[雙語翻譯]外文翻譯--虛擬財產(chǎn)中的產(chǎn)權制度（英文）

1、Widener University Commonwealth Law SchoolFrom the SelectedWorks of Juliet M Moringiello2008Towards a System of Estates in Virtual PropertyJuliet M MoringielloAvailable at: https://works.bepress.com/juliet_moringiello/6/

2、4 J.M. Moringiello This past year, Linden Research, the developer of the virtual world Second Life, was sued by one of its members, Marc Bragg. One of Bragg’s allegations was that Linden, by terminating his Second Lif

3、e account, wrongfully deprived him of his virtual property and is thus liable for conversion. Linden Research, on the other hand, contends that Bragg’s use of any virtual world property is governed by the Second Life T

4、erms of Service, which appears to grant users a license to use Linden’s property during the time that they are members of Second Life. The case of Bragg v. Linden Research1 highlights many of the issues that will ari

5、se when courts are forced to determine rights in intangible assets. The proliferation of virtual world activity makes virtual property a good vehicle for discussing the problem that courts have in determining the righ

6、ts of persons in intangible assets. In this paper, I suggest that rights in intangible assets be viewed in the context of the numerus clausus principle. The numerus clausus mandates that there be only a fixed number

7、of ways of holding property. The principle is universally recognised as applicable to real property, and as a result of its application persons purchasing or financing real property know that they need only be concerne

8、d about a limited number of estates in that land.2 The numerus clausus is not applied as strictly to intangible rights.3 There may be several reasons for this. One is that lawmaking institutions tend to have difficult

9、y separating intangible assets from the contracts that created those assets. Another is that virtual property is unfamiliar to us. Often, when we think of intangible property, we think of two distinct types of asset

10、s – payment rights, such as accounts receivable, deposit accounts, and negotiable instruments, and intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights. Intangible property rights beg for standardisation

11、. Using virtual world property as an example, I will illustrate some of the problems that intangible assets raise for the law. I will then discuss the numerus clausus principle, drawing heavily from the work of Thoma

12、s Merrill and Henry Smith. I will then explain why the numerus clausus principle would help to explain rights in virtual property and suggest some approaches to fashioning estates in virtual world assets. 2 An introd

13、uction to virtual worlds A virtual world can be defined as an online environment that is both persistent and dynamic.4 It is persistent because it does not cease to exist when the participant turns her computer off; i

14、t is dynamic because it is continuously changing. There are two broad categories of virtual worlds. The first category consists of scripted games such as World of Warcraft and the second consists of non-scripted worlds

15、 such as Second Life. A participant in a scripted game world acquires property by playing the game. A player advances by acquiring game objects. These game objects grant powers to the player, and the player uses thes

16、e powers to achieve higher status in the game.5 The terms of use for games such as World of Warcraft forbid real-world trades of these assets.6 Notwithstanding this prohibition, property won in World of Warcraft is rout