According to research by the General Administration for Press and Publications of the People's Republic of China, there were 13.80 million Chinese online gamers in 2003 and a consumer market of RMB 1.32 billion, representing increases of 63.8% and 45.8% from 2002 respectively. The development online games industry also contributed to the development of related industries such as telecoms services and IT equipment manufacturing, which increased by approximately RMB 15 billion over the same period. With accelerated development, online games continue to create certain legal and social problems. In particular, problems such as pornography and violence in Internet games, increases in juvenile delinquency, the popularization of gambling, the ambiguous legal status of virtual property, the disputed legal responsibilities of operators and the protection of players' rights all directly hinder the healthy development of China's Internet games industry. The main objective of the Chinese government is to ensure that the legal framework adequately supports the growth of the Chinese online games industry.

In order to attain this goal, the China E-Commerce Association invited officials from the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Information Industry and Public Security Bureau, court officials, Internet law experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, and well-known enterprises and institutions engaged in the online gaming industry to attend the "Symposium on Standardization and Regulation of online Games" in Beijing on 7 September 2004.

The aim of the symposium was to discuss legal issues relating to online games, examine specific legal problems confronting different enterprises and highlight commercial requirements for clearer policies, while promoting healthy technology development, enterprise operations, government supervision, intellectual property protection, resource pooling and consumer rights protection.

Hosts

Legal Committee of the China E-Commerce Association

E-Commerce Committee of the Beijing Lawyers' Association

Organizers

China E-Commerce Law WebSite

Beijing Deofar Consultants

Sina.com Games Channel

Supporting Media

China Internet Weekly

Supporting Organizers

Beijing Xilu Information Technology Co., Ltd.

TransAsia Lawyers

E-Commerce World

Participants

Government departments:

• Policy Planning Work Group of the State Council Informatization Office
• Culture Marketing Department of the Ministry of Culture
• Public Information Network Security Supervision Bureau of the Public Security Bureau
• Policy and Regulation Department of the Ministry of Information Industry
• Beijing Informatization Office
• Special Transaction Division of the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce
• Beijing First Intermediate People's Court

Institutions:

• Experts and scholars from the National Commercial Credit Center
• China E-Commerce Association
• China Law Society¡¤ Child Protection Committee of the China Lawyers' Association
• Information Network and Hi-Tech Committee of the China National Lawyers' Association
• China Consumer Protection Association
• China Internet Association
• Beijing University Internet Law Studies Center
• Network Law Studies Center of the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications
• Beijing Hi-Tech Intellectual Property Institute

Topics

I. Major Legal Issues:

1. Administrative Enforcement of Laws against Unlicensed Operation of Online Games
2. Legal Responsibilities for the Spread of Illegal Information
3. Legal Status of "Virtual Property"
4. Protection of Consumer Rights in Online Games
5. Elimination and Prevention of Online Gambling
6. Case Studies
7. Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

II. Improvement of Existing Laws and Regulations

III. Establishment of Standards for Regulation of Online Games

IV. International Investment in Online Games

V. Market Administration

VI. Prevention of Social Problems Caused by Online Games

VII. Influence of IT Industry Resources on the Online Games Industry