The long arm of the real law

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After pleading guilty to theft as a class D felony in a Marion County court, Joshua Bills was sentenced late last month to three years of probation after paying full restitution of $53,500 to the victim. “This was certainly a unique case in that it dealt with online, virtual real estate,” Indiana Securities Commissioner Alex Glass said in a statement. “However, upon examination of the facts, this case is very similar to a conventional real estate investment scheme. Con artists are always finding new and unique ways to scam trusting individuals out of their hard earned money.

I'm not a lawyer (but I play one in an off-off-Broadway production of Inherit the Wind), but seems like this conviction helps establish a legal precedent for future prosecution of other virtual scams. It's interesting that Commissioner Glass is citing real estate regulation in a situation which actually, only involves licensed, designated access to a server network actually owned by Linden Lab.

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