Tag: Regulation

How long until free to play and in-app purchases are regulated?

This is going to be a relatively short post, because two other writers have already a lot of my work for me. Step 1: read Rob Fahey’s editorial on Gamesindustry.biz: “How to control free-to-play spending?” Step 2: read this Wall Street Journal feature: “Mom, please feed my apps!” Step 3: let’s have a quick chat…

Some thoughts about gacha

There’s been a lot of talk about something called ‘gacha’ or ‘complete gacha’ this month, after the Japanese government announced that they intended to regulate it – which directly affected the share price of Japanese social/mobile gaming giants like GREE and DeNA.  So, what is it and why did the Japanese government decide to regulate… Continue reading Some thoughts about gacha

Take Control of Your (Legal) Destiny

This is an opinion post about the need for tech businesses of all kinds to do their part in ensuring that the legal system regulates them fairly, but doesn’t ruin their business. The genesis of this post comes from this Telegraph article about comments made by Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, which I encourage everyone to… Continue reading Take Control of Your (Legal) Destiny

South Korea to impose MMO curfew

The South Korean government intends to impose a form of curfew over MMO games in an effort to combat perceived growing MMO addiction, reports MCV. Reportedly, the government plans to implement this curfew by blocking or incrementally slowing down the internet connections of those who spend prolonged periods playing popular MMO titles such as Maple… Continue reading South Korea to impose MMO curfew

Opinion: Vietnam and the legal battle over virtual goods

I wrote just now about the report that Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) is working on a draft decision regarding online games in Vietnam.  You can read my views on that here.  I wanted to write a separate post about the most interesting aspect of that draft decision: its implications for the timebomb issue of virtual goods… Continue reading Opinion: Vietnam and the legal battle over virtual goods

Vietnam takes steps to control online games

Vietnam.net reports that the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) is working on a draft decision on managing online games in Vietnam.  This has interesting implications for the regulation and sale of games in Vietnam, one of the big games markets in the Far East. Managing online games: Says Vietnam.net: “According to the draft decision, the… Continue reading Vietnam takes steps to control online games

FarmViller player runs up £900 debt, could be sued by mother?

The Guardian reports “a mother has warned of the risk of children spending hundreds of pounds on ‘free’ online games available through Facebook after her 12-year-old son ran up bills of more than £900 without her knowledge“.  This raises interesting issues about the extent to which she could recover her losses: in a nutshell, only if… Continue reading FarmViller player runs up £900 debt, could be sued by mother?

Digital Economy Bill becomes law

The Digital Economy Bill was passed into law yesterday after a late night Third Reading and wash up procedure.  More details are here. As we’ve discussed previously, the Digital Economy Bill has significant implications for the games industry (though admittedly the final form of DEB has changed somewhat as a result of the last minute Parliamentary… Continue reading Digital Economy Bill becomes law

Digital Economy Bill nears endgame

UPDATE (07/04/10): The Digital Economy Bill passed its second reading yesterday afternoon, despite a rearguard action from the likes of Tom Watson, John Redwood and Don Foster. Here are more details of the second reading of DEB (via BBC).  Of particular interest is Harriet Harman’s claim that the controversial measures in DEB will be subject… Continue reading Digital Economy Bill nears endgame