Star Wars Galaxies: Virtual Property = Real Property In The Eyes Of The Law

Wow it would seem that virtual items can be claimed as real property, with all the protections via law that that allows. At least in China. Check out this article on Yahoo News. Here is a snippet:

The company argued that the value of the virtual property only existed in the game and was "just piles of data to our operating companies."

In the end, Beijing's Chaoyang District People's Court ruled on Thursday that the firm should restore the player's lost items, finding the company liable because of loopholes in the server programs that made it easy for hackers to break in.

Now this sets a very intersting precident, discuss the ramifications of this in our forums.