PhD abstract - Governance of Virtual Worlds

Here is a draft of the abstract of my PhD. I'm still working at these concepts, and they're fairly flexible at the moment. Comments are appreciated.

Virtual worlds are becoming increasingly popular and diverse. The immersive nature of these worlds challenges us to consider concepts of place, social relationships, economics, property, and many other aspects of social life. These worlds provide an excellent opportunity for interaction, learning, and research, as well as raising some very interesting questions about culture, regulation, property, and society.

This paper will consider the theoretical basis for legitimate domination in virtual worlds. Most modern virtual worlds are large commercial enterprises, and the owners of these spaces are predominantly cast as (mostly-)benign dictators. This provides an immediate source of conflict for relationships between participants and the administration, particularly where participants are responsible for a large proportion of the value of these spaces. It is not, however, clear whether or not this form of social organisation exists out of necessity. The first objective of this paper will be to examine whether and when consensus governance models can be appropriate within virtual worlds.

The second objective of this paper will be to consider to what extent a functioning virtual government can be considered sovereign, and on what grounds territorial sovereigns may legitimately exercise authority over the owners, participants, and relationships within virtual worlds. As the barriers between real- and virtual-world economies become more porous, how will they be regulated by territorial-based law? Crime, fraud, and taxation are some of the more obvious interests states will have in these virtual spaces, but these factors are by no means exclusive. As these worlds grow, and individuals invest more of their time, money, and social capital inside, what duties and responsibilities will we assign to the operators of the worlds? The fundamental question then is: when can disputes and relationships within virtual worlds be resolved and governed internally, and when must other states interfere?