Pokemon has
become an international phenomenon. By augmenting reality allowing players view
otherwise-invisible Pokemon in the world to catch and train, Nintendo and
Niantic Labs had created a truly cute and large monster.
However,
the GPS-based game leads players to different areas. Sometimes, these are
private properties that serve as 'gyms' or 'pokecenters' where they could
perform special activities.
One
incident involved people flocking to a church because it was a Pokemon Gym.
Another was that the presence of "offensive Pokemon" such as
"Koffing" and "Weezing" in the Holocaust Museum had brought
in people who do not observe the Museum's sanctity just to catch Pokemon.
Can people
be imprisoned for doing this?
British
Privacy Lawyer John Spyrou talks about how this could all come to be.
Mr Spyrou
believes that if strangers head to a person's garden simply because they want
to catch a Pokemon, they can still be charged as trespassing. The resident
still has grounds to call the police even if the situation will descend into a
minor scare.
Mr Spyrou
also made clear that Niantic is not "legally responsible" for people
heading to locations with Pokemon as shown in their map. The Niantic Terms and
Conditions for playing Pokemon Go may include players are responsible for local
rules and must detach themselves from liability by not brekaing local laws.
