РУАЭСТ (RUAEST)
LEGAL RELATIONS ON THE INTERNET
The article analyzes one of the constituent elements of legal relations under civil law within the virtual space of the Internet – a legal subject under civil law. Although the concept of a legal subject under civil law has been sufficiently elaborated, an analysis of this institution with reference to the Internet will enable the features of its legal regulation to be set out. The main legal challenge associated with the concept of a legal subject under civil law on the Internet is fact that it cannot be personified within virtual space. Relations in the virtual space of the Internet are based on civil law contracts incorporating features of the virtual space created by the Internet. Within this context, the relationship between legal subjects under civil law within the virtual space of the Internet is not regulated specifically by legal norms, but by special agreements between these subjects. By virtue of this convention, the parties which establish legal relations on the Internet initially follow certain contractual settings based on the assumption that the counterparty entering into legal relations within virtual space is first and foremost a person with full legal capacity. Secondly, the subjects must act with the conscious intention to frame their actions in legal terms (inter alia by contractual agreement) even though no visible document is drawn up, as is required for relations between persons in the real world (not on the Internet). Secondly, space. The conventional nature of the relationship within virtual space extends to processes applicable to contractual relations between the parties. It can be stated that the rules regulating these relationships are quasi normative in nature as there are no legal rules establishing how to identify a legal subject and how to determine jurisdiction on the Internet. For these reasons, one of the fundamental principles governing relations within virtual space can be called the principle of the presumption of equality and legal personality of the parties involved. This principle is formulated as follows: within virtual space, parties entering into relations may be assumed to have equal status and legal capacity with regard to real and personal benefits, unless directly asserted or proven otherwise.