| Internet information technology not only bring vigor into the market,but also causes many disputes,one of which is the transfer disputes of personal online stores.The management of a personal online store must sign end user license agreement(“EULA”)with the e-commerce platform when registering its account,these kind of agreements normally prohibiting the transfer of personal online stores,so there are a large number of cases arising from the standard terms of the shrink wrap contract which prohibit transferring personal online stores.There are different theoretical disputes about whether the personal online stores has property value,the nature of the virtual property right of,and the effectiveness of the prohibition of transfer standard clauses.Personal online stores refer to the online stores under the C2 C business model which exists on the e-commerce platform,and its operators are normally natural persons.Personal online stores are virtual,restrictive and valuable,which conforms to the basic characteristics of virtual property and has its own property value.Personal online stores and virtual property should be subordinate,which is a special form of virtual property.As far as the property right of personal online stores is concerned.first,the personal online stores itself should belong to the “object” category of property right.On the one hand,the personal online stores has the “nature of independence” of the“property”.Although a series of business activities of the operator depends on the technical support of e-commerce platform,from the perspective of the whole process of e-commerce transaction of their business activities,the operators of online stores conduct the consultation,conclusion,performance of contract and after-sales service independently.On the other hand,personal online stores have exclusive dominance of“property”.The realization of the online virtual property right by the online store operator is realized through “right connection”.Just like the oblige who holds the deposit receipt,bill of lading and securities in the real world,the existence of“assistance”in e-commerce platform would not change the nature of right.Secondly,the ownership of personal online stores should be enjoyed by e-commerce platform operators.It is the operators of e-commerce platform who have paid time,money and technology to build the whole virtual platform.The secondary domain name corresponding to each network store is also created by the platform.Each online store is part of the virtual property built by the platform operator,not created by the online store operator.Therefore,the e-commerce platform operators claim that the ownership of personal online stores is more reasonable according to the Locke labor value theory.The owner of personal online store enjoys the right to own,use and benefit the online store according to the EULA with the e-commerce platform.Such right allocation not only balances the interests between the owner of the personal online store and the operator of the e-commerce platform,but also can protect the interests of the network consumers better.Thirdly,the terms of the Internet user service agreement prohibiting the transfer of personal online stores belong to the format clauses excluding the main rights of the other party of the contract,and shall be deemed invalid.The prohibition of transfer is not only contrary to the actual needs of the personal online stores circulation,but also does not conform to the principle of legal fairness,which deprives the owner of the personal online stores from obtaining the value of his labor results through transfer.In order to reduce the disputes about personal online stores and the cognitive differences in theory and judicial practice,we should further clarify the connotation and extension,the nature of rights and attribution of online virtual property including personal online stores through legislation and judicial interpretation,and establish a reasonable and fair transfer system.In business transactions,e-commerce platform operators can effectively supervise the transfer of individual online stores by creating online store transfer bulletin board and specifying reasonable publicity period;The process of transferring personal online stores shall strictly perform the contract,deliver the stores according to the contract and bear the liability for defects;After receiving the online store,the new operator of the personal online store shall conduct business in good faith and abide by the various rules made by the e-commerce platform. |
