miHoYo and Shiyue crack down on rumor-mongering, 30 million fraudulent money to recharge the game, whether the manufacturer is responsible| ...

01 miHoYo, Guangzhou Shiyue and other companies clarified false remarks and cracked down on rumor-mongering

On April 23, the official account of "miHoYo" issued a "Solemn Statement on Cracking Down on Rumors", saying that the relevant rumor-mongers led by "Zhi XX Cat" have been arrested and brought to justice. And solemnly declared, "miHoYo will uphold a zero-tolerance attitude towards any form of malicious slander, slander, fabrication and dissemination of false information about miHoYo, and will not tolerate it."

In addition, the official public account of Guangzhou Shiyue Network Technology Co., Ltd. "Shiyue Network" also issued a "Statement on Clarifying Untrue Statements" on April 19. In response to malicious remarks and false rumors about the attendance mechanism and the scene of medical delivery, the statement clarified the truth and declared that the company would reserve all rights to take legal action and protect its rights in accordance with the law.

Noelson Comments:

Rumor-mongering disrupts the market order, undermines the rules of the game industry, and easily plunges the industry into a state of distrust and vicious competition. This will not only hinder the normal development of the industry, but also may cause a series of social problems.

In the face of malicious remarks and false rumors, game companies can actively seek legal remedies, such as issuing solemn statements or contacting online information service platforms to delete false information as soon as possible, and in serious cases, they can also report rumor-mongering to public security organs, network regulatory departments and other relevant institutions to actively protect their rights.

02 If 30 million fraudulent proceeds are invested in the game, is the game company responsible for this?

On April 23, #女校长诈骗学生家长5000万后自杀身亡#的话题登上微博热搜, which attracted widespread attention.

A female principal is suspected of committing fraud to the parents, relatives and friends of a number of school students between 2017 and 2020. In 2021, after the public security department opened a case for investigation, the suspect committed suicide by jumping into the river.

Because the suspect used 30 million of the fraudulent amount to recharge a game before his death, 29 victims sued the parties' parents, Tenpay, and the game manufacturer in 2022. Recently, the second instance has just ended, and it is currently waiting for the court's verdict.

Noelson Comments:

In this case, the money obtained by the suspect from the fraud was illegal income, but the game company only acted as an entertainment platform and was not obliged to check whether the source of each recharge was legal. As a result, gaming companies are generally not directly responsible for the investment of fraudulent money into games.

However, for large recharge payments, we recommend that gaming companies increase their duty of care and scrutiny.

It can be seen from Article 18 of the Measures for the Administration of Online Games (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) released in 2023 that the state tends to require online game companies to pay the necessary attention and review obligations for large recharges and irrational consumption.

In addition, if the game company knows or should know that the source of the user's funds is illegal, but still provides services for the user, it may need to bear the corresponding legal liability.

Therefore, game companies still need to fulfill the necessary obligations to prevent and combat illegal activities on a case-by-case basis. For example, we have strengthened user identity authentication and fund supervision, established an effective reporting and complaint mechanism, and actively cooperated with relevant departments in investigation and handling.

03 Ali Games' request for the recovery of 1 million prepaid royalties was rejected

Recently, the judgment document has published the second-instance judgment of Guangzhou Aijiuyou Information Technology Co., Ltd. (formerly known as "Ali Games") and Wonderful Forest Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. on the dispute over the custom development of game software, involving the development of the game and the subsequent application for the version number. The basic facts of the case are as follows:

In July 2018, Ali Games signed a contract with Wonderful Forest, stipulating that Ali Games entrusted Wonderful Forest to create, develop and produce game works based on the cartoon "Legend of the Silk Road".

In December 2018, Ali Games refused to pay the balance of the contract to a network technology company on the grounds that it had not applied for the version number of the game involved in the case and no longer made a game payment package, and proposed to modify the terms of the contract, at which point differences of opinion began to arise between the two parties.

In April 2020, Ali Games sued for the termination of the entrusted R&D contract and the return of 1 million yuan in royalties by Wonderful Forest, and in September, Wonderful Forest countersued Ali Games, demanding the payment of the remaining 1 million yuan in advance royalties and 1.84 million yuan in late fees.

