17-Year-Old Jailed for Stealing Virtual "Furniture"
If you've never heard of Habbo Hotel, consider yourself non-European. 'Habbo' is a simplistic, 2-D Second Life that is incredibly popular over across the pond. The teen-focused social-networking site has about 7.5 million unique visitors worldwide, but hasn't quite caught on in the Americas to the same extent.
In 'Habbo,' users create their own customized Habbo avatars that wander around a cartoonish virtual world. Members can buy virtual items and use them to decorate and personalize their Habbo pads and Habbo personas. Some users, though, have turned to stealing, such as the 17-year-old Dutch Habbo user who was recently arrested for the theft of $5,800 worth of furniture and other miscellany.
The teen didn't digitally sneak into other users' pads dressed in black pixels and walk off with their stuff. Instead, he stole usernames and passwords, logged into accounts, then moved the furniture to his real account. Those passwords were often stolen through phishing and imposter Web sites, which were used to trick those unsuspecting Habboites into logging in.
As virtual communities such as Habbo become more popular, and thus more valuable, the virtual property created and bought on these commmunities also becomes more valuable -- and more frequently stolen. In August, for example, we wrote about a lawsuit against people accused of duplicating copyrighted genitalia in Second Life. This case, though, is just another reminder to watch where you enter your password, and, of course, to make sure that password is secure in the first place.
If you're confused by what we mean when we say "virtual furniture," check out the gallery to see the cool digs you can pick up in Habbo Hotel.
Gallery: Habbo Hotel Furniture
From Read/WriteWeb
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
BT said 8:36PM on 3-11-2008
Forget JAIL...people should be put in mental institutions for even buying "virtual furniture" in the firts place. Get a fucking life!!
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tomsvp said 8:40PM on 3-11-2008
The crime was stealing the passwords "Those passwords were often stolen through phishing and imposter Web sites, which were used to trick those unsuspecting Habboites into logging in." Duh!
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tomsvp said 8:42PM on 3-11-2008
The crime was stealing the passwords "Those passwords were often
stolen through phishing and imposter Web sites, which were used to
trick those unsuspecting Habboites into logging in." Duh!
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Barb said 12:42AM on 3-12-2008
Anyone who pays real money to purchase virtual furniture deserves to have it stolen.....How Freakin Stupid
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Mia said 2:35AM on 3-12-2008
OMG. I mean wow. I play the sims 2, I build and decorate a house, I woo-hoo with male sims and get married... kinda like a "second life" sort of scenario. However, my time playing a game is MINIMAL to the fullest extent of the word. I would not waste my money on furniture, coins, clothes or anything else in a virtual world. It was wrong for the kid to steal passwords and such, but what is really wrong is how many people actually play and will pay for furniture and whatnot. What the heck happened to using your imagination? Seems like T.V. and video games are sucking the REAL life out of our youth. Sad, so sad.
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Matt said 1:15PM on 11-15-2007
It is amazing to me that people with no 'first life', go online an live a "second life'.
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Bill said 4:13PM on 11-15-2007
What's wrong with you people? I can't believe so many think that it's a crime to steal furniture in a stupid game. It's VIRTUAL. It's a frickin video game. WOW we live in a world full of morons.
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Bill said 4:15PM on 11-15-2007
lol Matt! I agree, but that second life can be a whole lot of fun! but getting arrested for stealing virtual furniture? It's like getting arrested for activating infinity lives in some game.
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Jan said 5:26PM on 11-15-2007
Its not the furniture ( unless they have to buy the moneyto buy the furniture)as much as stealing the passwords
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Joe said 5:40PM on 11-15-2007
He stole virtual furniture that was paid for with real cash. He stole money from those people and deserves to end up in a real jail.
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Ron said 5:56PM on 11-15-2007
His crime was not stealing furniture since virtual funiture is nothing more than pixels, His crime is actually theft of money or property. If you think of it as he took items that others have purchased, then he committed a crime. Stealing someone else's password of identity is also a crime. It isn't the furniture, it is the money other paid for it and the security of their online identity.
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babyvalery said 10:07AM on 8-29-2009
Yes it is exactly an Unlawfull Entry an act of enforceable entry and burglary as in the moment you pay for a furniture it becomes your property, thats an international commercial law, virtual furnitures or not, it is a commercial law,
Anyway I am the mother of a child / habbo member / his 3 rooms with all his furnitures has been stolen 3 days ago, with much furnitures he all obtained legally, and with honesty,
until now I have not received any efficient respons from Habbo.Spain,
On the other side, we are talking about a child and his furnitures,
certainly I will not leave the situation in this way, as my child is a victim
of the lack of the Habbo system to prevent the entery of hackers,
he never did reveale his password, neither he completed his datas in duplicated habbo pages, .etc..
as so said in this forum , the most honest is once verified that the furnitures has been stolen, Habbo Hotel has to take the responsability to restore the rooms and furnitures, whatever guidance I can receive I will appreciate,
Until now Sulake Finland is attending this case, and have show interest, we will see what happen, Thanks,
Dara said 6:02PM on 11-15-2007
Yeah, I used to go on Habbo a while ago. All of the virtual furniture is paid for with credit cards. This guy stole the furniture by hacking into other people's accounts...and got busted.
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Lauren said 8:06PM on 11-15-2007
It may be virtual, but you have to pay REAL money to have Habbo Coins to buy the furniture on Habbo Hotel.
So yeah, it IS a crime.
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LJ said 6:14PM on 11-15-2007
Bill, Habbo is virtual game yes but you must pay for the coins in which you buy the furniture. People use real money for the game. So it is literally stealing people's money.
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russ said 6:27PM on 11-15-2007
A couple of years ago a record producer was sued over 30 seconds of silence titled "Homage to John Cale" on a C.D. because there was a Cale album with a titled segment of silence. The producer was found NOT GUILTY because, as he pointed out, HIS silence was digital, while the Cale silence was analog. Justice prevails.
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Carol said 6:28PM on 11-15-2007
My kid plays on Habbo a lot. She has fun there with her friends. There are people who have stolen her furniture and her Habbo coins that were used to buy the furniture. I used my debit card to buy the Habbo coins for her. She is very sad that people are thieves and steal from people online especially in a place where most of them are kids just trying to have fun. There are also kids who gang up on each other to steal and other mean things. I hope she learns the lesson that just because it is a virtual world that it does mimmick real life. I think the hacker should go to jail. Virtual or not stealing is a crime.
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kdm98 said 6:31PM on 11-15-2007
The people who sell people virtual furniture should go to jail. Man...I thought we all read that Emporer has no clothes book when we were kids. After thinking about it, we probably should put the people who buy virtual furniture in jail and the ones who sell in the Capitalist's Hall of Fame. Can you imagine spending your evenings organizing a home that isn't real? I mean, get a toy train and build a city or something. At least you can sit and watch it go around and around.
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Keke said 6:34PM on 11-15-2007
if thats the case then there should be A LOT of people in jail. i go on habbo and lots of people ask for passwords to give them credz when they are actually taking furni. also they ask for one furni so they can "duplicate" it meanwhile its impossible.also habbo has warned its users to not enter their password ANYWHERE ELSE unless they directly go to habbo.com so part of it is the fault of the users
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Kat said 6:39PM on 11-15-2007
Matt says:
It is amazing to me that people with no 'first life', go online an live a "second life'.
11/15/07 1:15 PM
AMEN! This has got to be one of the most pathetic stories I've ever read.
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