Qual é a relação entre IOI e a polícia?

IOI permaneceu dentro do limite da lei a maior parte do tempo .

Os "campos de trabalho" eram legais nos livros como uma forma de servidão por dívidas.

Wilson looked up into the lens of my hallway camera and smiled pleasantly. “Mr. Lynch,” he said. “My name is Michael Wilson, and I’m with the Credit and Collections division of Innovative Online Industries.” He consulted his clipboard. “I’m here because you have failed to make the last three payments on your IOI Visa card, which has an outstanding balance in excess of twenty thousand dollars. Our records also show that you are currently unemployed and have therefore been classified as impecunious. Under current federal law, you are now eligible for mandatory indenturement. You will remain indentured until you have paid your debt to our company in full, along with all applicable interest, processing and late fees, and any other charges or penalties that you incur henceforth."
_{Ready Player One - 0028}

Depois, Wade faz referência específica a como uma determinada lei lhe deu proteção, implicando que o IOI não violou a lei (na maior parte do tempo).

At the next station, a bank of machines gave me a complete physical, including a battery of blood tests. (Luckily, the Genetic Privacy Act made it illegal for IOI to sample my DNA.)
_{Ready Player One - 0029}

No entanto, IOI infringiu a lei ao tentar matar Wade, que é o motivo pelo qual Sorento foi preso no final do livro.

“This is airing on all of the newsfeeds right now. The feds just took Sorrento in for questioning. They stormed into IOI headquarters and yanked him right out of his haptic chair!”

A video clip began to play. Handheld camera footage showed a team of federal agents leading Sorrento across the lobby of the IOI corporate headquarters. He was still wearing his haptic suit and was shadowed by a gray-haired man in a suit who I assumed was his attorney. Sorrento looked annoyed more than anything, as if this were all just a mild inconvenience. The caption along the bottom of the window read: Top IOI Executive Sorrento Accused of Murder.

“The newsfeeds have been playing clips from the simcap of your chatlink session with Sorrento all day,” Aech said, pausing the clip. “Especially the part where he threatens to kill you and then blows up your aunt’s trailer.”
_{Ready Player One - 0039}

^{(toda ênfase é minha)}

Então, o IOI infringe a lei, mas, em geral, suas atividades são legais. As prisões foram específicas para os vários assassinatos de Wade, sua tia, todos nessa pilha, e (no livro) os outros membros da High Five.

As instalações de indenização eram legais por lei federal e usadas por mais empresas do que apenas IOI.

Wade faz referência a isso no começo do livro:

...Winning the contest was my one chance of escaping the stacks. Unless I wanted to sign a 5 year indenturement contract with some corporation, and that was about as appealing to me as rolling around in broken glass...

E, novamente, é explicitamente referenciado no livro, quando alguém é introduzido em uma facilidade de indentificação:

...are currently unemployed and have therefore been classified as impecunious. Under current federal law, you are now eligible for mandatory indenturement.

Uma vez que é revelado que eles realmente fizeram as coisas que fizeram (Bombardeando as pilhas, seqüestros, assassinatos, etc), a polícia chegou a prendê-los por essas acusações. Então, o IOI é praticamente o mesmo que qualquer outra corporação em relação à polícia local.