I. INTRODUCTION
Today, Metaverse is evolving rapidly and inevitably. The number of people who use Metaverse is also increasing day by day. Given this massive growth, it should come as no surprise that there is already intense conflict in the Metaverse realm, which was built to allow humans to achieve anything they can in the modern world and even more. People are accustomed to carrying out their jobs in this universe without ever leaving their homes, as many businesses have already established themselves there and many have begun to sell. However, although conflicts increase, since national and international regulations specific to the Metaverse universe have not been prepared yet, the problems experienced by Metaverse users cannot be solved for now, even though this situation reduces the trust in Metaverse1.
At this point of time, Metaverse is the latest point of technology visually and experientially. People are able to join this universe from around the world, they can create their own avatars and perform almost every action that they can do in their daily lives, also they’re able to do even more since there are no physical impossibilities in the Metaverse realm. Although a world full of unlimited possibilities excites people, there is a need for regulations in the Metaverse, as in any place an individual enters. It is clear that the utopian virtual universes will lead to legal issues in a relatively short amount of time and on a broad scale, especially at a time when the current legal framework cannot keep up with the speed of technology for the Metaverse concept.
II. METAVERSE
A. What is Metaverse?
Metaverse, aka Web 3.0; is a type of decentralized virtual universe system that contains multiple universes both online and in three dimensions. In the multiple universe system people can create avatars, attend concerts; companies can open a virtual store and sell items or buy land from there.
Metaverse has attracted the attention of many world-famous companies with its increasingly widespread usage area, increasing interest and participation of people, and has increased its popularity and reliability with the stores opened and sales made through it. Thereupon, many companies and brands have tended to enter the technology “from the ground” by buying land and stores from virtual universes.
The concept of “Metaverse” was first mentioned as a concept combining the words “meta” and “universe” in the science fiction novel “Snow Crash”, published in 1982 by a science fiction writer Neil Stevenson2. The Metaverse universe; is a technology concept fed by four different technology branches: virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and hyper-reality3.
B. Development Process of Metaverse
Although Metaverse is a new technology, the development of technologies that enable the development of Metaverse is much older than expected. Sir Charles Wheatstone, a scientist, came up with the concept of producing a three-dimensional visual by making a picture visible for each of the person’s eyes in his project termed “binocular vision.” This effort is regarded as the ancestor to virtual reality headsets. Science fiction writer Stanley Weinbaum’s idea of eyeglasses in his work “Pygmalion’s Spectacles” published in 1935, which allows one to experience practices of another universe with his five senses, although it has not yet been made real today, it contains considerable similarities with the concept of virtual reality4.
Indeed, the first virtual reality device was created in 1956 by Morton Heilig. By giving the user a motorcycle riding experience, Heilig, supported the approach of three-dimensional driving to reality with details such as sound and smell, as well as the seat that creates the feeling of being on the motorcycle moving on the road.
With the “Aspen Movie Map” designed by MIT in 1970, which is the closest invention to virtual reality, was designed to familiarize the soldiers with the region that was to be occupied, the user was able to walk in an exact copy of the town, walk on the streets in a three-dimensional simulation supported by visual and sound effects, by entering the three-dimensional version of the town of Aspen in Colorado5.
Although there are many known small improvements, the first big step was the invention of the virtual reality device called Oculus Rift VR in 2010, which was invented by an entrepreneur named Palmer Lucky. With this VR device, the user is provided with a more normal experience by the angled view, since the computer processing power can be fully reflected, this invention, which prevented the primitive experience of previous inventions, became the ancestor of today’s virtual reality devices.
III. METAVERSE LAW
A. General Framework for Metaverse Law
It is extremely difficult to develop a legal notion about the Metaverse because the universe of the Metaverse and the capacity of the universe in many areas are unknowns at this time. To handle this situation, legislators seem to embrace the idea of using existing laws and legal frameworks that can be applied to the Metaverse platform, rather than the idea of creating a new law for now.
The first stop of Metaverse usage will be creation of an avatar6. The user can build an avatar of themselves in the metaverse by sharing some of their personal information. Users can reflect all their physical characteristics on to their avatars, from clothing to body types, as well as from hair colours to height, while creating their Metaverse images. However, for the creation of the image, the issues of confidentiality, storage and use of the personal data entered in Metaverse are important. International data protection is provided by EU General Data Protection Regulation.
The personality status of the avatar created in Metaverse will also be a topic of discussion. Creating an avatar in this universe is an ego (self-image) status in which the person creates with awareness that reflects own features and represents himself/herself, rather than the motivation of creating multiple-characters that we were familiar in the games. In this case, discussions arise as to whether the bodily integrity of this “self” will be preserved, and whether someone else can be held responsible for violating their bodily integrity.
B. Problems That May Arise From the Metaverse System7
In Horizon Worlds, one of the VR universes, a woman was harassed physically and verbally by two male avatars8. In this case, although there is no international uniform legislation as in the field of personal data protection, national law can be applied in dispute resolution. Issue of whether these people will be held liable in scope of criminal law is a topic of another debate. Issue of whether the condition of committing a crime against a natural person or legal entity is fulfilled that sought for liability under the criminal law, will clarify after the personality definitions of avatar regulate.
