Avatars in the metaverse: potential legal issues and remedies

Abstract

This article discusses some of the issues surrounding an avatar of a real-life person in a metaverse. Given that the anticipated rise of metaverse is a developing area, the first part of the article discusses what the metaverse would entail, some suggestions on what these avatars would be like, why such avatars’ rights should be protected and whether consciousness should be a defining characteristic before these rights are granted. The second part of the article analyses incorporation techniques to grant legal personality to avatars in the metaverse as well as some of the potential harms that avatars could cause there, potentially leading to an extension of the real world. The third part of the article deals with imposing liability on a real-life person by lifting the ‘veil’ of the avatar to identify the real person behind the avatar through four foreseeable scenarios, i.e. fraud, defamation, identity theft and crime. The article briefly explores other potential legal issues in the metaverse. The article makes two final recommendations, the possibility of statutory remedies and judicial interpretation to rectify torts committed by avatars.

Identity, Crimes, and Law Enforcement in the Metaverse

“…Some believe that anonymity should be preserved depending on the severity. One possible way to achieve this is by treating avatars like companies since they are similar [5]. For instance, they all have to act through a human and cannot be subjected to imprisonment or physical punishment.…”

“…Another legal concern is whether a user's reallife identity should only be associated with one avatar. The creation of multiple avatars could facilitate defamation [5] or allow a perpetrator to escape punishment under a different avatar (e.g. after they have been banned).…”

“…An AI avatar could also imitate another living or dead person, which can lead to authentication threats and ethical issues. If we take [5]'s suggestion, one way to reduce confusion is to register all avatarshuman-controlled and AI-controlled -on a public registry. Each avatar would be registered under a unique registration/ID number.…”

“…Given the development strategy of technology giants (e.g. Meta 2 , Microsoft 3 , Tencent 4 , and Baidu 5 ) and the expressed interests of large countries (e.g. the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates) in metaverse-related technologies [1], we might be witnessing only the start of a new era.…”

“…3 https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/microsoft-activision-whatsatya-nadella-has-said-about-the-metaverse.html 4 https://www.reuters.com/world/china/tencent-formsextended-reality-unit-metaverse-race-gathers-steam-sources-2022-06-20/ 5 https://www.scmp.com/video/technology/3160931/baiduunveils-chinas-first-metaverse-platform-xi-rang A common vision for the metaverse is a self-sustaining meta-sized virtual space shared by virtual worlds resembling the real world [2] without being restricted by time and space [1]. The metaverse would not only replicate physical, economic, cultural, and legal elements of the real world but also allow users new ways to interact with them.…”