Research On The Criminal Law Regulation Of Producing And Selling Online Game Plug-Ins

In the context of China’s continuous strengthening of Internet technology and widespread popularization of mobile Internet devices,the number of Internet users nationwide has steadily increased,and at the same time,digital entertainment industries such as online games have also developed rapidly.In contrast,there are more and more criminal cases of using online game plug-ins for profit,which have greatly affected the game experience of other players and seriously infringed upon the interests of game operators.Due to the wide variety of online game plug-ins and different technical characteristics,coupled with the lack of relevant laws and regulations and judicial interpretation,there are many problems in the actual judgment,the most obvious one is the inconsistent application of the crime.According to the existing laws,China’s criminal law does not have provisions specifically for online game plug-ins,and five crimes are mainly applicable in China,namely: infringement of copyright,illegal operation,illegal access to computer information system data,destruction of computer information system,and providing intrusion and illegal destruction of computer information system programs and tools.At this stage,the illegality of online game plug-in has not been unanimously recognized in judicial and academic circles,so there is confusion in the identification of the crimes,and the same behavior may be considered as different crimes,which brings difficulties to judicial practice.In this context,this paper develops a discussion on the path of criminalization of online game plug-in procedure.The whole paper is divided into four parts.The first part is to sort out the current judicial status of criminal law regulations on the production and sale of online game plug-ins.By analyzing and sorting out the criminalization logic of judicial precedents,it is found that there are problems such as inconsistency in the judicial determination of the crime of making and selling online game plug-ins,lack of reasoning in the judicial determination and the trend of expansion in the application of some crimes,etc.The reasons for this are mainly due to the lack of clarity in the classification and operation principle of online game plug-ins and the lack of clarity in the characterization of various types of plug-ins.The second part is the exploration of the logical premise of criminal regulation of online game hang-ups,i.e.,the clarification of the principle and normative type of online game hang-ups.Combing the scope of online game plug-ins,from the technical means,online game plug-ins can be divided into four types of simulation,memory modification,package sealing and offline hanging,while from the perspective of criminal crimes,it includes two types of data modification and auxiliary operation.The third part is to comment on the established criminalization path of making and selling online game hang-ups.Firstly,it is analyzed that the crime of illegal operation is recognized,and it is discussed that it is inappropriate to recognize game plug-ins as illegal publications,and it does not seriously disturb the market order,and if it is forcibly recognized,it will produce the undesirable result of imbalance of crime;secondly,it is not appropriate to recognize the crime of copyright infringement,and the act of making and selling plug-ins is not an act of "copy and issue",and it does not Finally,from the perspective of infringement of legal interests and the production and operation principle of the plug-in program,it is more appropriate to endanger the security of computer information system.The fourth part is the choice of criminalization path of making and selling online game plug-ins under the typology vision.This part distinguishes the typology of online game plug-ins into data modification and auxiliary operation categories,and for the manufacture and sale of data modification plug-ins,due to their technical characteristics of "intrusiveness" and "control",it is more appropriate to qualify them as crimes of providing intrusive and illegal destroying of computer information systems.In addition,such plug-ins do not constitute the crime of illegal acquisition of computer information system and the crime of damaging computer information system;while for the auxiliary operation class plug-ins,because they do not infringe the copyright of the game program,they should not be considered as the crime of copyright infringement,and if the circumstances are minor,they can be treated as civil disputes,and if the circumstances are serious,they should be punished as the crime of illegal operation.