How far will this go?

October 24, 2008
Jilted Japanese woman questioned by police after 'murdering' her virtual husband
Richard Lloyd Parry, Tokyo
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {
color:#06c;
}
It was a classic crime of passion: a bored husband walking out on his marriage, his spurned wife so enraged by the desertion that she was driven to kill him. The murder, in May this year, was swift and cold-blooded but justice is inexorable.
The murderess, a piano teacher from the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, sits in police custody awaiting charges that could send her to jail for years.
But one thing sets this apart from the standard crime passionel because it happened in a virtual world to online characters with no life outside the boundaries of an interactive game. But the legal consequences for the virtual “killer” are being played out in the real world.
Police in the Japanese city of Sapporo were today questioning the unnamed 43-year old woman for logging on to the account of a fellow participant in the game and “killing” his “avatar” — or online character — after he had “divorced” hers.
Related Links

She is being investigated on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating data, a crime punishable with up to five years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000 (£3,100).
“I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning,” the police quoted her as saying. “That made me so angry.” The woman has not yet been formally indicted, although in Japan few suspects who are arrested escape criminal charges.
The investigation has been expensive. Although their avatars met and married online, the woman had to be driven to the victim’s home city of Sapporo from her real-life home in Miyazaki prefecture 620 miles to the south.
The ill-starred couple met in the interactive game MapleStory, which originated in South Korea, and now has more than 50 million players across the world. It has generated 12 international versions including ones in Chinese, Portuguese and Vietnamese, as well as a Japanese cartoon.
Players download free online software and create an avatar who moves through a fantasy world, defeating monsters and interacting with other characters. “Players travel to unique places, such as the warrior village of Perion, the bowman town of Henesys, Kerning City, home of thieves, and the magician’s village of Ellinia,” the introduction to MapleStory Europe explains.
Characters can work together in groups and socialise in “guilds”. Players can pay online to acquire accessories for their avatar, including pets and even shops. And, as the victim discovered to his cost, they can marry.
“Your character is unique and can be decorated according to your very own taste and style,” the game explains. “You can change their face, hairstyle and even have plastic surgery! You’ll scream with delight!”
During their honeymoon period, the man made the mistake of sharing his login information with his “wife”, making it a simple thing for her to access his account and eliminate his character. Such was the pain of losing his painstakingly crafted avatar to a virtual bunny boiler that the unnamed victim, a 33-year old office worker, reported her to the police.