ON-LINE GAMES AND ETHICAL AND LEGAL CONCERNS: A JURISPRUDENTIAL ANALYSIS

Author – Ishu Yadav, Student at Indian Institute of Management Rohtak

Abstract

Today, cyberspace provided the ground for a new generation of computer games referred to as Virtual Games, where because of their special features, they have gone beyond a game and besides fun and entertainment, play other roles for people Since these kinds of games are played through the web and in the online form, they are often known as Virtual Games This virtual context has turned them to popular and global games Universality and seriousness of the virtual games have provided opportunities and threats for policy and decision-makers in different areas, such as social, economic, cultural and legal areas. Although computer games, as a part of the entertainment industry, mainly interact with economic and cultural fields, the specific features of the games, including the possibility of buying and selling Virtual Items during the game, have raised new juridical and legal challenges The most important juridical and legal aspects of the virtual games include, first their legitimacy, and second the legal status of trading online items during the game which is known as In-Game Transactions. This paper tries to show a juridical legal analysis of the challenges mentioned above.

Keywords: Cyberspace, Computer games, Virtual games, Virtual items,etc

INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

An Online video game is defined as a video game played over some form of computer network. This network is usually the internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current for example modems before the Internet, and hard-wired terminals before modems. Online gaming is also a technology rather than a genre it is a mechanism for connecting players rather than a particular pattern of gameplay.[1]

In this new era of technology, online gaming has become more popular among teenagers as it can be played on a smartphone, tablet or computer. As it become accessible almost anywhere at any time, all range of ages now possible to be addicted it playing online video games at the end of the day they become less careful about themselves, their performance at school or the workplace and their social life. In addition to that, the player can also now access their game progress anywhere they went as most online gaming nowadays enable the players to store and save their data on cloud storage.

Several types of online gaming are massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) and massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPGs) which involves millions of player playing the game at the same time. Online games now also come in many genres such as action, adventure, simulator and many more. Some of the online gaming that is popular among teenagers nowadays are Dota, Clash of Clan and Hay Day. The total of daily active players in Dota 2 is 800, 000 concurrent users[2] and almost 8.5 million users have registered in Clash of Clans and also Hay Day combined.[3] There are several cases involving playing online games in China and as a result, the government has built a facility where a parent can send their children to overcome online gaming addiction.[4]

Some claim that playing online gaming is one way to release stress and fill your free time. While some said that too many games can affect one’s mind and attitude. For example, people who play games are constantly feeling tired. When someone is more likely to spend more time playing online games, some of them may end up being addicted to them. Friends and the surrounding environment play a big part in influencing us towards playing an online game as a city with a better internet connection and easy access to a computer will make it easier for people to gain the access to an online game.

In addition to that, some of the game developers today try to gain profit by creating a system where the players must use their real money to help them do dog missions, and gain speciality and advantage in these games. In London recently, there was a case reported where the mother of a 12-year-old boy is facing £7,000 or RMRM36,6 bills after he inadvertently spent the money playing a popular online game on his phone.[5] In Malaysia, more and more people are now led to spending money on online gaming as they can get debit cards easier and some of the young players tend to steal their parent money using their credit cards

The independent variable for this research is the age of the respondent, their gender, the course they are taking and also the university they study. The age of the respondent is set from the age of 18 to 24 years old. The resplendent will be those who are from the Faculty of Communication and Media, University Selangor. The dependent variable in this research will be the environment that the respondent lives in, their level of education, their financial status and the time they spend playing online video games.

PROBLEM OF THE STUDY:

The internet is now possible to be accessed throughout the world and it has opened up a whole other world, the world that most of us spend hours and hours browsing whether weekly or daily. Using the internet gives us access to networks that provide faster services such as email, chat rooms, web and also playing video games is now possible online. Of the rapid growth of internet connection, some problems exist and some of them are:

It became a phenomenon in our surrounding that people nowadays are too focused on their gadgets playing online games rather than chatting with others.
It can be either men or female students can be affected by the existence of online video games.
With the advanced technology nowadays, people are getting easy to do anything such as playing video games online.
To recognize the potential online video game addiction symptoms among the students based on the data collected from the study.
Online gaming is popular among teenagers nowadays and people often get addicted when playing online video games.

