Is the theft of virtual goods or purchase of stolen virtual goods illegal?

[John]

actually trying to see if i get serious in buying accounts from Reese and dealings with Bexxy and a few others, how i could get around the 1500 dollars a year limit before claiming taxes but thank you for the post

Mod, i like how detailed your post is, and ya i thought about the dutch courts and the only reason it was taken to court is because of the physical part of the case, i was just wondering the liability behind getting into such big dealings


***New Question***
Does having money in your paypal account *ex* (receiving money for selling neopoints etc.) count as income or does it not count as income until you transfer it to a bank account

persay could you use money from the paypal acc to buy giftcards or such and get around the fact of income as a whole or since you technically have it, it is income?

---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------



i told my parents and they are the ones that are getting so anal about this haha, i have all of my legal bases covered (i think) but they want me to do more research and checking to make sure they cant be held liable if anything is traced to their i.p. so they are legally fine incase anything happens

Just accept money and send money, you have to be doing a lot to raise eyebrows. I've made well over the ammount you mentioned annually and there is no trouble with it. I've been fine.

---------- Post added at 11:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:00 PM ----------

Mod, i like how detailed your post is, and ya i thought about the dutch courts and the only reason it was taken to court is because of the physical part of the case, i was just wondering the liability behind getting into such big dealings


***New Question***
Does having money in your paypal account *ex* (receiving money for selling neopoints etc.) count as income or does it not count as income until you transfer it to a bank account

persay could you use money from the paypal acc to buy giftcards or such and get around the fact of income as a whole or since you technically have it, it is income?

---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------



i told my parents and they are the ones that are getting so anal about this haha, i have all of my legal bases covered (i think) but they want me to do more research and checking to make sure they cant be held liable if anything is traced to their i.p. so they are legally fine incase anything happens

Trust me, there are people selling a lot more, buying a lot more, and cheating a lot more than you. You have nothing to worry about.

[Kylae]

i thought the same thing when i heard and read the runescape case since runescape owns all the content technically but yet in the Netherlands they still managed to make a case out of that

another question is for anyone who uses the market place like i do, i believe according to the 1080 EZ int he U.S. you have to file taxes if you make over 1500 dollars in a year, how do you get around this or do you file taxes on the money you make off of linegames?

The limit is 8k a year, and I've filed my taxes this year, through HR Block, for running a business that sells intangible goods. The person helping me just wrote it off as gaming codes.

[purekilla]

Just accept money and send money, you have to be doing a lot to raise eyebrows. I've made well over the ammount you mentioned annually and there is no trouble with it. I've been fine.

---------- Post added at 11:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:00 PM ----------



Trust me, there are people selling a lot more, buying a lot more, and cheating a lot more than you. You have nothing to worry about.

I know there are people that do a lot more business, just trying to find the legal ramifications

---------- Post added at 10:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------

The limit is 8k a year, and I've filed my taxes this year, through HR Block, for running a business that sells intangible goods. The person helping me just wrote it off as gaming codes.

Thank you Kylae, its useful to have someone answer the question on how much and how they went about it, defiantly handy for future reference.

[Mouse]

I haven't seen this on the news. What channel was it on or show? RTL, Ned 1,2,3?
And I know you can take action against someone (even in our little NL) if they take your images without permission if they are copyrighted, but that is with photography. Which is a lot different then online games and is still hard to control, even when you own the original sketches.

[purekilla]

I haven't seen this on the news. What channel was it on or show? RTL, Ned 1,2,3?
And I know you can take action against someone (even in our little NL) if they take your images without permission if they are copyrighted, but that is with photography. Which is a lot different then online games and is still hard to control, even when you own the original sketches.

i live in the U.S so i didnt see it on the news at all, i googled it to find it but with a quick and easy google you can find the case and the ruling

[Snow]

I heard of this case. I don't think they got convicted so much for stealing the items, but more because they were actually kicking and beating the shit out of their victim to force him give up his online goods.

[purekilla]

I heard of this case. I don't think they got convicted so much for stealing the items, but more because they were actually kicking and beating the shit out of their victim to force him give up his online goods.

I would agree and thats the whole reason that it went to court in my opinion but the fact they made a ruling on virtual items themself and set precedent is pretty interesting

[purekilla]

quick question i just thought of, legally your supposed to pay sales tax on any online sale in accordiance to the state you live in, are you guys just claiming its gifts and not sales to avoid it or just not filing or how are people getting around that?

[Kylae]

You are overthinking this way too hard.

[Mod]

quick question i just thought of, legally your supposed to pay sales tax on any online sale in accordiance to the state you live in, are you guys just claiming its gifts and not sales to avoid it or just not filing or how are people getting around that?

What Kylae said.

99% of us are not filling it in; it's negligible, it's a game.

It's not a job, you're not putting in any personal info or having it submitted to an employment agency.
You're not running an official business approved by a state department.

You're selling small things out of nothing (or your own, already-taxed money) from your home.
It's like a yard sale, do you declare the $5 you sold your TV for?