Analysis On The Legal Attribute And Protection Of Virtual Property

With the popularity of the internet and the development of network techniques, a great market place shows in online game industry. While this industry is presenting an endless boom, disputes about virtual property are emerging in endlessly. As the new thing that emerges accompanying social and economic development, opinions vary in the definition and attribute of network virtual property. In a narrow sense, virtual property refers to the game resources that exist in online game and can be governed by users. It mainly includes player ID, game gold coins and virtual equipments. In order to solve the disputes and search for judicial relief for the obligee without explicit legal regulations, this thesis tries to base the view on narrow sense of virtual property. It firstly analyzes the relation between virtual property and real property and starting with the basic attributes of the property, we find that virtual property possesses the proper features of property——value,rareness and exclusiveness, which should be brought into the legal system of the protection of real property.This thesis includes introduction, main body and conclusion. The specific arrangement of the chapters and sections is as follows:In the introduction part, we mainly introduce the development potential of online game industry and its market value. As to virtual property, different attributes of different virtual properties lead to different measures of protection. The lack of theoretical research and the legal hysteresis quality result in insufficient legal basis for disputes of virtual property in practice. It further illustrates the importance to protect virtual property so as to stabilize the market and promote the healthy and stable development of online game industry. The research scope of this thesis is the attribute and legal protection of virtual property. Combined with various theories and the related foreign legislations and based on some related fundamental principles of laws, we adopt the analytical method of materialistic dialectics and comparative method to discuss and research.The main body part includes three chapters. The first chapter is"the connotation and attribute of virtual property". It generally introduces the emerging process and the connotation of virtual property and points out that this thesis will unfold the discussion from the perspective of narrow sense of virtual property. Then by comparing the negativism and positivism of virtual property and analyzing the attributes of virtual property, we find that virtual property has the basic attributes that the property should have, so it should also be brought into the legal system for property protection.Chapter two is"Analysis on the legal attribute of virtual property". From the analysis of four theories of intellectual property, financial claim, new property and real right, we find out the property rights of virtual property. From the analysis of the mode of acquisition of virtual property, we find out the rights and obligations between network users and network operators or developers and confirm the adscription of virtual property, that is, the network operators or developers possess the ownership and the network uses have the right to use virtual property.Chapter three is"The legal protection of virtual property". It mainly discusses the necessity of the protection of virtual property and introduces the legislation experience in Korea and Taiwan to use for reference. At the same time, from the perspective of the protection of property law, it analyzes the entry point and feasibility for the protection of virtual property. What's more, it discusses the issues of value confirmation, compensation for mental loss and burden of proof that we are faced with in the protection of virtual property. Lastly, it puts forward that we can perfect the legal protection of virtual property by means of establishing the object status for real right of virtual property and setting up authoritative trading platform for virtual property.The third part is conclusion. Based on the research and analysis on the body part, the main views and research conclusion are generalized intensively. Firstly, it affirms the property attribute of virtual property, which is necessary to be brought into the existing legal system to protect. Secondly, the virtual property has the attribute of real right. The ascription of it is that he network operators or developers possess the ownership and the network uses have the right to use virtual property. Thirdly, by referring to the legislation of the protection of virtual property in other countries and regions, I have a discussion about the civil protection of virtual property. The advantage of protection for real right is that its absoluteness is quite different from the relativity of the protection for financial claim and all the people apart from the subject of right should respect the property holders'dominance over their virtual property. Network operators or developers and users can choose proper methods of civil law according to different disputes of virtual property.