Tales of the (Virtual) City: Governing Property Disputes in Virtual Worlds

Abstract

As virtual worlds grow in size and acceptance, increasing amounts of time and energy are spent by their users in the pursuit and creation of virtual property. This paper argues that the current governing regimes of these worlds, end user licensing agreements, are insufficient to deal with these interests. The author examines several of these worlds, the conflicts within them, and the inadequacy of EULAs to govern them.