The Contractual Interpretation Of Protection Virtual Property

This paper analyzes the concept and characteristics of virtual property, and points out that the virtual property concept in this paper is accepted the narrow meaning. Then it states the historical evolution of virtual property along with the online game development. After that it uses the Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarian Theories, Lockean labor-desert theory and Hegel's Personality Theories to represent the nature of virtual property, and concludes that online games provider have the ownership of virtual property as electronic data, participants only have the right of use. At the same time, the participants can ask for online service by holding the virtual property as a certificate.In the third part of this paper, it analyzes the End User License Agreement, code of conduct and other contracts in the virtual world through the view of contract law, and demonstrates how End User License Agreements actually allocate the property rights of use, exclusion, and alienation between virtual-world providers and participants. While there are some differences from agreement to agreement in the terms, the agreements consistently give providers the plenary ability to impose sanctions on participants and to change the terms of the agreements at will. This uncertainty severely curtails the participants to enjoy the fruits of their investments. This paper tries to help the participants to pursuit assertions of reasonable right of access, unconscionability and reliance/promissory estoppel theories under contract law to protect their rights.Finally, the protection of virtual property is a systematic project. Although the contractual perspective is of great importance, but it's not the whole. In order to balance the right on the virtual property between virtual-world participants and providers, besides the contract law's protection, it also needs other law area such as property law, tort law and other laws'protection.