Focus

Real rights coming to the virtual

By Wang Wen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-23 11:25

The number of online gamers might be on the rise, but so too are concerns over netizen's rights, Wang Wen reports

The rights of online gamers will be protected starting Aug 1 when the Interim Measures for Online Games Management takes effect. Statistics from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) show that China has 296 million players of online games. Today, there are 11.9 percent more online gamers than at the end of 2009. However, before the interim measures were drafted, there were no regulations specifically targeting online games at a time when complaints from users have been increasing along with the number of players.

The Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce said it received 307 complaints about online games in 2009. Such complaints comprised 14 percent of the total number of complaints the organization received about the Internet.

And the number looks set to remain high, with 213 received during the first half of this year.

Many complaints concern virtual property accrued within Internet games.

One major concern is that the operators of online games have refused to compensate people if their accounts or their online property are stolen.

Tao Yongjie, a 27-year-old man working in Beijing, said any player can encounter an online cheat. Tao said his game account was stolen two years ago and he had to fight his way back into his account through the password reclaim mechanism. When he got back online, he found his virtual account had been emptied. He had also lost his online equipment, which he said was worth hundreds of yuan.

"There were no regulations to protect virtual property in China and operators have not accepted responsibility for finding the virtual property," Tao said.

Some virtual property can be found by the operators but they only accept such a request once a year, Tao said. Also, the property must be of great value, he added.

"I do not know why they only accept the request once a year but, in fact, they are technically able to do it," Tao said. "Maybe, they just want to avoid trouble from players."

He also said fraud happens when people try take virtual assets into the real world, a move that will be forbidden under the new interim measures.

"Some people cannot afford to spend much time on the games and they want to buy virtual property to upgrade their capabilities in the games," Tao said. "Usually, such transactions for virtual property involve trades for recharge cards for mobile phones or public transportation, not real money."