BUYING and selling of “virtual” items from swords to tropical islands could prompt a rise in disputes under the laws of contract, lawyers said yesterday.
But there is no need for new laws to be created to cope with the new virtual trading market in items used in fantasy computer games.
Anna Cook, an intellectual property specialist at Wedlake Bell, the London law firm, said: “Virtual property in these games has more in common with a domain name or trademark — it is not like physical property which involves occupation of a premises or land.
“So the laws governing buying and selling virtual items will be the normal laws of contract.”
The games, such as Project Entropia, allowed users to buy various items as part of the game and users could then enter into contracts to sell them to someone else, she added. “So that would be subject to the normal laws of contract.”
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Jurisdiction governing the contract could be determined by the country where the host server sets up the site or anywhere else he chooses.
John Enser, a partner at the London law firm Olswang, agreed. “This is a matter of pure contract law.”
Under normal contract law when people buy and sell the terms of the sale will specify the jurisdiction governing any dispute, he said. With online disputes, because of the likelihood of the two people being in different countries, the contract might also contain provision for “some kind of online dispute resolution or arbitration” which would avoid the need to go to court.