by Stacy Jones on Jun 15, 2012
South Korea is going on the offensive to battle players that use bots to farm items and sell them for commercial gains. The countrys Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to introduce a new law sometime next month that will make using bot programs and selling virtual items online for commercial gains illegal. The Ministry estimates that bot farming makes up 60% of the items exchanged on the market.
The Ministry believes that item trading contributes to many problems in society such as teen crime. They are hopeful that the new law will enhance the gaming culture and curb the negative reputation that games get due to the use of bot programs by taking the cash element out of the equation.
For arcade games, game providers will be unable to list in-game items in their accounts as property, or handout gift certificates for item purchases. In 2007, the then popular arcade game Sea Story handed out certificates that were quickly exchanged or sold for cash, and the government is concerned that a similar incident may reoccur.
The Ministry plans to provide law agencies with the necessary guidelines to enforce the new law. Anyone who violates the law could be subjected to a 50 million won fine (just under $43k) and up to 5 years in prison.
Via Kotaku
Source: The Korea Times