LEGAL PROTECTION OF PRIVATE INTERESTS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD: POSITIVE AND/OR “SOFT” LAW?
Authors:   Tomsk State University, IVANOV V.V. ,   Samara National Research University, TRUBNIKOVA T.V. ,   Tomsk State University, CHURILOV A.YU. ,   Tomsk State University
Published: December 2024

The work aims to study how the process of legal regulation of the digital world unfolds in time and space, how new rules of behavior are emerging; to identify the main features and patterns of this process that can be extrapolated into the future. For analysis, we chose the game world as part of the digital world based on the following considerations. The gaming industry is currently one of the most rapidly developing sectors of the economy, bringing developers billions of dollars. A number of conflict situations arise between players, players and gaming platforms. These conflict situations are practically not resolved in positive law. Some conflicts are resolved without resorting to the coercive power of the state, including on the basis of rules adopted and/or sanctioned by non-traditional entities: digital platforms, player communities, etc. All this makes the relationships that arise in the world of games a convenient and quite indicative model, the results of the analysis of which can be extrapolated to the digital world as a whole. The challenges associated with the formation of the digital world, potentially requiring legal regulation and legal protection of the private rights of subjects, are described. The global and domestic process of legal regulation of the creation and use of digital world technologies is analyzed. An extreme insufficiency of legislative regulation was discovered and attempts were made to solve this problem by creating “soft law” - ethical codes and rules of digital platforms. The basic needs and insufficiency of legal regulation of the world of games are revealed. The attempts of players to protect their private rights by going to court are analyzed. A method is proposed to distinguish situations in which state intervention is required from those where such intervention is not necessary. A comparative analysis of how different national courts carry out the task of finding a balance of different interests in the field of protecting private rights in the world of games is carried out. Examples of providing state protection to private interests violated in the “game world” or in connection with its functioning are considered, including cases of protection of rights by court decisions based on rules created and supported by gaming companies and digital platforms. In fact, a new source of law is emerging in the world - rules of conduct that are mandatory for all persons operating on certain digital platforms/virtual worlds. These rules are created by new entities - game rights holders, owners of digital platforms, and apply to all persons operating on these platforms, regardless of their citizenship and actual location. Soft law rules created by digital platforms are, by definition, projectable. Our forecast is that under these conditions a fundamentally new position in the division of labor will emerge - the designer of “soft law” norms. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.