Qualification of Taking Possession of Someone Else’s Property in Virtual Worlds

Introduction. The article is devoted to the criminal-legal assessment of the seizure of objects in metaverses. The author characterizes metaverses as one of the most promising areas of development of modern information and telecommunication technologies. Metaverses are fictional worlds with a multi-million audience and their own economy. It is not surprising that violations of rights, primarily economic ones, are becoming increasingly widespread in them. Violations of rights to other people’s objects in metaverses are registered all over the world. This practice is also widespread in the Russian Federation. Methods. The problem of taking possession of objects in metauniverses is investigated by the author on the basis of the general dialectical method of cognition using general theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, logical, systemic) and specific scientific methods (formal-logical, legal analysis). Results. There are several possible approaches to the qualification of seizure of someone else’s property in the virtual world. The first is a complete refusal to regulate such relations by the state. Some experts recognize the need to regulate these relations, but believe that the current criminal law does not contain suitable provisions. There is an opinion that virtual objects can be recognized as the subject of theft. Also in practice, there is a qualification of the described acts as unauthorized access to computer information. Discussion and Conclusion. The author expresses his opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of the above approaches and substantiates his point of view that the appropriation of someone else’s property in the virtual world should be considered as a violation of the intellectual rights of the platform owner or another user. If the necessary qualifying features are present, such appropriation should be qualified as a crime against intellectual property.