'Zynga treats game security with the utmost of seriousness. UPDATE: A Zynga spokesperson sent us this response: This case is particularly interesting because it involved a UK court recognising virtual currency - in this case, Zynga chips - as legal property which can be protected by existing UK criminal laws.The court effectively found that, even though virtual currency isn't real and is infinite in supply, it still can deserve legal protection in the same way as real world currency.

This shows that the legal regulation and protection of virtual goods and currency, which historically has been fairly uncertain, is evolving fast - driven partly by the boom in virtual goods sales in games. But seeing as how this isn't Mitchell's first dance as a hacker - he has a previous conviction of hacking into a local council's web site to change his personal details - punishment might be stiff.īesides wondering if it is illegal to pilfer fake currency, I'm also pondering, maybe it's also time to call Gamblers Anonymous? Develop had some answers via Jas Purewal, lawyer and author of Gamer/Law, who told the publication that the case has set a new precedent. The judge warned Mitchell he's looking at some substantial time behind bars, though he has yet to specify the duration. He made only about $86,000 before he was pinched.

But Zynga didn't get where it is by being dumb, and they soon figured out something was amiss. He laundered the chips through a series of Facebook accounts trying to play catch me if you can with Zynga, best known for its popular (and addictive) Facebook games Farmville, Mafia Wars and the booming Cityville. No amount of Farmville tasks can get him out of this one.Īshley Mitchell, 29, pleaded guilty to five charges brought under the Computer Misuse Act and the Proceeds from Crime Act and remanded until a date was fixed for sentencing, according to BBC.īBC reported that Mitchell, who has apparently struggled with an online gambling addiction (especially Zynga poker), 'posed as an administrator for the Zynga Poker game on Facebook in order to get at the computer systems for the game and steal the chips' between June and September 2009. He got caught and now he's facing some very real prison time. UPDATE: Zynga response now included in story.Ī gambling addict hacked into gaming heavyweight Zynga and stole 400 billion virtual poker chips worth $12 million to sell on the black market.

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