ABSTRACT
Virtual worlds are places where millions of people come to play, trade, create, and socialize. This chapter provides a brief history of virtual worlds and examines two legal questions raised by virtual world societies. First, it asks whether virtual objects might be understood as constituting legal property. It discusses how a legally tenable theory of virtual property might develop the features of virtual possessions that set them apart from real-world property, and explores whether utilitarian, Lockean, and personality-based justifications for legal property rights might apply in the virtual context. Second, the chapter discusses whether democracy and governance are concepts that might be applied meaningfully to social conflicts that arise within virtual worlds. It explores the ways in which virtual property disputes might play out. Outside of legislatively recognized intellectual property rights, legal scholars have noted how markets in intangible properties have been conjured into existence through the simple expedient of declaring a saleable interest.
