| Virtual property as a derivative of Internet development.Its attached economic value makes it impossible to separate from the property attribute,and is known as the "emerging property" in the digital era.Along with the acceleration of the digital wave,the form of virtual property has become more complex and varied and new forms have emerged,gradually becoming an important part of people’s lives,and the value it contains has received more and more attention and attention.In the face of the increasing number of virtual properties and the unchangeable fact that they are getting older,people are beginning to think about where these properties should go after their death,and the topic of virtual property inheritance is gradually coming into people’s lives.However,due to the fact that virtual property cannot get rid of the virtual space,the original equal inheritance relationship between two parties has turned into an unbalanced tripartite inheritance relationship,resulting in many dilemmas and difficulties in the legislation and judicial level of virtual property inheritance.Although the Civil Code has explicitly incorporated virtual property into the scope of legal protection,and adopted a highly general legislative approach and legislative language to change the original Inheritance Law’s enumerated provisions on inheritance and expand the scope of inheritance,the provisions on whether virtual property can be inherited,generalized inheritance or restricted inheritance are mostly sketchy and lack clear legal provisions.However,from the analysis of the essential characteristics of virtual property,it can be classified as the category of property,and its recognition as property rights is also conducive to the smooth realization of virtual property inheritance.In addition,virtual property belongs to personal legal property protected by law,which is in line with the characteristics of inheritance and can be included in the category of inheritance,while the inheritance of virtual property is a realistic demand of social development,which is both feasible and necessary for inheritance.In addition,from the current situation of inheritance of virtual property at home and abroad,in the process of inheritance of virtual property,there are still unclear subjects and objects of inheritance,inheritance is bound by user agreements,inheritance rights and privacy protection conflicts,imperfect rules of inheritance procedures and virtual property value is difficult to assess and other problems need to be resolved.At the same time,disputes over the inheritance of virtual property occur repeatedly,and in the absence of relevant legal norms,judges appear to be at a loss,and can only refer to the application of traditional property inheritance rules,resulting in a lack of strong legal support for the outcome of the case,making it difficult to convince the parties.We should learn from the mature experience of foreign countries and improve the system of virtual property inheritance in China based on our national conditions.Firstly,in terms of the substantive rules of virtual property inheritance,it is necessary to clarify the scope of the subject and object of virtual property inheritance,refine the specific rights and obligations of network operators,and refer to the "three-tier priority access system" to weigh the relationship between virtual property inheritance and privacy protection;secondly,it is necessary to reasonably arrange the specific inheritance process and the allocation of the burden of proof to provide the correct procedural guidelines for virtual property inheritance.Finally,we refer to the "virtual environment management system" to break the bottleneck of virtual property value assessment and standardize the notary business of virtual property inheritance to further ensure the smooth realization of virtual property inheritance rights. |
