By Sophia Meng: Subscribe to Sophia's RSS feed
July 31, 2010 8:12 PM EDT
Starting from August 1, internet users will have to register using their real names for playing online games , China Daily reported on Saturday.
The regulation, issued by the Ministry of Culture on June 22, is said to be part of a nationwide campaign to improve management of the virtual gaming industry and protect the minor from unwholesome content. It applies to all multiplayer role-playing and social networking games.
The number of netizens in China, already the world's largest internet market by users, has surged to 420 million by end of June, China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC), a government-linked industry body said earlier this month.
Among them, the number of online video users rose to 265 million by June, and the online video industry is set to grow with new opportunities brought by the launch of tri-networks integration project, CNNIC said in the statement.
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The revenue of Chinese online video industry grew 112.1 percent in 2009 to 2.8 billion yuan, data from technology research firm iResearch showed on July 19.
According to China Daily, major online game operators in China, including Shanda and Tencent Games, said they had already implemented the real name registration policy some months ago and the move has not had an effect on their business.
However, it would be meaningless to promote real name registration without an effective national identification system, said Li Li, deputy director of the Shanghai Information Law Association.
It should ideally include other credible information of the players, such as their bank accounts, in order to be really effective, the newspaper cited Li as saying.
"Without such a basis, the move will only increase costs for the operators and bring them greater risks," Li said.
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