Legal Implications of the Metaverse

A woman stands in a corner facing the camera with colorful computer code projected on her face

The term "metaverse" is suddenly everywhere, but what does it really mean? While tech gurus are calling it the "future of the Internet," in more concrete terms, the metaverse is made up of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, creating worlds where users can work, hang out, go to concerts, play games, engage in ecommerce, and more. People are represented in the metaverse by their avatars, which is a custom picture or animation that represents each person in the virtual world. Some current examples of the metaverse are the holograms in Microsoft Mesh and the upcoming releases of various features of the Facebook (now Meta) metaverse. The metaverse will bring in its own set of unique legal challenges. Read on for a little information on some of them:

Crime In The Metaverse

Creating a virtual world where people can do almost everything they can do in the real world, one element that, without some kind of legal safeguards, could cause problems, is crime, such as scams, cyberbullying, fraud, and more. There is currently no legal framework for this kind of crime.

Security & Privacy

The incoming wave of computer generated content will be massive, and will include such things as avatars, virtual goods, and more new forms of data and user information. Because the concept of the metaverse as a reality in our changing world is so new, there are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding security and consumer privacy when it comes to those troves of data.

Intellectual Property

The metaverse will both create opportunities and cause problems when it comes to the realm of copyrights, patents, trademarks, branding, and other forms of intellectual property. Changes to intellectual property laws will be inevitable as the metaverse grows.

E-Commerce

Online transactions in the metaverse will most likely take place using cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and, right now, a large percentage of the population doesn't really know about or understand either of these concepts. While educating people about how these kinds of currencies work will be a monumental task, there are legal questions that go along with this kind of trading system, such as how laws will differ when purchasing or selling virtual goods. Since virtual real estate is already an NFT, will real estate laws in their present form apply in the metaverse? What about real world trespassing laws if an avatar uses your virtual real estate without permission? Will you be able to mortgage a virtual home? While these issues may make people laugh today, in the very near future - estimates say within the next 5 to 10 years - they may be a very real problem.

Ultimately, the metaverse is too new and too little is known about it to know much about how it will impact everyday people from a legal standpoint, but we do have an opportunity as a society to think about how we want this virtual world to operate in the legal realm. In the end, the most important thing to keep in mind is your rights, as the metaverse will impact everyone's lives in significant ways in the near future. If you have questions about your rights online or in the metaverse, you can speak with your network attorney through our subscription based Legal Protection Plans any time about these questions or any other legal matter, all for one low, monthly fee. Learn more about our plans for Individuals and Families and for Small Businesses today or sign up now!