All right, you griefers ... freeze!

According to a technology story posted on the BBC News Web site, folks who commit virtual crimes in online games may face real penalties:

It might seem strange to talk about real crimes being committed in computer games that revolve around slaughter.

But for people who invest hours of every day in the character they control in multi-player games such as EverQuest, Ultima Online, Star Wars: Galaxies and others these virtual crimes are just as painful to deal with as the real world version.

According to the article, police in South Korea report that "of the 40,000 or so cybercrimes reported in the first six months of 2003, more than half (22,000) had something to do with online gaming."

Click here to read the entire article, then tell us what you think in our forums.