The majority of the cases occurred during 2012 to 2020, with a sharp increase after 2015. In the 2012 SwordNet Campaign report, around 60 private server-related administrative actions were taken during that year, and many of the cases have been transferred to criminal actions as they were found to have reached the criminal threshold.įrom the years 2007 to 2020, we discovered around 133 published civil cases in relation to private server infringement. The annual “SwordNet” campaign, a joint action initiated by the National Copyright Administration (NCAC) and assisted by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), cracks down on online piracy and copyright infringement through administrative and civil actions.įollowing the end of the campaign each year, the NCAC and MPS will publish the top ten typical cases of the annual SwordNet campaign, in which typically one to three cases relate to private servers. However, that is not to say that China has not been taking action against these servers behind the scenes. There is no public systematic information available on administrative actions relating to private servers. Though there have been many published civil cases against rights-holders, rights holders in China can decide to take either administrative or criminal action and reach a settlement based on the claim for civil damages based on such action, without filing additional actions.
Regulatory offence, lack of business license – administrative action, criminal action. Computer related crimes – criminal actionģ. Copyright infringement – administrative action, criminal actionĢ. Administrative and criminal actions are the two major legal actions, and there are three main grounds:ġ. Chinaįrom as early as 2003, Chinese enforcement authorities have been taking action against illegal activities relating to private servers. We outline below the enforcement framework on private servers across different jurisdictions in Asia.
In Asia, legal and enforcement authorities have been clamping down against illegal activities relating to private servers.
This can be done by copying the source code of the game, which is usually illegally extracted and constitutes an infringement of copyright. Private servers operate within a grey area because in order to operate them, owners have to mimic the server in some way. They can be used in order to emulate dead online games, games without servers and unplayable, or used to add features an owner of the private server may want to include in the game. Private servers are widely used in the gaming world for players to host online games in a private environment.