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Are Loot Boxes in Games a Violation of Gambling Laws?

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.

Bill Dimm writes:

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

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 08 2018, @11:45PM (3 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 08 2018, @11:45PM (#619775) Journal
    Counterexample is Thatcherism. It's not libertarianism, but shares some features.

  • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Tuesday January 09 2018, @09:44AM (2 children)

    by Wootery (2341) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @09:44AM (#619934)

    There might be something there worth exploring, but as you say, it's not exactly libertarianism.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 09 2018, @02:48PM (1 child)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 09 2018, @02:48PM (#620013) Journal
      Doesn't have to be pure libertarianism. You claimed zero traction while we see that wasn't the case.

      • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday January 10 2018, @10:38AM

        by Wootery (2341) on Wednesday January 10 2018, @10:38AM (#620423)

        I suppose that's a fair point. Privatisation, for instance, has a streak of the libertarian to it.