RATIONALE:

With this thesis, I want to present the effects of online gaming on an ethical and legal concern, jurisprudentially.

OBJECTIVE:

To analyze the effects of online gaming ethically and legally.
The impact of online games on jurisprudence.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Some of us may make a statement that the addiction to playing video games is one of the modern- day psychological disorders and some of us disagree with that statement. Based on research done by the America Psychiatrists Association (APA) in May 2003 concluded that addiction to playing video games is not a mental disorder due to the insufficient evidence to include it as an official mental disorder. However, the proposed criteria for “Internet Gaming Disorder” are included in Section 3, Conditions for Further Study.

While Internet Gaming Disorder is proposed as a disorder, it is still discussed how much this disorder is caused by the gaming activity itself, or whether it is to some extent an effect of other disorders. Research suggests that excessive online gaming may in extreme cases lead to symptoms commonly experienced by substance addicts, namely salience, mood modification, craving, and tolerance (Wolfling, Grusser and Thalemann, 2008; Young, 2009; Hsu, Wen and Wu, 2009; Ko et al., 2009; Mehroof and Griffiths, 2010).

Based on the study done by Chin-Sheng Wan, M.S. and Wen-Bin Chiou (2006),[6] the majority of their respondent that is teenagers in Taiwan who showed a strong interest in role-playing online games, in which they often do things that they dare not do in real life. This is believed because, in an anonymous environment, online game players tend to use their nicknames rather than their reality. In their paper, they also conclude that those who are addicted to the Internet might attempt to escape from the limitations brought by real life to obtain the space for survival and security.

In research done to understand Generations Online in 2009 by Sydney Jones and Susannah Fox (2009)[7], they explained that Generation Y is a young adult generally 18- 32 years old who grew up in the Information Age and they also dubbed the ‘Net Generation’. But, while these “digital natives” may be savvier with their gadgets and keener on new uses of technology, their elders in Generation X, the Baby Boomers and older generations tend to dominate internet use in other areas. In their research they claimed that the groups of age to use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and family is the teens and Generation Y. From the survey make, they conclude that teen internet users’ favourite online activity is game playing which is 78% of 12- 17-year-old internet users play games online, compared with 73% of online teens who email, the second most popular activity for this age group.

In another study done by Eun Joo Kim, Kee Namkoong, Taeyun Ku and Se Joo Kim (2008)[8], they want to investigate the connection between online game addiction and self-control, aggression and narcissistic personality traits, which are known as the psychological characteristics linked to “at-risk” populations for online game addiction. They find out that aggression and narcissistic personality traits are positively correlated with online game addiction, whereas self-control is negatively correlated with online game addiction. In addition, a multiple regression analysis revealed that the extent of online game addiction could be predicted based on the person’s narcissistic personality traits, aggression, self-control, interpersonal relationship, and occupation.

The results indicate that people continue to play online games if they have optimal experiences while playing the games. This optimal experience can be attained if the player has effective personal interaction with the system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet. Personal interaction can be facilitated by providing appropriate goals, operators and feedback; social interaction can be facilitated through appropriate communication places and tools.

Some researchers claim that teenagers choose online gaming as a way or method to cope with daily problems and stress[9]. Online gaming can also become a dysfunctional media-focused coping strategy (Thalemann, 2009). It is reported that this is similar to how teenagers react towards frustration and stress (Wölfling, Thalemann, & Grüsser, 2008).

In the United Kingdom, the research done by David Rudd (2011) 11 stated that addiction to playing online games is believed to drive someone to extreme circumstances so much so that some evidence demonstrated parents tend to believe that their child is in a position where their health and future is a worry. While health could be an issue due to the lack of Using World of Warcraft (WoW) as an example, David Rudd said that WoW is designed to give a very vast gaming experience but at the same time make sure the gamer has continuous content to take part in to keep the gamer played their game. Lastly, from the aspect social of the game, it is a very addictive part of the game with being able to always find a “guild” that is of similar strength, ability and direction as the young person themselves so thus will keep the player coming back to even chat to virtual friends within the game.

