Divorce Wars: Woman Kills Hubby's Avatar

Japanese Woman Charged With Illegally Accessing Online Husband's Computer

(AP)  A 43-year-old Japanese piano teacher's sudden divorce from her online husband in a virtual game world made her so angry that she logged on and killed his digital persona, police said Thursday.

The woman, who has been jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo City said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.

As in "Second Life" in the U.S., players in "Maple Story" raise and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting against monsters and other obstacles.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.

The woman was arrested Wednesday and was taken across the country, traveling 620 miles from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sappporo, where the man lives, the official said.

The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.

In recent years, virtual lives have had consequences in the real world. In August, a woman was charged in Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through "Second Life."

In Tokyo, police arrested a 16-year-old boy on charges of swindling virtual currency worth $360,000 in an interactive role playing game by manipulating another player's portfolio using a stolen ID and password.

Virtual games are popular in Japan, and "Second Life" has drawn a fair number of Japanese participants. They rank third by nationality among users, after Americans and Brazilians.

[sarahr8]

You have got to be kidding me! Can we say P R E T E N D??? Are we seriously back to preschool lessons? An apple is real, you can eat it. A picture of an apple you cannot eat. It may have some value if you are an artist or photographer and it is your work. This was supposed to be a game? Talk about political correctness taken to an extreme! "Play nice" is appropriate but one would question the appropriateness of jail time? The guy was probably better off in real life not having drug her into his real physical reality, if he will just think about it... Stories like this make me pretty glad I don''t have masses of time to waste online pretending a different life for myself... Fruitcakes apparently abound...

[eggy1620]

%u201CThe man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.%u201D

That speaks volumes. She should be released and he should be locked away.

[blackyowe]

Me thinks the Japanese need to "Get a Life!"

[differnet]

Real lesson of this is don''t give your passwords to anyone or if you do and divorce them, change your password. Sure, she shouldn''t have used it, but this is common computer security.

[mochapman522]

Wow! I really think her Avatar should be charged with murder in the Maple Story Criminal Affairs Court. Anything other than that can''t be justice.

[piercetheval]

...whatever happened to ''Pinball''...I liked ''Pinball''.

[ybotheratall]

An actual comment on the STORY, who would have thought! They were not married in real life and there was no divorce. The story, the people, the game and those who thought this newsworthy are all ridiculous.

[easeup-2009]

Upon further review, that looks like the gayest game ever.

[easeup-2009]

UMmmmmm! what was this story about again??

Posted by gheemaster38 at 04:30 PM : Oct 23, 2008

questionnews has a stalker & people are really getting sick of the wacky political cut/pasters.

Anything else?

[gheemaster38]

UMmmmmm! what was this story about again??