Reconsidering the Concept of a Thing in Terms of the Digital Environment: Law Towards an Understanding of a Digital Thing

This article deals with the issues of reconsidering the concept of thing in terms of the digital environment and the formation of understanding of the digital thing. In terms of digitalization, the legal systems of civil and common law are characterized by the further development of digital objects of law towards of reflecting the material world combined with the features of the digital legal environment. The need for unambiguous regulation of relations regarding the use of new technologies necessitates the implementation in law of a new legal tools that can revolutionise commercе and non-commercial activity, which include, first of all, specifically digital things. Digital things are fundamental component of the digital legal environment, which are being recognized as existing in digital form objects of civil rights. The accommodation of digital legal objects requires a reconsidering of the concept of property and things towards the introduction of a broad understanding of thing, a kind or digital analogue of which are digital things as part of the person's property, which are appropriated (acquisition and termination) and participated in a civil turnover under the general rules of material things, taking into account the features of the digital environment provided by law, contract or the essence of the digital thing. This necessitates the formation of conceptual legal provisions on property and a broad understanding of things, concepts and types of digital things. The authors of this research propose to reconsider the understanding of property (1) and thing (2) towards of their broad understanding in terms of digitalization, to define the concepts and legal nature (3) and types of digital things (4), to use the functional methodological approach of the digital thing (5) and the resulting features of the virtual asset as a digital thing (6).