There are hidden risks behind the sky-high game account. Police tip: The transaction should go through official channels.
The game industry is "booming" against the trend due to the influence of the epidemic situation, and the game accounts have frequently hit sky-high prices. Recently, a reporter’s investigation found that the sky-high game accounts of major trading platforms are only superficial scenery. In fact, the problem of "difficult value preservation and many chaos" frequently appears in game account transactions, and how to ensure the security of game account transactions has attracted much attention. Most game service providers agree that users only have the right to use and have no ownership. Is it legal for players to buy and sell accounts privately? As a game company, how should they deal with these disputes? All-media reporters of Guangzhou Daily launched an investigation.
The transaction is hot:
There are game accounts with a price tag of one million yuan.
With the explosive growth of online game industry in recent years, the game account trading platform also came into being. During the epidemic, many people stayed at home and used games to kill time. Some players do not hesitate to buy game accounts online in order to "rush to upgrade"; There are also players who are "committed" to spending money to buy equipment to fight monsters and upgrade, and constantly improve the level of game accounts. When the accounts reach a certain level, they will resell their game accounts online. However, the game accounts that players have invested a lot of time and money are naturally rising, and they are frequently sold at high prices. "All-hero, full-skin, high-end accounts are sold cheaply, and QQ is added for details if necessary … …” In many social and second-hand trading platforms, the trading information of game accounts is very active. On the online game trading platforms such as 5173 and 7881, the reporter saw that under the category of "popular games", the price of game accounts ranged from 1 yuan to 1 million yuan. High-priced game accounts are mainly concentrated in end games such as Dungeon and Warriors, League of Legends, Crossing the Fire Line, Fantasy Westward Journey, and mobile games such as Master of Yin and Yang, the glory of the king and Peace Elite. Among them, the unit price of the glory of the king account is not the highest, but due to the popularity of the game and the large demand for transactions, the overall transaction volume is firmly at the top.
According to industry sources, the transaction popularity of game accounts is directly proportional to the popularity of the game, but the asset value of the account is not necessarily, depending on the type of game, such as MMO (massively multiplayer online) mobile game, the asset attribute of the account will be heavier, and the longer the time, the greater the account value. "Generally, the game accounts with high value are some classic IPS, but they are not necessarily value-preserving. Some players have invested millions of yuan to raise their numbers, and it is hard to say whether they can recover the cost in the end."
Frequent fraud:
Selling game accounts encounters serial fraud.
Game account transactions are hot, and criminals are also eyeing this opportunity. After searching on the internet with "game account transaction" as the key word, the reporter found that half of the 30 news messages about game account transaction recently were related to "fraud".
The auxiliary police of Baoyuzhi Community in Haizhu District told the reporter: "During the epidemic, there were frequent cases of game account fraud." For example, when Xiao Wu, 17, was playing QQ games on his mobile phone, he suddenly received a message from a stranger asking if he could sell his game account. Xiao Wu added the other party’s QQ number, and through conversation, he decided to sell the game account to the other party at the price of 500 yuan. The other party said that he had recharged 500 yuan on a certain platform and asked Xiao Wu to withdraw the cash. Xiao Wu followed the instructions to search for the platform and registered an account. Just as Xiao Wu was preparing to withdraw cash, the system showed that the withdrawal failed. Xiao Wu contacted the "platform customer service", but was told that his account had been frozen, and he needed to recharge the thawing fee to activate the account. Xiao Wu paid 2300 yuan to recharge as required. As a result, the "customer service" once again asked Xiao Wu to continue the transfer on the grounds that the recharge failed. Xiao Wu asked the "customer service" for an immediate refund, but it was blacked out.
Focus 1: Who does the game account belong to?
It is understood that at present, most user agreements of game manufacturers directly or indirectly stipulate that game manufacturers are the owners of game accounts. For example, Tencent’s "tencent games License and Service Agreement" stipulates: "Although there are other provisions in this agreement, the ownership and intellectual property rights of the game data generated during your use of tencent games services belong to Tencent, and Tencent has the right to save and dispose of the game data."
In this regard, Lawyer Chen Liang, a senior partner of Guangdong Legal Sheng Bang Law Firm and head of criminal business department, believes that although game accounts and game equipment only exist in virtual space, they have certain use value or transaction value objectively and should be regarded as network virtual property. The newly promulgated civil code follows the provisions of the general principles of civil law and clearly includes it in the scope of legal protection, that is, "if the law has provisions on the protection of data and network virtual property, its provisions shall prevail." However, at present, there is no special legislation on virtual property in China, so the provisions on the protection of virtual property are generally vague and there are no specific enforceable provisions.
"In the service agreement signed between the player and the game service provider, the contents related to the rights and obligations of the player, such as the registration and use of the account, the tariff policy, and the ownership of virtual goods, will be comprehensively and meticulously agreed." Chen Liang said.
Focus 2: Is the game account transaction legal?
The reporter’s investigation found that some game platforms allow game account transactions and provide official trading platforms. For example, Netease’s Treasure Pavilion platform provides an official trading platform for various games under Netease. However, some game platforms do not allow game account transactions, and a large number of account transaction disputes often stem from private transactions between players.
As for the private trading of players through unofficial channels, relevant persons in tencent games told all-media reporters of Guangzhou Daily that in order to protect the interests and experience of players, according to the user agreement, private trading of game accounts is not allowed, and disputes, frauds and other acts arising therefrom are at their own risk. "The account information of private transactions, once discovered, will be punished by the title."
Is it legal to trade game accounts privately? Although most game service providers agree that users only have the right to use without ownership, from a legal point of view, Chen Liang believes that the game account and the game equipment it contains have certain value objectively, and its right to use can also be regarded as virtual property because of its own value attributes. It is not illegal to trade your game account with others without violating the terms of use and scope of application agreed in the service agreement.
Xiong Bingwan, an associate professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China and a researcher at the Institute of Future Rule of Law of Renmin University of China, also told the Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter that in principle, the contract terms of game companies should be respected. However, there is an exception. If the user applies for an account or recharges, if the game company does not explicitly prompt the "only right to use" clause, this clause is likely to constitute the second paragraph of Article 496 of the Civil Code (the other party can claim that this clause does not constitute the content of the contract).
Police tips:
Trading should go through official channels.
Game equipment and account transactions must go through official channels. Private transactions are not only easy to cause the loss of equipment and accounts, but also likely to cause economic losses to the victims. If you find that you have been cheated, keep a screenshot of relevant evidence at the first time and call 110 to call the police.
Industry suggestions:
Combined with blockchain technology
Build an asset trading platform
On the one hand, the growing game market, on the other hand, the disadvantages of the unofficial game account trading market are prominent, and the call for game officials to establish a secure game trading platform is getting higher and higher. Chen Da, a practitioner in the game industry, believes that the transaction of virtual goods such as game accounts can be combined with blockchain technology to break through the state of separation between games and establish a more efficient asset trading platform.