Threats over in-game voice chat land student in jail

[Nimrod]

Found this today:

Since the advent of voice chat in online gaming, arguments and insults have become just another part of the game. Curse words, racial slurs, and even threats are muttered with increasing frequency over the likes of Xbox Live, Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, and the countless other voice-chat programs and platforms. But, when does the line get drawn between game-related rudeness and the law? It's hard to define, to be sure, but one Maryland university student has learned the answer, as a comment he made during a game landed him in jail.

During a game of Call of Duty 4 on his Xbox 360, Allieu Shaw—a student at Frostburg State University in Maryland—happened to make a comment that he was going to "shoot up the school." Allegedly, this comment was followed by a description of what he planned to do. Another gamer in the room took the comment seriously and phoned the authorities.

Full article here: http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs. ... nt-in-jail

Now, I understand school shootings are very serious and all that but really, would anyone believe that some kid during a game over xbox live would actually go through with it? And really, I've played games of halo2 and halo3 where far far worse has been said and never went running to microsoft or the cops over it.

I also think shame of the person who ratted this kid out...they broke the code.

[wing zero alpha]

I'd have to see the message before I hold any judgment calls. Was the kid just being an ass claiming "I'd shoot those ****ers dead and this how I'd do it", or did he have an actual detailed plan? If the latter, I'd be a little unnerved myself; school shootings have been done with less before.

[Shinji103]

I say, good job cops! It's the guy's own fault for talking about shooting up a school in the first place, let alone giving plans to do it. It's a simple matter to not say such, so he has only himself to blame for the cops wanting to prevent another potential Columbine. I personally am dang glad the authorities take these things seriously. It shows how much they want to stop it from happening again too.

[Dygenguard]

It's kind of sad how you sometimes need thick skin and a benefit of a doubt to play an online game. Being a World of Warcraft and FPS player, I've been force-fed this mentality ever since I started. Trash-talk is nothing new, but the frightening thing is that sometimes threats happen. People take the game that seriously, which is a scary thought to think the gamer sub-culture has taken it to the point where some treat it like a way of life.

I recall a handful of cases where someone won some "phat lewt" in WoW or Everquest and had their accounts or computers hacked by jealous players. I also recall a story about a kid who killed his brother for getting some weapon or armor he really wanted in a fit of rage.

Thing is, no one can really take these things lightly anymore because, frankly, they just might be crazy enough to do it. It's not even a matter of if they're a gamer or not, some people are just that unstable. That's the truth of the times we live in. Sure, it could have been trash-talk, but the guy shouldn't have crossed the line by putting it into a real-world context. Saying "I'll kill you" is one thing, saying that you will along with everyone around you and explaining how is grounds to cause worry.

[Yuusha Tokkyu Might Gaine]

[quote="Dygenguard"
Thing is, no one can really take these things lightly anymore because, frankly, they just might be crazy enough to do it. It's not even a matter of if they're a gamer or not, some people are just that unstable. That's the truth of the times we live in. Sure, it could have been trash-talk, but the guy shouldn't have crossed the line by putting it into a real-world context. Saying "I'll kill you" is one thing, saying that you will along with everyone around you and explaining how is grounds to cause worry.[/quote]

Plus its people like that, that give all of us sane gamers a bad name.

And I for one hate to be labeled, and sorted into a group along with those people cause its just not me.

[Vash]

Its one thing to make an off the cuff remark like "I hate school, I want to shoot everyone" and its entirely different to have a detailed plan laid out. I dont blame the informant one bit, seeing as how if he did nothing he could have wound up being one of the people shot in this hypothetical plan. Thats just life, now that we're in the post-9/11/columbine world.