Metaverse law

Key takeaways

Metaverse law belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Metaverse law to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Metaverse law from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Metaverse law refers to legal systems, policies and theories concerning metaverse technologies involving virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and hyperreality. Metaverse Law also refers to a privacy, AI, and cybersecurity law firm founded in 2018.

Metaverse law in practice Metaverse law is in the early stages of development in legal scholarship and legal practice compared to other established legal fields. Also, not all legal practitioners and scholars have recognized metaverse law as a specialized area of study, given the early stage of metaverse technology adoption in the public. Instead, some legal practitioners and scholars anticipating the metaverse technology have examined the metaverse by looking at the relationship between traditional legal frameworks and the metaverse. So for many individuals, metaverse law is spoken in the context of existing laws involving and applying to the metaverse, rather than treating metaverse law as a legal field.

Emerging metaverse law theories

Metaverse law theory While some people view the metaverse law under the umbrella of established legal fields, others have taken a broader position. For instance, one legal think tank has proposed the theory that metaverse law is a new area of study that must be recognized as a legal field in entirety, rejecting the view that metaverse law is a sub-discipline of an existing legal discipline. In similar vein, some legal scholars have claimed that the metaverse demands an entirely new legal infrastructure such as independent virtual jurisdiction, legal order, and self-regulating government bodies and constitutions. However, some say that the metaverse law theory falls short in practice. Regulators have stated that they need to have a better understanding of the metaverse to create metaverse-specific laws, and the metaverse market has been struggling to achieve stability. Other critics point out that metaverse is not any more unique than a game. For example, some technology leaders, like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, do not distinguish metaverse from a game. Distinguishing the metaverse from a game was an important distinction in Epic Games v. Apple, where the plaintiff was unsuccessful in the claim that its software could avoid defendant Apple Inc.'s commission charges on in-app game purchases because plaintiff's software is classified as a metaverse, as opposed to a game. Additionally, proponents of the metaverse law theory also agree that establishing the metaverse law as a legal field necessarily involves studying the intersection between existing legal theories and the metaverse.

Metalaw In one opinion article, McCollum suggested that metalaw will emerge as the legal system that governs the metaverse. Citing Haley's 1956 article, Space Law and Metalaw – A Synoptic View, McCollum claimed that metaverse will adopt the terminology, "metalaw," to represent laws associated with metaverse because metalaw describes conditions and rules by which "sapient beings of a different kind" do not follow, unlike the way human beings do on Earth, alluding that extraterrestrial beings may be anything other than humans (i.e., robots). On the other hand, Haley had coined the term, "metalaw," in the context of space law and its relationship to possible governing laws with extraterrestrial life in galactic space (a.k.a. aliens). Haley's intent of defining metalaw for interactions with extraterrestrial beings in space was reaffirmed more than once in a 1957 paper, Space Law and Metalaw - Jurisdiction Defined, and in 1956 Congress of the International Astronautical Federation. Additionally, Haley's metalaw theory has been cited by early and modern legal scholars strictly in space law context, including his critics. Some modern scholars have argued that metalaw could be aptly used to create rules governing artificial intelligence; however, this suggestive concept narrowly applies to the relationship between humans and robotic intelligence, which is not specific to the metaverse.

Crime

The word "metaverse" first appeared in criminal law studies in 2008, Fantasy Crime: The Role of Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds, by Susan W. Brenner. Because metaverse existed in limited forms at the time of publication in 2008, Brenner anchored her analysis from Neal Stephenson's 1992 novel: Snow Crash, which is credited to be the birth of the metaverse concept by many people. In her legal analysis, Brenner addressed harms that can theoretically transfer from virtual spaces to the physical world such as virtual rape and pedophilia. Even though Brenner published her study more than a decade ago in 2008, the types of harm addressed by her paper surfaced as a common issue topic in the 2020s, where people frequently report unwanted sexual contacts and threats by other metaverse users. At the same time, Brenner examined the metaverse as a subset of virtual crimes under criminal law, as opposed to treating the metaverse law as a legal field or as a subset of cyberlaw.

Sub-discipline perspective Some legal scholars have approached the metaverse law subject through a subclass perspective. Although these scholars have adopted the "metaverse law" terminology to represent a legal discipline, they view metaverse law as a sub-discipline of cyberlaw.

Existing laws regulating the metaverse sector There is still a lot of development needed in the Metaverse to understand the full scope of law that will be applicable in the field. Some of the laws that are currently being practiced in this field are listed below:

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Metaverse law

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Metaverse law claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Metaverse law before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Metaverse law ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Metaverse law

In research: Metaverse law appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Metaverse law in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Metaverse law is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Internet law, Metaverse, Video game law, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Metaverse law outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Metaverse law in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Metaverse law means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Metaverse law out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Metaverse law in simple terms?

Metaverse law refers to legal systems, policies and theories concerning metaverse technologies involving virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and hyperreality. Metaverse Law also refers to a privacy, AI, and cybersecurity law firm founded in 2018.

Why does Metaverse law matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Metaverse law?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Metaverse law.