HYPOTHESIS:

As the world nowadays is developing with advanced technology, the old school thing was forgotten by the new generation. There are several improper habits and behaviour with this development which the researcher finds in a study on online games towards the doer. The study is to show how even an online video game can affect someone through various aspects. Its purpose is to explore and identify the aspects concerning the jurisprudential impact on the subject and its ethnicity and legality. The aspects explored are the experience and commitment to playing an online video game, the gamer’s health issues, the inconsistent emotional reaction during playing online video games and reality versus fantasy realization that is shown due to the reduction of social interaction which eventually affect the gamer’s relationship with others. The finding will help others to reduce their addiction towards the online game and become normal people. It also can be used to find the problem occurring among online video game addiction and possibly create a solution to overcome this phenomenon whilst discovering new outcomes.

NATURE OF THE STUDY:

The nature of the study in this project is non-doctrinal and is primarily descriptive and theoretical.

SOURCES OF THE STUDY:

This project is largely based on secondary sources of data such as cases and reports of Books, case laws, journals & other references as guided by the faculty of Jurisprudence are primarily used for the completion of this project.

PLAYING WITH ETHICS: ONLINE GAMING ETHICAL CONCERN

Online games are widely played for entertainment and amusement; in addition, they can act as an aid in relieving stress. Due to advancing technology, video games have evolved and grown into a large empire impacting those within this realm. Thus many ethical issues are brought to our attention due to this development. As a result, we should recognize how new video games are ethically affecting people who play them. The ethical issues of video gaming that influence many people include violence, rating, education, stereotyping against women, community and addiction. Ultimately, each topic is linked to the violence involved in video games. It is the players‟ responsibility to be aware of the negative effects of video gaming.

However, the gaming industry should also take part in some social responsibilities as well. What they develop and sell can affect people positively or negatively. For this reason, both gamers and the gaming industry should acknowledge the ethical issues regarding video gaming, and both need to address these ethical concerns accordingly. Although video games can have many positives, they can also affect gamers in a harmful way.

VIOLENCE WITHIN GAMES

A major concern that has been the focus of an ongoing debate regarding video games is violence. Violence is defined in video games as acts in which a character causes or attempts to cause physical injury or death to another character.[10] In a recent study, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine using state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology, determined, brain scans of individuals who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal while decreasing self-control, inhibition, and attention.[11] Playing violent video games can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviour both in laboratory settings and in actual life. It can also be argued that violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because of the interactive nature of the games. For this reason, violent video games provide a foundation for learning and practising aggressive solutions to conflict situations. In the short run, playing a violent video game appears to affect aggression by inducing aggressive thoughts for a short period. On the other hand, prolonged aggressive behaviour is likely to result in a long-term effect as well as the player learns and practices new aggression-related techniques that can become more accessible for use when real-life conflict situations arise.[12]

VIDEO GAME RATINGS:

In the United States, the current rating system for video games is the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The ESRB is a non-profit, self-regulatory body established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). ESRB independently assigns computer and video game content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines and helps ensure responsible online privacy practices for the interactive entertainment software industry.[13]

ESRB ratings have two equal parts: rating symbols suggest age appropriateness for the game while content descriptors indicate elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern.6 There are currently six ESRB rating categories: Early Childhood (ages 3+), Everyone (ages 6+), Everyone 10+ (ages 10+), Teen (ages 13+), Mature (ages 17+), and Adults Only (ages 18+). A particular area of interest encompassing the issue of ratings for video games is the accuracy of the ratings or lack thereof. In one study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston took a random sample of video games currently on the market and discovered many of the games are inconsistent with the content descriptors assigned to the games.7 Based on their findings, researchers said that an improvement is needed in the rating system and suggests the game industry provide individuals with clear, complete, and consistent information when selecting a video game. Strict regulations are needed to be placed on the current rating system to prevent inappropriate material from being obtained by the unintended.

EDUCATION POSITION:

An issue that arises in an educational aspect is whether video games are ethical or not. Gaming has taught both adults and kids many things; some are beneficial while others are believed to be immoral. Some players and developers argue that video games are better at teaching logic and problem-solving skills than many school curriculums. 10 While Others say that video games teach people to become more violent due to the violence in the game. There are many different types of video games. Such as games for children, problem-solving games, combat games, adventure games, strategic games, and games intended for adults only. As each individual interprets various games with their judgments, there are certain types of games where players agree they acquire the same type of skills.

