There are laws like that in America, Australia and the Philippines as well (the places im familiar with) but it really just teaches people that when they make a mistake there are little to no consequences.In the UK you can take somebody (friend or foe) to the small claims court for as little as £10... so^You don't call the police when you loan a "friend" your favourite video game and he never returns it. You gave it to him and trusted him to give it back, but he didn't.
Just a life lesson, that we should learn from..
unpaid debt - theft.
Borrowing with intent to keep - theft.
Added to my comment earlier which you may not have seen, but I totally agree that this all starts with greedy, insensitive people. I've noticed nearly all are under the age of 21 and have no idea about the value of money and how hard people work to earn that in game and real world.
Makes me sick to see people like that.