Criminal Law Protection Of Network Virtual Property

Virtual property is an emerging product of the Internet age.Virtual property has brought many conveniences to people's lives.Social platforms such as WeChat and QQ have improved the efficiency of people-to-people communication,and online games have met people's spiritual needs.The development of virtual property has also brought a series of social problems,and a new criminal form of illegal acquisition of virtual property has emerged.As its name implies,virtual property has its virtuality,because virtual property does not exist in physical space in physical form,but exists in cyberspace in virtual form.This form of existence that is different from traditional property causes many difficulties in its nature identification and value measurement.Article 127 of the General Principles of the Civil Law promulgated in 2017 in China stipulates:"If the law has provisions on the protection of data and network virtual property,such provisions shall be followed." This is the first time that China's laws have explicitly proposed the protection of virtual property.This is the first step towards legal protection of online virtual property.However,the protection of virtual property in China's criminal law is still disordered.The unclear legal attributes of virtual property are the root cause of the problem.The legal attributes of virtual property mainly have four viewpoints:claims,intellectual property rights,new types of property,and property rights.With the advent of electricity,it is clear that intangibles should be included in things.Virtual property has the properties of things.It is a type of new things that has developed over time.It should be regarded as a kind of real right.At present,China's criminal legislation does not make clear the nature of virtual property and the issue of the identification of virtual property crimes,which leads to different judgments in similar cases in justice.When the fictitious property crime first appeared,it was generally not recognized as a crime,and only an administrative penalty was imposed on the actor.Nowadays,judicial practice mainly regards virtual property crimes as computer crimes or property crimes.In view of the property attributes of virtual property,the identification of virtual property crimes as property crimes is in line with the principle of statutory punishment and appropriate punishment for crimes.The criminal law protection modes of virtual property in countries outside the country mainly include the establishment of new independent crimes for virtual property crimes and the protection of virtual property violations into traditional crimes.At present,most countries have adopted the second mode.Drawing on protection models outside the domain.Specifically,there are several ways to improve the criminal law protection of virtual property in China.First,legislation should be improved.The root cause of the different judgments in the same case is that there is no clear legal basis for such cases.The property attributes of virtual property on the Internet should be clarified through legislation.Based on the stability of the law and the complexity of the amendment of the criminal law,the legal regulations on virtual property can be improved through judicial interpretation,legislative interpretation and amendments to the criminal law.Second,due to the fictitious nature of virtual property,the method of measuring the value of virtual property should be further clarified.Third,the network operator is the developer of the virtual property.The data in the background of the operator records the transfer path and traces of the virtual property,and the operator often sets up an exemption clause to exclude its own obligations.Therefore,the operator's Statutory minimum obligations.Finally,the user real-name system is an effective measure to prevent cybercrime and accountability for crime.The law lags behind social development.Virtual property has been in existence for nearly two decades.The failure of criminal law to effectively protect virtual property will further lead to the crime of virtual property.Therefore,China should take effective measures to improve the criminal law protection of virtual property.Adapting laws to evolving social realities.