On Monday 11 December, the MEPs on Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) adopted the own-initiative report by Axel Voss (EPP, German) and Iban García del Blanco (S&D, Spanish) on the challenges posed by virtual worlds to private international law, civil law and intellectual property law (15 votes in favour, one against and two abstentions).
“We have created a good basis for the legal assessment of virtual worlds, which are developing rapidly. [...] What we now expect from the Commission are guidelines and best practice clarifying the legal obligations and responsibilities of the various players involved in virtual worlds, as well as regular checks on the adequacy of the applicable legal provisions”, commented Mr Voss.
While MEPs in JURI welcomed the Commission’s definition of virtual worlds, they insisted on the development of a clear framework of legal obligations and responsibilities for all stakeholders, including platform operators, service providers and developers.
The text also stresses that the collection of personal and biometric data raises “ethical issues” and should require “repeated consent for each use and purpose limitation”.
The Commission should also ensure that the territoriality principle does not apply to virtual worlds, and that existing provisions are evaluated and, if necessary, amended to prevent non-European companies from forum shopping.
Furthermore, according to MEPs, suppliers of virtual goods and services should be able to be “identified and held liable for any harm caused by their products”. Emphasis should also be placed on the fight against identity theft, as well as on the protection of intellectual and industrial property rights, including trademarks, patents and trade secrets.
While conceding that legislation will not be able to address all the issues - in particular the new challenges posed by AI (see EUROPE 13311/17) - MEPs do stress the need to “raise awareness, improve digital skills and increase users’ access to key technologies in order to reduce the digital divide”.
On 28 November, members of Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) adopted a report on the opportunities, risks and policy implications of virtual worlds for the single market (see EUROPE 13302/15). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)