Our Firm's Paper On Criminal Compliance Of Online Games Wins Third Prize In The Corporate Compliance Research Association Of Guangdong Law Society

Landing Guangzhou, May 29, 2022, 09:30, Guangdong

Ye Zhusheng, Director of the Management Committee of Shanghai Landing (Guangzhou) Law Firm, and his research assistant Lin Manting, won the third prize in the Guangdong Provincial Law Society's Enterprise Compliance Research Association's paper, "Ideas and Optimization Measures for Compliance Governance of Online Game Enterprises," and delivered a keynote speech at the conference.

This paper is a compilation of several online game crime and compliance cases handled by the firm. Given the high incidence of cybercrime and the stringent regulatory policies on games, it advocates for the criminalization of online game companies and industry-wide compliance optimization strategies based on the expected value of corporate compliance.

This article analyzes the prevalent crime of "aiding and abetting cybercrime" to explore the criminal boundaries of online game companies. Combining the author's practical experience and theoretical analysis, it elucidates four common types of crimes in the online game industry: gambling, fraud, money laundering, and copyright infringement of game works, thus refining the criminal risk points of the industry.

To adapt to the operational practices of game products, the article attempts to plan a more efficient compliance governance model covering the entire product lifecycle—from product introduction and optimization to mature operation and elimination of underperforming products—to enable business owners to conduct traceable risk monitoring of game products and related services.

Finally, in line with my country's criminal legislation and judiciary, the article discusses the possibility of online game companies being exempted from criminal charges through a proactive criminal compliance system. Theoretically and practically, online game company owners can achieve isolation of criminal risks from two levels: exemption from subjective fault and diligent fulfillment of legal management obligations, thus achieving a compliance effect that absolves them of criminal liability.