like charging somebody for stealing your monopoly money. de minimis non curat lex.

So let's see if I gwet this striaght: A woman, just a few weeks ago, is brutally murdered by a stalker, after she had called the police to report the stalker, also telling her friends and family that she was scared, and the police do nothing until after her body is floating in the Sumida River, but another woman "kills" her "virtual 'husband'" in a vdeo game, and she's JAILED and brought up on charges for it?!?!?!?!? If this situation wasn't horrifyingly true, it would be the best of comedies....

Yeah, why the hell did they take her to Sapporo? This whole thing is so strange

The woman was arrested Wednesday and taken from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives

Why?? The "crime" took place in cyberspace. Why did they have to take her all the way to Sapporo? If they don't press charges do they fly her back to Miyazaki or just turn her loose and let here find her own way home?

Talking about trying to bring back the avatar from the "dead," what sort of compensation would the "husband" be looking for? Endowment like John Holmes?

I wonder how much money the guy spent on the game? By going to the police, he seems to want some type of reimbursement.

No laughter at the back! This is all a part of the LDP "Get Tough of Crime" campaign. I hear that crayoning in somebody else's coloring book has now been made a capital offence.

She should ask her virtual lawyer to request a virtual writ of habeous virtual corpus because we can't be sure the avatar is actually dead, it could have run away and changed it's icon.

Will it be a virtual "5 year in jail" sentence, and a virtual "500,000 yen fine"? I find this all a little hard to believe. The gravity of the outcome does not mirror what is being called a crime.

On this day there was no one stealing bicycles, peeping up womens dresses or stealing underware so the poletzi had to find something to do. Wonder what the interegation was like. Did they torture her? I love Japan.

This is how police use their time.

Yes Ptolemy the whole force is dedicated to solving this case brought straight to them.

Ptolemy says computer - virtual, real life - reality. If you can't tell the difference, find a tree and run into it.

And here's the problem. There is little accountability to much of what is said or happens online. But sometimes there are real-life consequences, like bullying, assault, homocide, suicide....watch out for that tree.

How would habeous corpus work in this case???

"the charge would be the same?" - curse these mittens I'm wearing.

So if the crime was illegally accessing a computer, then the virtual murder is actually irrelevant, e.g if she had instead made the avatar naked or walk around with a "kick me" sign, the charge would be the Somehow I doubt that.

This is how police use their time. The fact this is even in courts shows the childish mentality of some people in this place. Inappropriate computer access my backside. Ptolemy says computer - virtual, real life - reality. If you can't tell the difference, find a tree and run into it.

GOOD MOVE by the NPA-HURRAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This shows they are taking DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND STALKING seriously! "But it was just a game!" She was violentand distructive and should be put under a 24 hour watch by mental and paranormal experts. Put away your tissue and unclench your fists-relax! This is what happens when the police enforce stalking laws to protect potential victims. Sometimes it seems silly and sometimes it saves a life!!

I wonder how it was done online? Would it be considered a case of forced suicide cause by spirits from the real world? --Cirroc

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married...

DOH! She will probably get off because the dude in question gave her the login info of his own free will and with total informed consent and then foolishly failed to change the password after the virtual divorce. Unless he clearly told her not to access his account anymore, I am afraid he does not have even one legal leg to stand on. Plus, he is as much a dufus as she is a vindictive "you know what".

And the woman should not be in jail. She should be out on bail. The arrest was appropriate, but not keeping her in jail.

What the woman did was obviously morally wrong, but I am sure the company that runs the game can resurrect the character. --Cirroc

This country is out of this world!!

this is so funny... cracked me up by just reading the first paragraph...

Can't the company that runs the game twiddle the 1s and 0s to resurrect the late avatar (maybe with new improved superpowers as recompense)? Then fine the dippy woman however much it cost in man-hours (game company and police time) to put things back the way they were. Then put her in Maple Story jail for attempted avatar-slaughter.

She didn't "break into his account". Read the story. He supplied the login when they were 'virtually married'. His own damned fault. Idiot man!! Idiot police!! Smart woman for letting him know how it feels to be virtually alone. Good for her. Bad for idiots in japan.

This is just stupid. Boo hoo, a game character was killed... So what!

Whaaa....?!

So she breaks into PC account and does some damage. Yes, I can appreciate that is a crime. However, what was damaged? And avatar? Is this the local cops answer to Internet crime, arresting somebody because they killed a game character? I would love to see the shift sheet at the police station in question. On it there are probably a variety of crimes. Bicycle thefts (bang up the usual suspects), unsolved murders (in the real world), and the death of Taro the Avatar. Which of these crimes should be addressed first?

Maybe it's just the way the stroy was written but "The man complained to police when he discovered that his online avatar was dead", really is the height of lameness.

