
Ask HN: Pokemon GO: Do I own the virtual space of the physical space I own? - kinkdr
Just some lighthearted food for thought..<p>Yesterday while entertaining a guest(avid Pokemon go player) in my house I got informed that my house if full of Pokemons!<p>So my question to you is: Is Niantic allowed to spawn virtual creatures in the coordinates of the land I own?
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krapp
>Is Niantic allowed to spawn virtual creatures in the coordinates of the land
I own?

<pedant>Those creatures aren't actually _in_ those coordinates. They appear
onscreen when your _device_ is at a certain set of coordinates, but they never
actually 'leave' the app in any meaningful way. Since there's really no such
thing as a "virtual space of a physical space" for them to reside in, the
question is moot. </pedant>

~~~
kinkdr
Fair enough. Now my next question is, do I have a claim on the Pokemons
spawned in the coordinates my land?

I am happy to claim ownership on anything that grows on the coordinates of my
land. There have been a lot of suggestions recently that our universe is just
a simulation, in which case anything that grows on the coordinates on my land
is just information stored on the server that run the simulation.

Why would it be different with the Pokemons?

Let's say I was a Pokemon player as well. I imagine I would be quite
aggravated if somebody would come in my land and try to catch _my pokemons_.

Isn't that how we can imagine that the notion of ownership for the physical
world started?

People fighting for the control of land, because of the resources contained in
the coordinates of the given land.

~~~
joshschreuder
First off, the Pokemon aren't only catchable by one person in a given
location. Anyone with the app open can catch the Pokemon, so there is no
exclusivity to having one appear on your property.

Secondly, if our universe is a simulation, do you really own the land you
claim to?

~~~
kinkdr
> the Pokemon aren't only catchable by one person in a given location.

Oh.. Didn't know that..

> Secondly, if our universe is a simulation, do you really own the land you
> claim to?

We have to go back to the root of what ownership is.

The way I see it ownership of land evolved somehow like this: During stone
ages or somewhere along that time, a group of humans decided that anything
that grows or walks around that land was theirs to claim. Hence if another
group of people tried to catch or collect something on that land they would
start a fight. In essence this means that ownership of the land => ownership
of the resources on the land.

Back to the Pokemon, and again I thought that only one person could catch the
Pokemon that spawn in a location. A Pokemon is a resource that is only
available on a specific location, even if it needs a smartphone to see it and
catch it. Assuming that this resource has some value, how is it different than
a buffalo that lives in a specific location. It too needs tools to catch it.

Therefore I cannot see why I cannot claim ownership on a Pokemon that spawned
in my land, the same way I claim ownership on a tree that grew in my land.

Edit: BTW, just making very lighthearted discussion.

~~~
krapp
>Therefore I cannot see why I cannot claim ownership on a Pokemon that spawned
in my land, the same way I claim ownership on a tree that grew in my land.

Because it didn't spawn in your land, it spawned in the app on your phone.
Unless you're claim ownership over the app on your phone because the phone is
"in your land," you've got nothing to claim ownership of in this case.

~~~
kinkdr
Does it matter where it's state of is saved? The point is that in order to
catch it you have to have a phone AND be in my land.

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qwertyuiop924
I think so. It's just an RNG on a server somewhere. Physically, they aren't
putting anything in your house. Heck, I'm not sure if the RNG is centralized
or not. Pokemon locations may be generated locally. Given the server load, I'd
certainly do it that way.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.

~~~
joshschreuder
I believe it is centralised, as I'm pretty sure the same Pokemon can appear on
multiple players' devices in the same location.

See here for consequences: [http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Pokemon-Go-
Players-Stam...](http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Pokemon-Go-Players-
Stampede-New-York-Central-Park-387303572.html)

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draw_down
It's their database. We're just living in it.

~~~
saiprashanth93
This is the kind of meta comment that really gets you thinking.

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felisml
Do you own any virtual space corresponding to your physical space? No.

But you can sue someone over the effect they have on your physical space.

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Rannath
You might not even really own the physical space. What would happen if you
didn't pay land tax (or your local equivilent)?

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tiredwired
It's space in a parallel universe not your universe.

