“Pokemon Go; The New Mobile Game - Civil Law Assignment

Internal Code: MAS5803

Civil Law Assignment:

“Pokemon Go" is the new mobile game which has gripped children, youth and adult around the world. This new sensation has also spread in Melbourne. In this game people catch the virtual characters on a real location such as parks, roads and sometimes even near a trash can. This game is free and can be played on mobile phones. In order to catch those virtual characters, people need to follow the direction of “Google map” on their phone and walk few kilometers before they are alerted that a character can be caught at a nearby spot. Many Pokemon enthusiasts walk together or meet at that hotspot and thus they develop a friendship. Moreover, some argue that walking keeps them healthy. Rare characters of Pokemon Go attract many enthusiasts at one place at one time which sometimes cause some problems too. Last Thursday Timothy who came down from Sydney was playing Pokemon Go and he was following the direction of his mobile phone. While walking on the Swanston Street, he got alert that a rare Pokemon character can be caught nearby. He reached near the Building 80 of the RMIT University and he got the alert that the rare character can be caught just outside the Building 80. He became excited and sent a broadcast message to his friends and the group of Pokemon Go enthusiasts via Whatsapp and Facebook. The message spread like a wildfire and within a short time, a large crowd gathered outside the Building 80. It became difficult for the public to walk on the street, or trams to pass through and even students could not get into or come out of the Building 80. Classes were getting disturbed. Many Pokemon enthusiasts parked their cars in the parking bay and some parked on non-parking zones, and construction sites on nearby streets. Traffic around CBD got seriously affected. Whenever Pokemon enthusiasts were catching any characters they were shouting and screaming loud or even honking their cars. Many Pokemon enthusiasts including non-RMIT students entered the ground floor and the first floor of the Building 80 and they was running from one place to another to catch the Pokemon character. Both RMIT students and non-RMIT students were using wifi of RMIT which caused the speed of internet connection slowing down rapidly that disturbed staff working in the Building 80. The chaotic scene was not subsiding so the police came into action and after few hours of hard work, crowd were sent away from and around Building 80. Inside the Building 80 lots of rubbish were dumped by the crowd, some chairs and benches were found broken. Karen is a student at Melbourne University and she also rushed to the Building 80 to catch Pokemon character. When the crowd was being removed from the premises, the security personnel of RMIT pushed Karen and dragged her out by holding her hand. In that process, he dropped her wallet with $5000 cash and her student card on the first floor of the building near the IT service counter. The staff (Eric) working at the counter found that wallet with the student card and deposited that with the RMIT Lost and Found Section. Karen felt offended by the behaviour of the security guard so she did not go to RMIT to look for her wallet. Though she reported the loss of her wallet to the police. After two months Eric collected claimed the wallet and its content including money from the Lost and Found section. As the Building 80 is now famous to catch Pokemon characters, the group of people are seen wandering around the building and on the Swanston Street. Time-to-time small group of people standing outside or even inside the Building 80 causing inconvenience to students and staff of RMIT. At that time it becomes difficult to cross the road or to even catch trams. Questions: 1. Is it possible for RMIT University to take any legal actions under Torts to deal with the Pokemon enthusiasts? 2. Can Karen take any action in Torts against RMIT security personnel? 3. Is Karen entitled to get back her money and student card from RMIT Lost and Found Section or from Eric?