Real-Life Politician Banned in EVE Online for Corruption
The career of Brisc Rubal (aka Brian W. Schoeneman in real life) in EVE Online has come to an end. The politician, who, according to CCP Games, was involved in corruption, was removed from CSM 13 and permanently banned.
The game world of EVE Online is full of interesting events. The latest one took place yesterday. American politician, one Brian W. Schoeneman, who has been playing the game since 2006 as Brisc Rubal, has received a lifetime ban from CCP Games, the developer of the title. The reason for this is that Schoeneman was involved in corruption, and more specifically, broke the in-game law by sharing confidential data with a member of his alliance (The Initiative), which was then used by another representative of his faction to carry out "illegal in-game transactions".
Thus, after less than a year of political career, he was removed from the ranks of the CSM (Council of Stellar Management) 13. The members of the committee act as intermediaries in community-developer contacts, and in exchange for compliance with the NDA, they receive secret information from developers about future events in the game world.
Interestingly, the CSM itself brought an accusation against him because it saw "a direct threat to the integrity of the CSM as an institution" in his actions. Pandoralica and Dark Shines, i.e. other members of CSM 13, received a "one year ban only," and all of their illegally acquired virtual money was confiscated.
Schoeneman himself does not plead guilty, and in his forum post on Reddit and argues that he will do his best to be cleared of the charges, because they have damaged not only his reputation in the game world but also his good name in real life. As he says, he has been an attorney for almost ten years and has never had a complaint filed against him during that time, nor during his work in a public office in the US Government. In addition, over the past year he has "worked hard" on behalf of his voters, taking part in "more than 95% of all meetings and conference calls." Time will tell if the case will continue.