Another possible problem that may be encountered in the Metaverse is how the employment agreements will be drawn up. In the Metaverse, companies open stores and employ their employees in these stores as well, and some of them continue to work in virtual offices. There are many grey areas as what kind of regulations will be made in employment contracts and how the overtime pays will be set. Whether the employers will be liable for employees’ act in Metaverse, whether “strict liability” concept will be work is among the questions that have not yet been answered. To explain the situation with an example, if a store employee in the Metaverse loses or misplaces the work that is supposed to be delivered to the buyer in another virtual office, to what extent the employer’s responsibility will be lost, is it possible to recreate the work and perform it, or to what extent it can hold the worker responsible.
In the Metaverse universe, property concept is still an unsolved problem. People started to buy land from the universe by leaps and bounds, and companies even have moved their stores to the Metaverse universe, sometimes exactly the same as in our world. Even today a large part of Istanbul’s land in the Metaverse has been purchased. In this case, it is still a mystery to what extent people can protect their property rights in the Metaverse universe. Considering that the same lands are also sold and owned in our world, it is easy to encounter different people claiming the same land in the Metaverse in the future. In this situation, it is still unknown whether the land registers or Metaverse register will be considered.
In the Metaverse reality, it is still unclear what will happen to the copyrights for works and commercials. Will a corporation be able to exploit its patent rights if the Metaverse universe makes use of a product covered by patent rights from our world, or do such patent rights also apply when a product is used in a different universe that is deemed to be “non-existent”? Likewise, since selling products in the Metaverse universe does not make a difference in the world we live in, it will be necessary to discuss whether it falls within our rights protected by the law. In the same way, the development of an NFT version of a work that people in the Metaverse can buy with cryptocurrency and the ability to sell it for a price that can be converted to the currencies we use on a daily basis could result in the owner of the same work losing its rights in our reality.
IV. CONCLUSION
Whatever rights are protected in our world, from personal rights to property rights and copyrights, will need to be protected in the same way in the Metaverse. The speed of development of the universe and its use is increasing day by day and is becoming inaccessible. Due to the rapid expansion and diversification of the actions that avatars can perform as a result of cosmological develop - ments, which are distinct from those of everyday life, the laws that are unique to this universe are not yet prepared by considering its needs. In fact, the lack of any notable advancement in this area is a sign of future conflicts and major issues.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
B. BERNARD MARR & CO, https://bernardmarr.com/a-short-history-of-the-metaverse/ (Date of Access: 25.10.2022).
J. M. NORMAN, The Aspen Movie Map: Early Interactive Computing and Virtual Reality. https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=2027 (Date of Access: 25.10.2022).
Metaverse Avatar Guide; Embody Yourself in the Metaverse. https://metamandrill.com/metaverse-avatar/#vr-avatars (Date of Access: 08.11.2022).
CIARÁN MCCOLLUM, Metalaw: the Law of the Metaverse. https://www.iotforall.com/metalaw-law-of-metaverse (Date of Access: 20.10.2022).
GÖKHAN KOCAMAZ, “Metaverse” ve “Hukuk”. (Date of Access: 08.11.2022).
MARTIN BOY, “Regulating The Metaverse: Can We Govern The Ungovernable?”, 2022 https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinboyd/2022/05/16/regulating-the-metaverse-can-we-govern-the-ungovernable/?sh=708894f71961 (Date of Access: 20.10.2022).
FOOTNOTE
1 Martin Boy, “Regulating The Metaverse: Can We Govern The Ungovernable?”, 2022 https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinboyd/2022/05/16/regulating-the-metaverse-can-we-govern-the-ungovernable/?sh=708894f71961 (Date Accessed: 20.10.2022).
2 Ciarán Mccollum, Metalaw: the Law of the Metaverse. https://www.iotforall.com/metalaw-law-of-metaverse (Date Accessed: 20.10.2022).
3 Metaverse Policy Institute, https://www.metaversepolicy.org/ (Date Accessed: 27.10.2022).
4 B. Bernard Marr & Co, https://bernardmarr.com/a-short-historyof-the-metaverse (Date Accessed: 25.10.2022).
5 J. M. Norman, The Aspen Movie Map: Early Interactive Computing And Virtual Reality. Https://Www.Historyofinformation.Com/Detail.Php?İd=2027 (Date Accessed: 25.10.2022).
6 Metaverse Avatar Guide; Embody Yourself in the Metaverse. https://metamandrill.com/metaverse-avatar/#vr-avatars (Date Accessed: 08.11.2022).
7 Gökhan Kocamaz, “Metaverse” Ve “Hukuk”. (Date Accessed: 08.11.2022).
8 “Female avatar sexually assaulted in Meta VR platform, campaigners say”, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61573661 (Date Accessed: 31.10.2022).
