Virtual Reality: Common Problems of Legal Regulation

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the analysis of general problems of legal regulation of relations arising in the field of the use of virtual reality technology, as well as problems of technology regulation. The paper analyzes what properties of the technology radically differentiate it from other concepts and create challenges for the development of a system of legal regulation of the use of technology. The author describes the main factors complicating the application of existing mechanisms of legal regulation and does forecasts concerning future problems of regulation. The author comes to the conclusion that this technology is radically different from the existing ones, as it combines the properties of the real world and cyberspace. The virtual reality properties complicating the implementation of legal regulation of relations in the field of the use of this technolog include: high realism, full immersion in the session use and low cybersecurity of hardware and software. The author analyzes several regulatory approaches that could be applied to virtual reality and justifies that they all have significant disadvantages. The results of modern research carried out in the field of the VR safe use in education and leisure are rapidly becoming obsolete, as they do not have time for the technologies development, and can serve as the basis for developing a system of rules only with due regard to this factor.