A real-life American politician has been banned from Eve Online for alleged corruption.
Developer CCP said Republican Brian Schoeneman, who went by the name Brisc Rubal in the space MMO, was removed from his role as a member of the Council of Stellar Management (CSM), Eve Online’s player advocacy group, for allegedly breaking a non-disclosure agreement and using insider information to make money in-game.
In a post on the Eve Online website, CCP said Brisc Rubal was found to be sharing confidential information with a member of his alliance that was later used by another alliance member to conduct “illicit in-game transactions”. Brisc Rubal has denied any wrongdoing.
The CSM operates under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with CCP Games, which enables it to be privy to and offer feedback on future developments in Eve Online.
Rubal, who campaigned for membership of the CSM by leaning on his real-life experience as a politician and thus tied his personal life to his virtual life, was removed from his role as a CSM representative and is barred from running in any future CSM elections. He’s also had his in-game accounts permanently banned from the game. Two other players involved in the incident have received a one-year ban, and all illicit assets and ISK (Eve Online’s virtual currency) gained from the incident have been confiscated.
“To be fully transparent, this misconduct was brought to us by the CSM themselves as an immediate threat to the integrity of the CSM as an institution,” CCP explained.
“CCP’s stance on this is clear: regardless of the type of information shared, acts like this go against everything that the Council of Stellar Management stands for and will not be tolerated under any circumstances.”
Elect Brisc Rubal to CSM XIII Watch on YouTube
In a post on reddit, Brisc Rubal denied the accusations against him and promised to “fight these false accusations”.
“I am innocent of these allegations,” he said. “I have not, and would not, violate the NDA I signed after being elected to the CSM. I have not provided any proprietary information furnished by CCP to me as a CSM member to anyone.