The Legal Attribute And Protection Of Virtual Property

With the rapid development of network, especially the rapiddevelopment of the online games, the number of virtual property andthe conflict about virtual property are increasing. There is solittle law about virtual property that many problems about virtualproperty aren’t solved. How to protect virtual property has beena hot topic in the society. The problems whether the virtual propertybelongs to actual possessions and who is the owner of it fazed thepeople investigated in theory and practice of law. In addition,people also give their attention to the protection of virtualproperty. In this article, I conclude the other achievements byothers as well as legislation and jurisprudence at home and abroadbefore giving my opinions on legal attributes and definition ofvirtual property. After analyzing the theory of virtual property,I carry out some suggestions to solve the problem of virtual propertydisputes. This article include these parts:In part1, I mainly talk about the concept of virtual propertyand the characters of it. In this section, I list on severaldefinitions of virtual property, and then give out the concept of virtual property after analyzing the basic meaning of virtualproperty from the derivation of the word and the level of networktechnology. According to this definition, I conclude the charactersof virtual property inclucled invisibility and reality, limited,valuable and so on. The number of virtual property is increasing,so I divide it into three categories: virtual environment, networkaccounts and virtual property in online games.Part2mainly talk about the problem whether the virtual propertybelongs to actual possession. Some people think the virtual propertybelongs to actual possession, but some others don’t think so. Thepaper give a view that the virtual property belongs to actualpossession, because the virtual property is effective, valuable andcan be circulated, which are the basic characteristics of possession.In this part, I also criticize the views that the virtual propertydoesn’t belong to actual possession.In part3, I mainly discuss the legal attribute of virtualproperty. Different people have different views on this problem; themost popular ideas are the theory of property right, theory ofobligatory right, theory of intellectual property and so on. I talk about these representative views first, and then check out that everyopinion have some kind of shortcomings, so I conclude that werecognize the legal attribute of virtual property according to itssources and means.In part4,I mainly solve the problem that who is the owner ofvirtual property. If we want to solve the conflicts about virtualproperty, we have to solve the problem that who is the owner of virtual.The problem that who is the owner of virtual property not onlyinvolves the relationship of network operators and web users, butalso relates to the relationship of web users and others. In thisarticle, the virtual environment in the network games and somevirtual property that operators produced for sale but has yet to salebelongs to the network operators; other virtual property in onlinegames such as weapons, equipments, roles and so on belongs to theplayer.In part5,I propose the advice of the law-protection of virtualproperty. In this part, I example some legislation and jurisprudencein other countries at first, and then note that there are manydifficulties if we regulate virtual property by law. At present, the legislature should establish the status of virtual property in theproperty law and formulate administrative rules and regulationsquickly. What’s more, the judiciary also should make some judicialinterpretation about virtual property in order to fill the legal gaps.At the same time, the relevant associations maybe introduce somerules that can measure the value of virtual property to ensure thevirtual property market develop healthy and orderly.