The surviving members of "Laughing Coffin" should've been put on trial upon awakening from SAO

Before I begin, I'd like to clarify on a matter concerning Laughing Coffin which might otherwise result in some confusion for Con and the people who read this debate. In Episode 1 of the Sword Art Online anime series, the creator of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko, announced that if a player died in the game, the NerveGear (the Virtual Reality console on which SAO was played) would fry their brains. He stated this in front of all the game's players. If a player was somehow not present to hear that announcement, he or she would've heard about it soon enough. Thus, the members of Laughing Coffin and all "red" players were informed of the fact that a player's death in SAO would mean their deaths in real life. That is, they knew the consequences of the act of killing another player within SAO. Also, later on in the series it is revealed that many of them at the time refused to believe that players who died in the game actually died in real life. However, as Kayaba Akihiko was telling the truth about them being trapped in the game, it should've been reasonable to assume that he was also telling the truth about player deaths. Also, even if it were unclear whether or not he was telling the truth, the fact that they risked it anyway with nothing important to gain for their actions means they were guilty just the same. Now, I shall begin 1. They were responsible for the real life deaths of their victims The NerveGear's "microwave" function was such that it would not kill a player in real life unless one of these conditions was met: 1. The NerveGear console was disconnected from a power source for more than 10 minutes 2. The NerveGear console was "cut from the system for more than 2 hours (a concession which allowed for the players' real life bodies to be moved to hospitals) 3. The player in question was killed within the game 4. Somebody in the real world attempted to remove the NerveGear console from the head of a connected player Thus, unless one of those conditions was to be met, by the nature of its programming the NerveGear could not kill a player. Compare that to a gun. Accidental misfires aside, a gun cannot kill unless the "condition" of somebody aiming the gun at a target and pulling down on the trigger is met. Regarding the condition of a player being killed in the game, another player was capable of making this condition come to pass, which would cause the NerveGear to kill the victim, resulting in the death of the said player. If a person causes the "conditions" needed for a gun to kill someone to be met, with intent to kill, then such a person is charged with murder, even though it was technically the gun that killed. So, why is a player killing another player in the game, which causes the NerveGear to kill them in real life, any different? These two actions should be considered in a similar light, and the punishment for either action should be the same. 2. They are dangerous to society Kirito once said (and I paraphrase): "What you do in this world determines what kind of person you are in real life". Well, that sums up Shinkawa Shouichi, AKA "Death Gun". He was one of the 10,000 players who got trapped inside Sword Art Online. Within the game he became a member of Laughing Coffin, and presumably he killed many players. About one year after he awoke in the real world, he and his brother (who was not a SAO Survivor, but admired his brother for having been a killer), along with a third conspirator who had also been with Laughing Coffin, formulated a plot to kill the players of another video game, Gun Gale Online (GGO). It is clear that Kouichi's choices within SAO determined what kind of person he would be in the real world. He killed people within SAO and thus he became twisted to the point where he was willing to kill people in real life. There's no telling whenever a Laughing Coffin member could "snap". 3. Deterrence for players in possible similar incidents in the future In the aftermath of the SAO incident, it's likely that increased regulations were put upon VR consoles. The "Amusphere", which was the NerveGear's successor, did not have that same ability to try a player's brain. However, it is still possible that in the future somebody may repeat what Kayaba Akihiko did. In the event of this happening, one of the best deterrents to Player Killers in that game is the assurance that if a player kills another player, resulting in that player's death in real life, whenever the murderer awakes in real life he will be sent to prison for murder. I hope that I have provided a decent case. I await my opponent's response and I wish him good luck. Sources: http://swordartonline.wikia.com... http://swordartonline.wikia.com...