The Study On China's Online Game Virtual Property Infringement Responsibility Identification Problem

Online game virtual property is all kinds of game resources that the game players have in a specific online game field,usually including game ID account,weapons,game tokens,and other virtual items.The infringement of online game virtual property refers toa case where others illegally violategame players' virtual propertyright,so tort liability should be undertaken in accordance with the law.It presents different characteristics,including the virtuality of tort subject,the duality of tort object,complexity of tort content and so on.The tort liability of China's online game virtual property includes the offender's fault,illegal behavior,the fact of damage,the cause and effect between illegal behavior and the fact of damage and other constitutive requirements.Among them,the fact of damage is divided into property damage and mental damage.For example,when game players' virtual property is damaged or lost which leads to player's great mental distress,we can identify the existence of property damage and mental damage.However,in some specificcases,there may be denfenses such as force majeure,the accident,the victim's fault,and exceed litigationprescription.These defenses once are formed,can be mitigated punishment or be exempted from the tort liability.According to the number,the tort subjectof China's online game virtual property can be classified as individual responsibility and mutual responsibility.Individual responsibility covers the responsibility of the game operator and the third person.According to the different forms of responsibility,the mutual responsibility or the responsibility of the majority can be divided into joint liability,proportional liabilityand not really joint liability.Joint liability is that several people implementthe common tortiousor dangerous behavior which infringes players'virtual property right,so all infringers shall bear the form of joint liability.In fact,proportional responsibility is everytortfeasor for the same damage is responsible for the consequences of his actions.And when combining direct infringement of the third person with indirect infringement of game operator,they may also bear not really joint liability.Theresponsible forms of tort liability in China's online game virtual property includes the form of defensive liability,the form of afterwards relief responsibility and the form of compromise responsibility.Among them,defensive responsibility such as eliminationofdanger,by taking measures to eliminate potential risk in order to protect the virtual property right of game players.The responsibility forms of afterwards relief coverthe removalofobstacle,recoveryofproperty,restitutionand compensation for losses,its main function is to make up for the victim' loss,possibly making virtual property of the players return to a complete state.Compromise responsibility such as stopping the infringement,the purpose is to prevent the occurrence of injury consequence or to prevent further damaged consequence after ithappened.