Flavia Kenyon explores her recent success in the Court of Appeal

Is virtual gold "property"? In a landmark decision for the digital age, the Court of Appeal has answered with a definitive yes.

In the recent case of R v Lakeman, the court ruled that in-game currency, specifically virtual gold from Old School RuneScape - is property capable of being stolen under the Theft Act 1968.

Representing the Crown in this significant appeal, Flavia Kenyon explores the deeper implications of this judgment for the future of digital assets and criminal law.

Key Takeaways:

Beyond "Mere Data": The court moved past the idea that digital assets are just lines of code or information. It focused on "instantiated value" - digital states that are functional, controlled, and economically operative.

Function Over Form: Whether an asset can be touched is no longer the litmus test. What matters is whether it is identifiable, persistent, and carries real-world economic significance.

A Common Law Milestone: The ruling proves the law can adapt to contemporary life without abandoning core principles, bridging the gap between physical property and the digital environments we increasingly inhabit.

As value continues to migrate into software-governed environments - from gaming to AI-driven ecosystems - Lakeman provides the conceptual foundation for protecting wealth that is intangible in form but undeniably real in substance.

The article can be viewed here:

https://lnkd.in/exSe4ZEq