English Unlimited HTL 4/5, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM

21 Digital jungle 02 LANGUAGE SKILLS EXPLORE EXTRAS Read again. Correct these sentences. 1 The man and woman were married to each other legally. 2 Though they lived quite close to each other, they never met in real life. 3 The man divorced the woman after a serious argument. 4 MapleStory has millions of members, but long-term relationships are unusual. 5 In the Netherlands, two young people were sent to prison for virtual theft. Do you think people should be punished for virtual crimes? How? Use the words in the box to complete the summary of the article. 3 4 accused  arrested  crime fine  prison  suspected  law sentence  sentenced  community LanguagE FOCuS 5 Crimes and justice A woman who ‘murdered’ her virtual ex-husband (1) has been for hacking into his computer. She (2) has been of using the man’s password and ID to delete his online character after he suddenly ‘divorced’ her. Although deleting online characters may not (3) be a , breaking into someone’s computer certainly is. It (4) carries a maximum of five years in prison or (5) a of £3,200. Although the woman (6) is not of a ‘flesh-and-blood’ crime, many online gamers feel that she ought to (7) go to . In a similar case in the Netherlands, two teenagers (8) were to 360 hours of (9) service for stealing virtual possessions from a classmate’s computer. Stealing virtual goods is a crime (10) under Dutch .  According to investigators, the woman flew into a rage when the relationship was abruptly ter- minated. “I thought everything was fine, and then I was suddenly divorced without a word of warning. That made me so angry,” she was quoted as saying.  The two met while playing a hugely popular role- playing game called MapleStory , which encourages anonymous users to create online characters that explore alternative worlds, fight monsters and engage in virtual relationships. Long-term commitments and marriage are not uncommon among players, who are sometimes not even living in the same country. Originally from South Korea, MapleStory now reportedly has more than 50 million members worldwide.  The latest case comes amid growing controversy about online crimes. A court in the Netherlands sentenced two teenagers to a total of 360 hours of community service this month for breaking into a classmate’s computer and stealing his virtual possessions. “These virtual goods are goods under Dutch law, so this is theft,” said the court, which was criticised for going too far.  Online gamers are debating the possible results of the Japanese woman’s arrest, with many supporting the ‘murdered’ husband. “It takes a lot of time and effort to build up a virtual character. This could mean other wronged people may seek real-world justice for people who harm them virtually,” wrote one gamer. “I hope she goes to prison.” Using expressions from 5, prepare to talk about a crime, for example:   a crime that’s been in the news today / recently   a famous crime or criminal from the past   a crime connected with school Talk about the crimes in groups. Do you know what the sentence was? If so, do you agree with it? If not, what do you think it should be? a SPEaKing 6 b Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv