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posted by cmn32480 on Monday January 08 2018, @03:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the 1-in-365,214,231-chance-of-getting-the-good-stuff dept.

Loot boxes in video games give the player a random item, perhaps a weapon or a skin, typically in exchange for payment. Should they be viewed as a legal sweepstakes or as an illegal lottery? This video examines the legal issues and explains how loot boxes could be structured to avoid running afoul of gambling laws (which vary by state) in the U.S.. The video concludes that many current implementations of loot boxes are really illegal lotteries, and conjectures that major game companies use them anyway because the risk of being prosecuted isn't enough to dissuade them.

Previously: Belgium Moving to Ban "Loot Boxes" Throughout Europe, Hawaii Could Restrict Sale to Minors


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Monday January 08 2018, @09:46PM (1 child)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Monday January 08 2018, @09:46PM (#619730)

    Yes, this is true.

    I love gambling. I mean I really get off on it, there's probably some chemical feedback thing going on in my brain.

    Luckily I married a woman who has no interest in gambling, and has dissuaded me from gambling in the past. I have got to the stage where I understand I could have a problem, and don't feed the monkey on my back, so I have never lost my house and family.

    I am well aware that not every potential addict is in my position however, so i am really happy that gambling is very heavily regulated in my country.

    All that libertarian stuff sounds appealing, but I wouldn't want to live there.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @01:22AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @01:22AM (#619803)

    Typical authoritarian. You sooth your self-loathing by projecting your weaknesses onto others.