Officer, she killed my avatar, arrest her. 弱虫

If he went to the police before approaching the online companies, the guy's as much as a dweeb as she is.

I don't think it matters where he goes. His dweebitivity can not decrease. And the police know that. But two things they are interested in are a) illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data and 2) trying to stamp out reckless behaviour on the net which can lead to real-life problems, and has increasingly over the last year, through bullying for example.

Up to 5 years in prison and a fine for "illegally accessing someone's account" just to delete their character? That's a bit over the top isn't it?

she hasnt been sentenced yet and will probably get suspended anyway, dont get your knickers in a twist

I can't believe she got 5 years for this! Yet, there are rapists and murderers who get less time in jail. This is ludicrous!

The man complained to police when he discovered that his online avatar was dead.

Doesn't this count as one of the Police's 'time wasting calls' that we see so often?

Did he not go to the company that runs the server for the game and talk to them first? If he went to the police before approaching the online companies, the guy's as much as a dweeb as she is.

The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.

So, she's currently jailed, but this piece of info is unbeknownst to the police? OK. Maybe they're just not saying.

up to five years in prison or a fine up to 500,000 yen

If she'd illegally accessed a computer and manipulated electronic data to, say, move funds from someone else's bank account to her own, or to tamper with the stock market, then fine; but five years for spoiling someone's game? It's only four years or so for killing your own baby, isn't it?

Sentence; put her avatar in Maple Story jail.

This story make my day, ha,ha! veru funny, omoshiroi

Please tell me this is a joke

It's probably part of the crack down on death threats and what not that you can see happening on 2channel and the like.

Please tell me this is a joke. If not, well done Japanese law enforcement on working to put this hardened criminal behind bars.

this is a joke right?

It's probably part of the crack down on death threats and what not that you can see happening on 2channel and the like.

Bring more accountability to the internet.

Sweet Jesus! I just killed my former user ID! Cirroc, help me!

I've read some strange stories stemming from a game called second life. People divorcing their parents for fake online ones and such. The world just keeps pushing that fine line, one day the people in the mental hospital will be the sane ones.

Uh oh. I just offed 10 people while playing Grand Theft Auto. I am sooo going to prison now...

this is a joke right?

If you did not read franz75's post, do so now. Some of you are as gullible as jr. high school students.

I guess it was not possible to kill her character's husband through her own character. Perhaps that option should be added?

Anyway, seems like Matrix version 1.0. Expect it to get more sophisticated. --Cirroc

She has not yet been formally charged.

No end to types of insanity. Ban computers. This crap is flabbergastin'!

Glad I ain't no avatar. Would hate to waken some morning and find I'd been murdered 4 or 5 times.

not jailed because she "killed" her husband but because she accessed someone else account without the owner's consent.

The maximum is 5 years or a 500'000yen fine.

Honestly, isn't it a waste of time, money and gazoline...

The entire thing is a big waste of taxpayers money

Let's assume the man never complained in the first place. He's later found murdered and the investigation somehow reveals what went down online. Cue public outrage. Again.

The entire thing is a big waste of taxpayers money. In place of lose time with silly things, why they dont jail yakuzas and corrupt politicians?

Whats wrong or unusual with this?

Nothing really. If only you'd included the first part of that sentence.

When bad deeds lead to criminal charges, prosecutors have found a real-world activity to cite...

"...the woman was charged with inappropriate computer access." Whats wrong or unusual with this?

So her Maple Story character might go to jail for 5 years?

After having played EverQuest for a very long time, I can completely believe this story.

Heh??? For God sake, what's going on??? Will there be a death penalty? Someone must put her virtual character into jail!!!!

Pffft, the virtual world and real world are 2 seperate things

Take that back or I'll kill you. This year alone there have been several cases where online activity has been ignored and then there has been some bloody mayhem. And law enforcement got dragged over the coals for it. So they're not going through that again and letting people know what they now consider unacceptable.

She should counter charge the guy with spouse support.Wanta play, gotta pay.

So who made the bust? Virtual police?

LOL woooooow. Wouldnt like everyone in the world be put in Jail then? Who the hell doesn't kill someone on the internet lmao. This is so stupid.

lmao, this is the wierdest thing I've ever heard. Personally though I think this doesn't warrant taking so seriously. Pffft, the virtual world and real world are 2 seperate things. This is down right stupid.

Nobody really lost their life.

was she jailed virtually? Couldn't they just fine her in virtual money? Was the judge a virtual one?

Weirdos! Psychos! Maniacs! Delusional! Lunatics! Somebody continue for me.

and in other news, it was found that the "average maturity level" in Japan sank to a new low.....

Is this a joke?

It's probably part of the crack down on death threats and what not that you can see happening on 2channel and the like.

The woman was arrested Wednesday and taken from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, the official said.

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to just keep her in the virtual prison that was her home?

Is this a joke?