In this regard, the Supreme People's Court pointed out that "the fundamental reason for the dispute between Ali Games and Wonderful Forest is that Alibaba Games decided to stop the application for the version number of the game involved in the case without authorization, resulting in the inability of the game version to open the paid SDK module, the inability to launch the billing test and acceptance normally, and the inability to launch commercial operation." ”

"Ali Games decided to stop the application for the game version involved in the case without authorization during the development of the game involved in the case, resulting in the failure to achieve the purpose of the contract, and its behavior has constituted a fundamental breach of contract, and as the breaching party, it does not enjoy the right of termination by agreement and the right of statutory termination. ”

Noelson Comments:

Contract disputes in the category of entrusted R&D mainly focus on the conditions for exercising the right to terminate the contract, the standards for delivery and acceptance, and the distribution of rights and obligations between the parties.

Generally speaking, the parties to the contract will stipulate in the commission contract that the game work must meet the delivery and acceptance criteria, but the two parties often disagree on the issue of which version of the game work to be delivered.

Therefore, in the contract, both parties should refine the content, time, and delivery criteria of the actual test to determine the specific version of the game to be delivered.

In addition, the game version number is a prerequisite for completing the development of the game and completing the online operation. In the contract of commissioned R&D, both parties shall clarify which party shall apply for the game version number from the press and publication agency before the game work is launched. In the case of an express contract, the party with the obligation to apply shall actively perform the obligation to apply in order to achieve the purpose of the contract in good faith.

04 "Magic Change" Pokémon, the man was investigated by the police

According to Japanese media reports, police in Kochi Prefecture arrested a 36-year-old man named Shohiro Yamakawa for violating the unfair competition law. He is suspected of illegally modifying the data of "Pokémon Purple" and selling Pokémon after the magic change.

Between December 2022 and March 2023, Shohiro Yamakawa sold 15 Magic Modified Pokémon three times for 13,000 yen. In addition, he launched customized packages such as "4,000 yen for 6 Pokémon" on the Internet, and illegally profited millions of yen in this way.

Further police investigation is currently underway.

Noelson Comments:

Since the current "Pokémon" game has online battles, Pokémon exchange and other systems, and the Pokémon that have undergone magic modification will destroy the fairness of the game, so Nintendo's official control of illegal Pokémon is very strict.

Recently, a Japanese user was arrested by the police for illegally selling modified Pokémon data and allegedly violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. This kind of unauthorized modification and sale of Magic Pokémon not only destroys the balance and fairness of the game, but also disrupts the order of fair competition in the game market.

Tampering with game data is easy to damage the game ecosystem, and game companies must strengthen the supervision and crackdown on game modification to safeguard the fairness of games and the rights and interests of players, and at the same time, strengthen copyright protection to maintain the healthy development of the game industry.

05 The game was resold and reskinned, with an annual turnover of more than 3 million

In January 2019, Cheng joined Company B, responsible for the front-end development of an online game, and has access to all game resources including front-end code, back-end code, and all art pictures. In October of the same year, Cheng used his position to enter the server and copy all the game resource packages to his personal network disk.

In January 2020, after Cheng left his job, he resold the game resources. After layers of resale, the game project was launched after another game company "changed skin". Within one year, the recharge turnover reached more than 300 yuan.

On December 8, 2023, after the Guancheng Hui District Procuratorate of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province initiated a public prosecution, the court sentenced the defendants Ma, He, Liang and 12 others to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from three years to one year and six months, all of which were subject to suspended sentences and fines. Because the defendant Lin was a repeat offender, the court sentenced him to one year and two months in prison and a fine for copyright infringement. Lin appealed, and a few days ago, the court of second instance rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

Noelson Comments:

In the face of possible copyright and intellectual property infringement, game companies should start from both internal management and technical prevention to prevent possible infringement in advance.

On the one hand, game companies should establish a strict internal management system to train employees on intellectual property rights, copyrights and other related legal knowledge to ensure that employees understand and comply with relevant regulations.

On the other hand, game companies can increase the difficulty of illegal access and reduce the risk of leakage of game resources by using data encryption, access control, two-factor authentication, dynamic passwords and other technical means.