Just like ratings for movies, there are ratings for games as well. One of the main characteristics of the Entertainment Software Review Board (ESRB) is to rate games based on the content involved in the game. Ratings are designed so that buyers know what to expect before purchasing a particular game. Many levels of violence can be used to rate a “violent” game. Games that involve heavy violence are always rated “M” for mature.

STEREOTYPING IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY

Currently, video games appeal overwhelmingly to the male population. Only 7-8 per cent of video game developers are women. 10 Likewise, about 12 per cent of the game players are women, and women are usually not the main character in the games. 11 In general, most women are not fascinated with video games. Video games are not attractive to females as they are to males. For the majority of females, nothing is enticing about anchoring oneself in front of a television screen and playing a video game that may be viewed as being “pointless.” This is one of the main reasons why not many women have a profession in game designing or development because this is not what most women enjoy.

a person is a man or woman and whether the person is in favour of video games or adverse to them. Men who like to play video games might say there is nothing ethically wrong about video games, while women may disagree and argue that video games corrupt the minds of the players. One must determine whether the benefits gathered through video games outweigh the costs of the game. The reason for stereotyping is that most women aren’t interested in video games. The assumption is men tend to be more violent than women, and most video games contain some form of violence. Therefore, men are more likely to play video games than women.

GAMING ADDICTION WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

Video games may be considered social activities because “A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found nearly all the children they polled played video games with friends, siblings, or other relatives.”13

[1] Rolling, Andrew; Adams, Ernest (2006)Fundamentals of Game Design. http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_gamedev_1/54/14053/3597646.cw/index.html Prentice Hall

[2] Hing, David (June 2, 2014). “DOTA 2 prize pool passes $8m”. http://www.bit- tech.net/news/gaming/2014/06/02/dota-2-prize-pool-passes-8m/1 Bit-tech

[3] Warner, Bernhard (May 2, 2013).”Finland’s super cell mobile games with mega profits”. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-02/finlands-supercell-mobile-games-with-megaprofits Bloomberg Business week.

[4] Stewart, Christopher S. (13 January 2010).”Obsessed with the Internet: A Tale from China”. Wired Magazine.

[5] Dean Rousewell (August 29, 2014). “Boy runs up £7,000 bill for his mum playing mobile phone game Clash of Clans”. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/boy-runs-up-7000-bill-4131364#ixzz3D4uGnu6Z Daily Mirror.

[6] Chin-Sheng Wan, M.S. , Wen-Bin Chiou. Why Are Adolescents Addicted to Online Gaming?

An Interview Study in Taiwan. Cyber Psychology & Behavior. Volume 9, Number 6, 2006. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

[7] J. Sydney, F. Susannah. Generations Online in 2009. Pew Internet & American Life Project. 2009. Pew Research Center.

[8] Eun Joo Kim, Kee Namkoong, Taeyun Ku, Se Joo Kim. The Relationship between Online Game Addiction and Aggression, Self-Control and Narcissistic Personality Traits. European Psychiatry – April 2008 (Vol. 23, Issue 3, Pages 212-218

[9] Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Online Gaming Addiction In Children And Adolescents: A Review Of Empirical Research. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 1(1), 3-22.

[10] K. Thompson and K. Haninger, “Frequently Asked Questions about Violence in E-Rated Video Games.” Journal of the American Medical Association, [Online Document], (2001 Aug), Available at: HTTP: http://www.kidsrisk.harvard.edu/faqs3.htm.

[11] K. Kalning, “Does game violence make teens aggressive?” MSNBC Interactive, [Online Document], (2006 Dec), Available at: HTTP: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/.

[12] P. Willenz, “Violent Video Games Can Increase Aggression.” American Psychological Association, [Online Document], (2000 Apr), Available at: HTTP: http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html.

[13] “ESRB Frequently Asked Questions.” Entertainment Software Review Board, [Online Document], (2006), Available at: HTTP: http://www.esrb.org/ratings/faq.jsp.