On 28 July 2022 the Law Commission of England and Wales published
new proposals to reform the law relating to digital
assets.
The Law Commission has identified several areas that call for
law reform, to protect the rights of users and maximise the
potential of digital assets. For example, the intangible nature and
decentralised nature of digital assets mean that some digital
assets do not fit into the current private property law
neatly.
Proposals set out by the Law Commission include:
- creating a distinct category of personal property called
“data objects”, to better accommodate the unique
features of digital assets.
- clarifying the law around ownership and control of digital
assets. The provisional conclusion is that the factual concept of
control (rather than possession) best describes the relationship
between data objects and persons.
