Should online-game Ponzi scammer go to prison?

By at 9:22 am Tuesday, Aug 29

Julian Murdoch has an interesting essay about a guy who ran a Ponzi scam (for virtual money) on other players in a massively multiplayer online world, which comes to the conclusion that the guy is a real-life criminal and should be treated as one.
Last, week, Dentara Rask -- a character in CCP's Eve Online massively multiplayer online world -- pulled off an impressive stunt. He ran a classic Ponzi scheme and walked off with 700 billion ISK (in game money, and quite a lot of it). Normally, this kind of in-game bravado would generate nothing but a confuse stare from someone not deep inside the Eve universe, and little more than scandal-of-the-week titillation and subsequent yawns there. But I believe this case is more interesting than that.

I believe Dentara Rask committed fraud.
I believe he owes the IRS a lot of money.

Admittedly these are bold statements likely stuffed with straw, but they have deep implications, and bear argument.

Link

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