The first metaverse property dispute arbitration case was concluded within five days of mediation
Guangzhou Arbitration Commission Sets up Metaverse Arbitration Court to Handle Cases Involving Virtual Worlds
□ Our reporter Zhang Ningdan
In recent years, the concept of metaverse has continued to heat up.
Metaverse is a virtual world constructed by human beings using digital technology. It is a virtual world that reflects or surpasses the real world and can interact with the real world. It is a digital living space with a new social system.
Today, digital art collections, online game skins, virtual community land transactions...more and more non-homogeneous digital assets (NFT, whose ownership is recorded on the blockchain) based on blockchain technology, are known for their indivisibility , Irreplaceable, unique and other basic features, transactions are realized in the metaverse virtual scene.
Emerging markets are booming, but how to resolve disputes during transactions?
The answer given by the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission is: for transactions generated in the Metaverse scene, after a dispute occurs, it will return to the Metaverse scene for trial.
Recently, a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" learned from the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission that the Metaverse Arbitration Court established by it has ruled a property dispute case that occurred in the Metaverse. This case is also the first arbitration case in the virtual world.
Offline commercial infringement of digital collections
In July this year, a Hong Kong-funded Internet investment company (hereinafter referred to as a Hong Kong-funded company) engaged in the investment and distribution of digital collections sold a digital avatar of a mechanical armor image to a bar owner in Guangzhou through marketing in the Metaverse. Buyers of metaverse trendy players.
At the end of August, a Hong Kong-funded company discovered that the digital avatar was printed on the cultural shirts of the buyer's bar for promotion.
According to the agreement between the two parties, the digital avatar cannot be used for commercial activities in the real world.
The Hong Kong-funded company believed that the buyer was infringing, and demanded compensation for the loss.
This kind of virtual property dispute originating from the metaverse community has no precedent in judicial trials, and it also has attributes such as technicality and privacy, which brings new challenges to the traditional dispute resolution mechanism.
A Hong Kong-funded company learned that the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission had set up the Metaverse Arbitration Institute to provide virtual arbitration legal services, so it came to Nansha International Arbitration Center, a subsidiary of the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission, for consultation.
Afterwards, both parties agreed to reach an arbitration clause, and decided to file a case through the online Metaverse, and submit the dispute to the Metaverse Arbitration Court for resolution.
"In the era of the digital economy, both parties to the transaction are affected by flow thinking. The large amount of funds occupied and financial profits based on supply and demand in a short period of time make such disputes often urgent. If they are not resolved in time, the economic The loss will increase several times or even dozens of times.” Huang Minxin, an arbitrator in the case and an expert in the field of digital disputes, told reporters.
Huang Minxin said that after obtaining the digital image, one party in this case applied it to offline clothing printing and planned to sell it, which reflected the copyright income when the digital collection and virtual image were transferred offline. The new type of legal guidance is frequent and easy to issue.
Recently, in the online trial scene of the Metaverse Arbitration Court, the arbitrators and the two parties displayed electronic evidence and had a pleading confrontation in a special virtual court room.
Finally, based on the common needs of commercialization interests, under the witness of the arbitrator, the Hong Kong-funded company granted new authorizations to digital image holders and users, and the users properly shared the benefits with the Hong Kong-funded company.
It only took 5 days from the acceptance to the settlement of the Metaverse virtual property dispute case.
Technological means expand dispute resolution channels
In July this year, following the development trend of the Metaverse, the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission established the world's first Metaverse Arbitration Court——Meta City Yuanbang Arbitration Court, creating a precedent for Metaverse arbitration rules.
And it is stationed in the main building of the metaverse city Meta City Yuanbang City Hall (Meta City Hall) to build the Libra Floating Island, becoming the world's first Metaverse Arbitration Court.
Transactions generated in the metaverse scene will return to the metaverse special arbitration court for trial after disputes arise.
It is understood that the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission established the virtual arbitration court of the Metaverse Arbitration Court, which opened up a new channel for the Metaverse to resolve disputes, broke through the limitations of the three-dimensional world, perfectly reproduced the trial content and participants in digital multi-dimensional, and realized disputes in the real world Expansion of resolution mechanisms in virtual worlds.
After the mediation was concluded, both parties were amazed at the novel experience of participating in the Metaverse Arbitration. Everyone displayed virtual images certified by the blockchain in the virtual scene. There was less anger at the tip of the needle and more enthusiasm for technology to change life. Emotional and curious.
The trial mechanism of the Metaverse Arbitration Court pays more attention to privacy protection. Only the arbitrator and the parties know the encrypted password of the room, which ensures that the trial process will not be accidentally interrupted and is highly confidential.
Chen Chen, a researcher at the Theoretical Research Office of the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission, told the reporter: "We have embedded cutting-edge technologies such as holography and virtual media into the Metaverse Arbitration Court. Procedural work such as acceptance, evidence block chain identification, and opinion statement entry is handed over to artificial intelligence, empowering metaverse arbitration."
While creating the Metaverse Arbitration Court, the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission also launched a new intelligent product - "Yun Xiaozhong" robot.
The "Yun Xiaozhong" robot has the advantages of high technological content, uninterrupted service, simple operation interface, flexible and convenient actions, etc. Since its launch in August this year, it has received more than a thousand consultations.
In the trial of this Yuan Universe case, "Yun Xiaozhong" also upgraded and launched the "virtual arbitrator" function.
The arbitrators who hear the cases can quickly obtain relevant legal provisions and judicial interpretations from the "virtual arbitrator" through real-time interactive means such as voice and typing, and search for relevant precedents in the judicial database. The arbitrator’s discretion and the similarities and differences of the adjudication basis are clearly compared in a graphic form. The final judgment is still made by the arbitrator, which greatly reduces the workload of the arbitrator and can quickly respond to new focuses and new problems encountered in the trial. Evidence-based scientific references are given.
Improve virtual world legal services
"Guangzhou Arbitration Commission established the world's first Metaverse Arbitration Court and started the virtual world arbitration and dispute settlement with the first case, realizing the deep integration of 'Internet + law' and ensuring that there is no shortage of laws in the virtual world." said the relevant person in charge of Guangzhou Arbitration Commission .
According to the person in charge, in order to help my country's digital economy continue to grow bigger and stronger, the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission took the lead in launching Internet arbitration recommendation standards and developing the world's first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Online Dispute Resolution (APEC-ODR) platform.
Relying on the leading advantage of Internet arbitration remote hearings, in the first seven months of this year, Guangzhou Arbitration Commission accepted more than 5,800 Internet arbitration cases, an increase of more than 30% year-on-year, and the number of targets increased by nearly 90% year-on-year.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission, in the future, the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission will continue to explore and improve the "virtual arbitrator" mechanism of the Yuanbang Arbitration Court, and apply it to the real-world arbitration cases to provide a mechanism that can be replicated and promoted. A new way to lead the sustainable innovation and development of the multi-dispute resolution mechanism in the metaverse era.
"Guangzhou Arbitration Commission has combined its technological advantages with the development of the arbitration mechanism to create a dispute resolution platform for Metaverse arbitration, which has effectively resolved the virtual property disputes between the parties in the Metaverse, filled the gaps in related fields, and enhanced the international status of Chinese arbitration. image and international influence, I believe that the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission will continue to develop and improve the metaverse arbitration mechanism in the future, and contribute more highlights and surprises." Director of the Economic and Technological Sociology Research Office of the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Lu Peng, executive director of the Institute of Digital China, said.
(Rule of Law Daily)