Written by: Shao Shiwei
At present, the metaverse market is in a period of rapid development. As a combination of games and decentralized finance (DeFi), the blockchain game GameFi uses blockchain as the underlying technology and has high market potential. Domestic blockchain game projects such as Dragon Island and Sebol have also attracted the attention of many players.
NFT has endowed blockchain games with valuable attributes, and many domestic digital collection platforms (such as HOTDOG, Shibashuzang, etc.) have also begun to layout the blockchain game track.
However, in my country, the launch of an online game requires approval from the State Administration of Press and Publication and a publication number (version number). Due to policy reasons, game versions are strictly controlled. In 2018, the regulatory authorities even suspended the issuance of game versions[1]. After the approval was resumed after 9 months, the number of online game version approvals began to drop sharply.
At present, there is no blockchain game platform in my country that has obtained a publishing license.
In this context, while some digital treasure project parties hope to transform into blockchain games, they are also worried about not being able to obtain game licenses. Are there any related legal risks?
Let's look at a piece of news:
(Police closing in on the arrest scene)
It can be seen that putting games online without a version number or using a fake version number is suspected of constituting the crime of illegal business operation.
However, I believe that the application of "illegal business operation" as a pocket crime in my country is itself highly controversial. Blockchain game platforms that go online without obtaining a game license should not be charged with this crime.
The following is divided into 2 points for explanation:
According to the definition of illegal business operation crime in the Criminal Law, there are two basic conditions for constituting this crime: 1. Violation of national regulations, 2. Disruption of market order.
Article 225 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the crime of illegal business operation is: Violating state regulations, engaging in any of the following illegal business operations, disrupting the market order, and the circumstances are serious...
Reason 1: Launching blockchain games without a version number does not constitute a violation of national regulations
According to my country's criminal law, "national regulations" refer to the laws and decisions designated by the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee, the administrative regulations formulated by the State Council, the prescribed administrative measures, and the decisions and orders issued.
The view that online games without a version number are criminal is based on the "Regulations on the Administration of Online Publishing Services", but the effectiveness of this regulation is that of departmental regulations. Although the effectiveness of the "Regulations on the Administration of Publishing" on which this regulation is based is that of administrative regulations, the application of the "Regulations on the Administration of Publishing" is limited to "electronic publications". However, there is no clear provision on whether online games fall into the category of "electronic publications". According to the "Regulations on the Administration of the Publication of Electronic Publications", electronic publications are generally a tangible carrier[2].
Therefore, the launch of blockchain games without a version number does not violate national regulations.
Article 51 of the Regulations on the Administration of Online Publishing Services: If anyone engages in online publishing services without approval, or publishes online games (including online games authorized by overseas copyright holders) online without authorization, according to Article 61 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing and Article 19 of the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services, … if such person has violated the criminal law, he shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law. Article 2 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (Revised in 2020) … The term “publications” as used in these Regulations refers to newspapers, periodicals, books, audio-visual products, electronic publications, etc.
Reason 2: Launching blockchain games without a version number does not constitute "disrupting the market order"
According to the provisions of the Criminal Law, the crime of illegal business operation must reach the level of seriously disrupting the market order, and lists behaviors such as operating state-monopolized and restricted items; buying and selling import and export licenses and other approval documents; and illegally engaging in fund payment and settlement business.
One of the characteristics of criminal law is that it is “punishable.” According to the “Regulations on the Administration of Online Publishing Services,” operators can be fined up to 10 times the illegal turnover, have their websites shut down, and have their illegal gains confiscated, among other punishments.
In the absence of explicit provisions in the criminal law that blockchain games without qualifications and licenses constitute "serious disruption of market order", and in the absence of corresponding administrative penalty provisions, criminal means should no longer be used for punishment in accordance with the modest nature of the criminal law.
risk warning
Even if the blockchain game projects launched without a version number do not constitute illegal business operations, they still need to pay attention to compliance at other levels during operation. For example, whether there is suspected infringement of other people's copyrights, whether it involves pornography, violence, or violation of the core socialist values, etc. If the circumstances are serious enough to meet the standards for filing other criminal charges, there are still certain risks.
[1] On March 29, 2018, the former State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television issued the “Notice on Important Matters Concerning Game Application and Approval”, stating that due to institutional reform, the issuance of all game licenses was suspended. [2] Article 2 of the “Regulations on the Administration of Publishing Electronic Publications” states that… Electronic publications as referred to in these Regulations refer to mass media that are edited and processed in digital code form and stored on magnetic, optical, electrical or other media in a fixed physical form, and are read and used by electronic reading, display and playback devices, including read-only optical discs (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.), write-once optical discs (CD-R, DVD-R, etc.), rewritable optical discs (CD-RW, DVD-RW, etc.), floppy disks, hard disks, integrated circuit cards, etc., as well as other media forms recognized by the General Administration of Press and Publication.
