China Bans RMT

[Kent]

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218101859


In addition to its ongoing crackdown on Internet porn,the Chinese government has declared that virtual currency cannot be traded for real goods or services.
Virtual currency, as defined by Chinese authorities, includes "prepaid cards of cyber-games," according to a joint release issued by China's Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

"The virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services," the Ministries said.

It would be safe to state that, in relation to the culture of online gamers everywhere, this is one of the best things the Chinese government has ever done.

I mean... Holy crap. The basic summation is that in-game good can only be traded for in-game goods that come from the service provider, and cannot be legally exchanged for real money/goods/services.

[Shattered_weasel]

Chinese economy just went into the tubes of depression. :)

[watashiwa]

At least the public channels will be quieter!

[Dhylec]

Heh, I think that put quite a number of people out of virtual jobs. ;]
Maybe something good would come out of this for the non-RMT/casual gamers?

[amtalx]

I read another interpretation of this, which is a bit contrary to everyone else's interpretation. From what I read of the new take, the provision states that you can't exchange virtual currency for real world goods, not the other way around as with RMT. Apparently, China has some issues with virtual gambling currency being used to purchase real world items, and that is what they are trying to stop. With RMT, you are buying virtual items with real world currency, which is the opposite of what the new law states.

I'll be interested to see how its actually enforced.

[White Midnight]

I read another interpretation of this, which is a bit contrary to everyone else's interpretation. From what I read of the new take, the provision states that you can't exchange virtual currency for real world goods, not the other way around as with RMT.

If that's the case, I guess many people in China won't be out of jobs.

Sad thing if it's not a direct ban on RMT. RMT ruined FFXI for a long time until SE decided to actually crack down on it (around the time I and many others quit.) The infamous Christmas Sale of 2005 inflated prices to insane highs for several months on end.

However, I can understand the logic, considering how most "free" online RPGs operate.

[amtalx]

Personally, I think its up to an MMO's management staff to deal with RMT as they see fit. While I don't really support it, RMT should NOT be criminal act. Government has no place regulating it.

[White Midnight]

Unauthorized third party RMT can be considered Copyright infringement in some countries. There's a good reason why the business flourishes in China. Government can and will enforce this in relevant countries.

RMT can have a huge negative impact on ingame economies, it's basicly the equal to printing extra money, considering many players think that RMT currency reserves dont exist until people buy it and use it because its not in circulation.

[Randomness]

I read another interpretation of this, which is a bit contrary to everyone else's interpretation. From what I read of the new take, the provision states that you can't exchange virtual currency for real world goods, not the other way around as with RMT. Apparently, China has some issues with virtual gambling currency being used to purchase real world items, and that is what they are trying to stop. With RMT, you are buying virtual items with real world currency, which is the opposite of what the new law states.

I'll be interested to see how its actually enforced.

Um, an exchange is a symmetrical process. From an objective, third-person viewpoint, exchanging item A for item B is the same as exchanging item B for item A.

[amtalx]

Um, an exchange is a symmetrical process. From an objective, third-person viewpoint, exchanging item A for item B is the same as exchanging item B for item A.

True, but commerce laws generally aren't written to be applied from everyone's perspective. A particular side, be it the consumer or the vendor, has their own laws to abide by. Apparently everyone jumped the gun a little though. The article cited by the OP has been edited. Its not really clear now how the new law ill effect RMT, but the intent is not to stop it.

[Kent]

Personally, I think its up to an MMO's management staff to deal with RMT as they see fit. While I don't really support it, RMT should NOT be criminal act. Government has no place regulating it.
Though I do agree that the management staff should do all they can to mitigate unauthorized RMT, but I have no qualms with the government regulating it.

Mainly because it's basically the only thing that can actually put an end it from happening while the game is still in service, short of removing any form of in-game tradable good (which just so happens to include things such as characters and accounts, too). Being that RMT is one of the things that can absolutely ruin the gameplay experience for a game (such as is the case with Final Fantasy XI), there should be some punishment associated with it other than to ban their account - because they'll just make a new one, farm money, and get it out the door.

Pro-active as special task forces may be in this manner, it still doesn't change the fact that it's not stopping the problem, only setting it back. It's the difference between a treatment and a cure. Turning the act, when unauthorized by the management staff, into a criminal offense could be an extremely effective treatment, and may be discouraging enough to the business practices to remove the problem, if we're lucky.