China’s national copyright administration[C] announced the government would ban the market entry of online game services which are operated by non-Chinese service providers.
According to the country’s state-run news website Xinhua-Net, the deputy commissioner for the sci-tech department of the administration says, regardless of whether it’s an independent entity or a joint venture with a Chinese company, foreign-owned companies will not be allowed to run online game services by themselves, to invest game service providers, and to touch anything surrounding the business including technical support.
They say, the emerging growth of foreign game providers entering the country causes disturbing the social order and scattering unwholesome software titles including violent scenes and indecency. The administration announced the notice to enforce the stronger inspection of imported online game titles, and it will strengthen censoring game titles made in China as well.
Some Japanese social network services already started their local business in Mainland China (refer to these Asiajin articles [1] [2]), of course they’re not game services, but the administration’s announcement must influence their future business prospects. No public announcement from any of them was confirmed so far.
via The Second Times[J]
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Masaru IKEDA