In 2005, a Shanghai gamer named Qiu Chengwei stabbed a fellow player to death, after they sold his in-game item on MMO Legend of Mir 3. Qiu and his friend had won the rare item, an over-sized 'dragon sabre' and lent it to Zhu Caoyuan on a temporary basis. Rather than give it back, Zhu sold the dragon sabre for 7,200 Yuan. The court was told that, "Zhu promised to hand over the cash but an angry Qui lost patience and attacked Zhu at his home, stabbing him in the left chest with great force and killing him." The case led to a great deal of debate in China regarding the legality regarding private possessions in online games. An associate law professor at Beijing's Renmin University of China stated, "the armour and swords in games should be deemed as private property as players have to spend money and time for them".
