- 期刊
線上遊戲「虛擬財產」法律性質與產業發展趨勢之研究
A Study about the Legal Position of Online Game Virtual Property and the Newest Trend of Game Industry
摘要
伴隨網際網路的普及與頻寬的不斷提升，「線上遊戲」(Online Game)已成爲國人休閒娛樂生活的重心。其中，在所謂的「多人線上角色扮演遊戲」(MMORPG)大受歡迎下，部分玩家爲求能在最短時間內擁有最好的虛擬武器、裝備以強化角色能力，衍生了遊戲虛擬財產金錢交易，也使得原本單純爲增進遊戲樂趣的虛擬財產，透過玩家買賣行爲，進而轉變爲真實社會中實體經濟的一環。 在龐大的交易市場成形之際，我國線上遊戲業者一致地採取反對的態度，紛紛在其定型化契約條款中，明文禁止玩家從事虛擬財產金錢交易，然此一立場往往與玩家的想法相左。線上遊戲「虛擬財產」法律性質究竟爲何？實已成爲遊戲市場相關爭議之關鍵核心。本文除檢視國內外網路遊戲產業發展現況外，並透過分析比較國內外法制與最新實務案例，以期釐清線上遊戲虛擬財產之法律性質，及其金錢交易行爲之可行性，裨益我國遊戲業者未來經營策略上的參考。
並列摘要
Along with the popularization of Internet and the improvement of the broadband service, ”Online Game” has already become the core of compatriots' life nowadays. Especially while the MMORPG games become extremely popular, part of game players start to exchange virtual weapons and equipments with real money because of the expectation to enhance abilities of game characters in a short time. This situation triggers those virtual game property, which are created to increase enjoyment of games in the first place, become part of the real world economy. While the formation of the trading market, domestic game industries unanimously oppose players exchange virtual property through real money trading, and almost all companies embody prohibitive doctrines in their standard contract s to forbid those trading conducts. This attitude, however, is clearly opposite to players' demand. Hence, what is the legal position of ”virtual property” has become a major dispute in the game market. In this article, we will not only exam the current development of domestic and international game industries, but also will analysis and compare legislations and the newest cases between Taiwan and other nations in order to ascertain the legal position of online game virtual property and the possibility of real money trading. This research could be the reference of future operating strategies of domestic game industries.