The existence of law is to organize our daily lives, responsibilities, and decisions on the physical world we live on. However, can we lead the metaverse with an old approach to law?
Today, technologies and digital applications advance quickly, while traditional regulations use conventional ideas to manage our lives. Thus, we are challenged by a question: Can we resolve this problem by speeding up? An old perspective may not control the future world, i.e., the Metaverse. Understanding and internalizing this universe seems essential to regulate and make it more livable by rules.
We tend to question our relationship with technology and the current legislation through everyday and routine activities. However, the video game industry adjusts to new advancements faster than others. For example, augmented reality refers to an interactive experience of the real world in digital content includes audio, video, images, or GPS data which has become widespread with computer games. Today, augmented reality is primarily employed for customer experience in e-commerce, pre-production trials in industrial design, and spatial interaction in online meetings. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a term we hear a lot these days, refer to unique digital assets stored on a blockchain. Using NTFs in video games, virtual equipment has evolved from an entertainment tool to an investment instrument. NFTs also aid in scripting artworks such as images, audio files, videos, and other types of data on the blockchain in a decentralized digital environment and enable digital certification. We’re seeing the democratization of the entire art market through this digital disruption. Similarly, smartwatches, wristbands, virtual reality glasses, and clothes that track our body movements with smart sensors have become a part of our daily lives, most commonly applied in the entertainment health and defense industry. 5G technology, on the other hand, reduces latency through the use of 5th generation telecommunications services with higher data transfer capacities, ensuring reciprocal interaction of those technologies and improving and facilitating access to virtual environments. Existing law and new legislation intended to regulate these technologies to control public life and trade.
Currently, the combination of these technologies leverages the Metaverse that can be broadly and arguably defined as follows: a network where many people can interact with each other and digital objects through their avatars, and where different virtual environments also interact with one another.1
According to Facebook, which relaunched itself as Meta, people will connect, find communities, and expand their businesses in the Metaverse, which will provide us with a richer 3D experience than the observable 2D world.2
Today, the space at the intersection of “the artificial,” i.e., beyond the current universe, and “the real” marks a transformation that will affect the lives of entire societies. As an extension of real-world ownership and creative economy, the metaverse redefines a place where we can express ourselves through consumption.
Major brands have announced that they have opened virtual stores in the metaverse and investing in PR strategies to promote their brand value. Nike continues to be an early mover on the metaverse; it bought a virtual shoe company RTFKT3 that makes NFTs and sneakers ‘for the metaverse.’ Space Runners, one of its shareholders is a Turkish entrepreneur, who manufactures digital shoes for use in the metaverse, games, and social media acquired its first investment.4 H&M also joins the list of fashion brands aspiring to harness the PR potential of the metaverse, which presented its new collection, H&M Innovation Circular Design Story, in Madrid in an immersive fashion.5
Metaverse and the Legal Challenges
The potential of this world is not limited to virtual meetings, games, and shopping. We also expect developments in sports, health, and education. The financial system of this structure grows with the use of NFTs and cryptocurrencies, and we must question the future legal implications.
Applicable laws have governed innovative products and their implications. Products subject to intellectual property legislation have been registered by their inventors and marketed through license agreements. Today, enterprises operating in this new area still benefit from the current system to protect their rights. Nike applied to the Patent and Trademark Office to register its virtual products. Liquidax Capital recently introduced its game-oriented patent portfolio to announce its licensing, merging, and partnership options.6 Moreover, the Barbados government purchased a virtual land for the embassy in the metaverse according to an agreement with a virtual reality platform, Decentraland.7
Local laws and international agreements still govern these investments; however, decentralized structures are on the rise, as evidenced by the emergence of NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Will it be feasible to rule or at least lead the race for the technological hegemony in the metaverse by resorting to the central authority and applying for a brand license?
These developments force us to recognize the arrival of a new era, but it does not negate the need for rules, laws, and regulations. Just as the traditional legal and moral norms do not provide holistic solutions to the problems that arose due to rapid changes in society and technology, the new universe will undoubtedly be challenging. However, the human mind will overcome the state of nature with a new social contract defined by Hobbes.
- https://evrimagaci.org/metaverse-nedir-ve-neden-cok-onemlidir-yasamlarimizi-dijital-bir-evrene-tasiyabilir-miyiz-11135
- https://www.marketingturkiye.com.tr/haberler/metaverse-yarisi-basladi/
- https://news.nike.com/news/nike-acquires-rtfkt
- https://egirisim.com/2021/11/12/turk-girisimcinin-liderlik-ettigi-metaverseler-icin-dijital-ayakkabi-space-runners-30-milyon-dolar-degerleme-ile-yatirim-aldi/
- https://today.in-24.com/entertainment/News/247265.html
- https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2021-12-08/liquidax-capital-introduces-metaverse-patent-portfolio
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-14/barbados-tries-digital-diplomacy-with-planned-metaverse-embassy
