Protection of property rights in online gaming accounts

This paper considers the issue of users’ rights protection, namely regarding the users of online games. Nowadays, the rules for using online gaming accounts are prescribed by the license agreements, which are mandatory for everyone who wants to get access to digital service. However, such agreements oftentimes break the users’ rights, giving large possibilities for providers who are openly abusing users. One of the ways to protect rights of users of online gaming accounts is to recognize their property rights regarding the in-game items. This approach is highly debatable, but there are arguments in favor of such. This paper is focusing on the status of online gaming accounts and in-game items as digital assets and looks into the possibility to extend property rights to these objects. Current issues regarding the rights and interests of users in relation to virtual world providers are also discussed, as well as the current regulatory landscape for digital assets, including online gaming accounts, which is briefly reviewed.