Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Edited Legal Collections Data

Fairfield, Josh A.T. --- "Mixed reality: how the laws of virtual worlds govern everyday life" [2018] ELECD 1376; in Barfield, Woodrow; Blitz, J. Marc (eds), "Research Handbook on the Law of Virtual and Augmented Reality" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 103

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Law of Virtual and Augmented Reality

Editor(s): Barfield, Woodrow; Blitz, J. Marc

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786438584

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Mixed reality: how the laws of virtual worlds govern everyday life

Author(s): Fairfield, Josh A.T.

Number of pages: 50

Abstract/Description:

Just as the Internet linked human knowledge through the simple mechanism of the hyperlink, now reality itself is being hyperlinked, indexed, and augmented with virtual experiences. Imagine being able to check the background of your next date through your cell phone or experience a hidden world of trolls and goblins while you are out strolling in the park. This is the exploding technology of Mixed Reality, which augments real places, people, and things with rich virtual experiences. As virtual and real worlds converge, the law that governs virtual experiences will increasingly come to govern everyday life. The problem is that offline and online law have significantly diverged. Consider the simple act of purchasing something. If you purchase a book offline, you are its owner. If you purchase an ebook, you own nothing. As Mixed Reality technologies merge real space and cyberspace, the question is whether online or offline law will determine consumers’ rights over their property and data. There is a very real risk that courts will continue to reason from online analogies rather than turning to offline common law rules to determine consumers’ rights. This chapter offers a modest proposal for rebalancing the law. The common law proceeds by reasoned progression based on the closest available analogy. The chapter suggests that the common law has long evolved internal checks and balances for rules that govern citizens’ everyday lives. The chapter proposes rebalancing the law of Mixed Reality by using analogies to real-world situations, rather than limiting legal analysis to intellectual property and online licensing law.