A lot of companies that deal in 'virtual goods', e.g. World of Warcraft, don't like the idea that the bits are property, because then it's hard for them to take the bits away from people (say for cheating), or if they want to shut down the servers etc.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4072704.stm)
But a later case said that virtual property should be protected by law:
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/24/content_1142726...)
Dutch authorities arrested someone for virtual theft:
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7094764.stm)
Here's another Dutch case, involving real world violence, which went to their supreme court:
(http://madisonian.net/2012/02/01/dutch-supreme-court-decides...)
That last one mentions US case about domain names.
I'd be really interested to hear from previous US court cases, or from lawyers, about this.