Except in the virtual spaces I can “block” you so your (general “you”…not you in particular) idiocy literally never reaches me. The best you can do is run around me.
In many cases then there is the ability to choose a different server (petition to be moved). Not always possible but you can evade that way.
You could also, possibly, create a new avatar. For a thing like this I am not sure there is any real loss except letting friends know your new name.
And, as mentioned many times, let the GMs know. In real life police will be slow to stop someone from being a jerk to you because you say they are being a jerk. Online the GMs have records of what was said, can witness behavior and, generally, are not tolerant. They will kick/ban the guy.
None of the above can be done in real life but can be online.
Also, not sure an online venue is truly “public”. You pay someone else for the privilege. Their place, their rules. You agree to those rules when you sign-up. If you do not like it then it is up to you to leave. You do not have a “right” to be there.
Part of the problem with this is that if it became legal, an MMO wouldn’t be able to have a right to exist. All sorts of anti-social behavior that video games provide an outlet for could fall under the laws of the outside jurisdiction and it would basically destroy the multiplayer online game industry.
To reiterate - this didn’t take place in an MMO. Playstation Home is more like a 3d chat room with aggressive advertising. Wiki calls it a “community based social gaming networking service”, which is a better description than I gave. It’s a social networking site. Here’s the website (but Home itself is only accessible via the Playstation 3). http://www.us.playstation.com/PSN/Home
Item 2:
You must at all times act lawfully and with respect towards other users. We are not responsible for the behaviour of other users but please let us know if you become aware of any unlawful or inappropriate behaviour in PlayStation®Home.
So that’s Sony’s position on the matter. I’m sure if you asked them, they would stress agressively that sexual harassment and virtual rape are not welcome in Home and are not a core part of the experience (even though reality would differ from that party line.)
I don’t think one could sue Sony on the grounds that harassment took place in their online venue. Well, I suppose anyone can sue anybody. But Sony (or Blizzard, or Turbine) employees wouldn’t be arrested, anymore than random disney employees get arrested if a guest harasses another death. I don’t think it would be the end of all MMO’s to make online harassment subject to other harassment laws. I do think the virtual and remote nature of it should be reflected with no more than misdemeanor charges.
The real problem of course would be on behalf of the prosecutors trying to prove harassment in a game with no ‘witnesses’ and nothing be recorded. I can see that trying anything but the most egregious cases would be hopeless.
Without a doubt it would be the death knell for MMOs. A clever lawyer would argue that there is no difference between Sony’s environment and an environment like Eve Online.
Considering that in online environments EVERYTHING is recorded, I don’t see why you think this is a problem.
Wait, not following you here. I’m saying that if harassing people in video games were illegal, one could arrest the harasser, but not the person who owned the online venue.
If I was planning a murder and met my hitman in Lord of the Rings Online so we could discuss the details, we could be arrested but Turbine employees wouldn’t be, even if in-game chat logs were part of the evidence. And again, MMO’s would continue even if people used them to contact their dealer say (I’m sure this has happened.)
The chat log might be recorded, but there’s no video recording for every single person in the game. So if you get a sequence like this:
[CuteGrrl]: What a pretty waterfall!
[4ssb4nd1t0]: <crouch>
[4ssb4nd1t0] :<crouch>
[CuteGrrl]: OMG You’re such a perv!!
[4ssb4nd1t0] :<crouch>
[CuteGrrl]: Help! I’m being harassed!
It might be hard to really prove that the two characters were anywhere near each other, that Mr. [4ssb4nd1t0] was “crouching” at [CuteGrrrl] or even aware that she was in the vincinty. It won’t always be so cut and dry of course. I’m just saying convicting someone for an action in-game could be hard since the action is only being ‘recorded’ in a text log.
In other words, when you agree to the Terms of Service, you not only agree to not act like a jerk, but you are also voluntarily consenting to be subjected to rule-breaking jerks who will only face consequences if the relevant authorities have the time and the inclination to dole them out. If you don’t agree with Sony being the sole authority of their virtual community, or with the stringency with which they pursue their undesirables, then don’t agree to the ToS, and don’t log in.
There are about 38 million Playstation Home accounts. Sony is not going to hire 100 million babysitters to personally monitor each account in real time, 24/7 and proactively prevent any trouble. I don’t believe for a minute that the part you quoted means Sony is saying Home participants just have to be cool with assbanditry. Sony specifically says that people should drop a dime on the jerkwads and send them to their ominously named “grief reporting facility.”
Bwahahaha! You’re killing me! <Me> I jumped through a gate and my ship blew up. Serious bug there man! <EVE Online GM> Our logs show nothing. <Me> C’mon, surely you can see the time my ship died and note it happened 0.5 seconds after jumping into a new system! That is just not possible unless it is a bug! <EVE Online GM> Our logs show nothing. <Me> Are you even a human? <EVE Online GM> Our logs show nothing. <Me>
