Edward Elgar Publishing Governing the Metaverse: Law, Order and Freedom in Digital Space

This prescient book examines social ordering and governance in the digital universe. It demonstrates how attempts to enact regulations in virtual spaces cannot replicate laws and market arrangements in the real world, advocating for an alternative ‘new law’ to enable safe, sustainable and beneficial digital communities. Mark Findlay discusses how this ‘new law’ could be achieved and the challenges it might face, addressing ideas of inclusive and collaborative governance, digital self-determination and communal bonding in virtual spaces. He outlines the differences between the metaverse and ‘realspace’ which call into question conventional legal reasoning and appreciations, rethinking current reductive paradigms of the virtual universe as an outpost for private property and exchange markets. Governing the Metaverse ultimately explores the notion of law as an enabler of change rather than an enforcer of the status quo and emphasises the potential of this more adaptable interpretation of the law to create an empowering digital world. Students and scholars of constitutional and administrative law, law and politics and internet and technology law will greatly benefit from this thought-provoking book. It is also a vital resource for policymakers and practitioners in the fields of public policy, regulation and governance and technology and IT.