Description
The metaverse seems to be on everybody’s lips – and yet, very few people can actually explain what it means or why it is important. This book aims to fill the gap from an interdisciplinary perspective informed by law and media and communications studies. Going beyond the optimism emanating from technology companies and venture capitalists, the authors critically evaluate the antecedents and the building blocks of the metaverse, the design and regulatory challenges that need to be solved, and commercial opportunities that are yet to be fully realised. While the metaverse is poised to open new possibilities and perspectives, it will also be a dangerous place – one ripe with threats ranging from disinformation to intellectual property theft to sexual harassment. Hence, the book offers a useful guide to the legal and political governance issues ahead while also contextualising them within the broader domain of governance and regulation of digital technologies.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
Bibliography
2 Why Now?: From Mediatisation to Virtualisation
2.1 Mediatisation and the Immersed Individual
2.2 Platformisation, Datafication, and the Technology–Experience Nexus
Bibliography
3 Understanding the Metaverse: Beyond the Hype
3.1 Building the Metaverse: Key Opportunities and Challenges
3.2 Experiencing the Metaverse: Enhancements and Limitations
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4 Doing Things: From Work to Sex
4.1 The Economic Side of the Metaverse
4.2 Acting and Feeling in the Metaverse
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5 Law, Life, and Governance
5.1 Conceptualising Life
5.2 Conceptualising Governance
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6 Security, Regulation, and Other Challenges
6.1 Old Wine in New Bottles
6.2 New Wine in Old Bottles
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7 Concluding Thoughts
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Index
