Issues About Criminal Law Protection Of Network Virtual Property

Rapid development of network information technology has become an important medium for more and more people to learning, living and entertaining, by which forms a kind of new social relationship relying on network. The original law has encountered unprecedented problems and difficulties in adjusting disputes in the network virtual context. For example, how to define network virtual property? Whether network virtual property should be included in legal sense of property category? Whether criminal law should and how to protect network virtual property? All these issues caused many scholars and legal workers thinking. In all kinds of ideas and arguments, most people think that in the era of rapid development of internet, the network virtual property, as well as any other traditional property, should be protected by law. Based on the recognition of legal status of network virtual property, the author discussed the definition of network virtual property, the necessity and the current situation of criminal law protection of it, provided legislative and judicial suggestions in terms of criminal law protection of network virtual property.The thesis contains four parts, 25000 words approximately. The first part introduced the origin, concept and characteristics of network virtual property. It comes from bulletin board system (BBS) to network games. Also the development process of property value has been demonstrated, the generalized and chivalrous concept of network virtual property has been provided. Chivalrous concept believes network virtual property lies in network games, which are the game resources dominated by game players. Generalized concept thinks that all the virtual objects and other property rights existing in network environment that can be owned and controlled and have certain value are called network virtual property. In order to thoroughly understand network virtual property, the author concluded the social reality, virtual, dependence, legality, value, convertibility, sustainability, duration of it. The second part illustrates the center issue that whether the network virtual property should be protected by criminal law from the economic value, exchange value, legality. Then the author listed the macro-statistics of internet industry and violating behaviors of network virtual property in China, by which illustrated the social harmfulness, thus got the conclusion that the criminal law protection necessity has existed in China. In the third part by combining with the examples in judicial practices, the author emphasized the legislation shortage and different judicial scale in this field of China. Finally, by analyzing the legislation models of criminal law to protect network virtual property, the author tried to find out the effective methods of virtual property protection of criminal law by combining the legislation and judicial practices of China, and provided the suggestion that put the network virtual property protection into legislative interpretation of criminal law. Meanwhile, the author discussed about the difficulty of taking valuation and evidence of network virtual property in judicial practice, and provided feasible solutions.