The Legal Attribute Of Network Virtual Property And Legal Protection

With the growing development of modern technology, the use of Internet isunprecedentedly in full swing. Internet virtual property counted as a new thing hasstepped into people’s daily life.However, with the increase disputes of the ownershipof virtual property in practice and the disadvantages of law, the judicial circle has yetagreed on the solution.The author analyses the present situation of the disputes ofvirtual property on the basis of the discussion on law nature of Internet virtualproperty, and come up with some advices concerning the legislative ways andcontents of virtual property, hoping to give some help to the practical works.The thesis is divided into six parts.The first part demonstrates the origin, conceptand characteristics of Internet virtual property and primarily define the range ofvirtual property. The author explains the definition of virtual property in broad sense,that is, it is the property right existing in Internet virtual environment and can becontrolled by people. In narrow sense, it can be defined as digitalized, dematerializedproperty form existing in net games.In second part, the author analyses the property attributes of Internet virtualproperty and introduces Negative said and Positive said in academic circle. Theauthor thinks the Internet virtual property possesses the essential characteristics otherkinds of property have---valuable, scant, transferable, and deems the Internet virtualproperty as a kind of property, it is a special object and can be protected by PropertyLaw.In third part, some theories of the property attributes of virtual property isintroduced----the theory of intellectual property, the theory of intangible property, thetheory of creditor’s right and the theory of real right, ect. Because of the essentialfeature of Internet virtual property having its own economic value and possibility ofexclusive control, the author agrees on the theory of real right.In fourth part, the author discusses the ownership and the right content ofInternet virtual property and points out the ownership of virtual property can bepossessed by network developers or operators while the right of use should bepossessed by users.The fifth part demonstrates the legal protect of Internet virtual property. First, theauthor discusses the necessity of legal protect. Then, the features of the presentdisputes of virtual property in our country are the rapid growing numbers of cases aswell as the money involving in cases, the variable ways of infringement, the range ofcase involvement, and the claims scope of litigation. The main problems of the casesof virtual property are the value determine of virtual property, the distribution ofburden of proof, and whether compensation for mental loss can be claimed. At last,the advanced experiences of Karen and Tanwai district for the legal protect of virtualproperty are introduced.In the last part, the author comes up with some advices for the legislation of Internet virtual property in our country. At present, the Internet virtual property is notlegislated, consequently, it leads the practice work more difficult. Considered thefactor that the development of Internet virtual property is not so mature and theproblems of money and manpower that it is impractical to legislate directly. Thus, theway of legislating step by step can be carried out. First, the relevant laws andregulations can be made to satisfy the practical needs, and the systematic andseparated legislation will be made in a mature time.