MMORPG 아이템 현금거래 禁止約款의 公正性 문제에 대한 考察

A legal study on fairness of Game Item cash transactions prohibition agreement

'Online game item' which exercises certain function in game and consists of computer program set forth in Computer program protection law is the combination of digital image and sound. Better quality item requires highly developed technique and many usage of game to obtain. Thus, the game user will avoid to dive itself into such a game if he just feels no more than simple labor doing game. However, just because online game is characterized as being allowed to assign to someone systematically, user can get out of his burden through trading this "right to use item" via external cash exchanging. Therefore, very odd situation in which the user do not expense not to play game but do to play game is expected to occur. Even if game item can be exclusively titled as well as assigned and expressed as an similar image as real thing, it can not be considered as a thing because the existent form is not 'material things'. Thus, the right of game item should be explained with the theory of the law of obligation, the right to use of intellectual property and it is also bound by the "game service agreement". Therefore, game item can not have any nature to be assigned as a objective of cash transaction as far as "cash transactions prohibition agreement" does exist. The question of possibility of assignment depends on whether it is fair or not. 'Game community' enhance the loyalty to game and time to play it. This will give much benefit to game service provider, otherwise, it will give much 'burden' to user who has to obey hierarchy and rules of game and does not have vested right. 'Never ending story' of MMORPG which is other side of coin of 'game community' deserves to be protected as a database because it is made by mutual 'play' among numerous users and saved as digital information into server. Thus, 'game play' appears to deserve to be protected as a emotional labor (quasi creation act). Based on this argument mentioned the above, it is understandable that 'cash transaction' is a process of MMORPG play and there is contribution from users in the formation of transaction value of item and furthermore the company make constant profit related to this cash transaction. Therefore, the question of fairness of cash transactions prohibition agreement should be reconsidered in the perspective of reexamination of value of game play.