The Constitutional Court has ruled that the Game Industry Act, which stipulates that the act of exchanging virtual currency acquired in games is punishable, does not violate the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court announced on the 28th that it had decided to dismiss the constitutional complaint with the unanimous opinion of the judges in the case of a constitutional complaint filed by Mr.
Previously, A and B were charged with violating the Game Industry Act and were convicted in the first trial, and filed a constitutional complaint during the appeal process.
Person A, who runs an online game item brokerage trading company, is charged with providing convenience while knowing the actions of so-called ‘game workshop’ operators who sell or repurchase items in bulk with accounts created using other people’s personal information. In the first instance, he was sentenced to a fine of 40 million won.
In the case of B, he was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months in prison in the first trial for running a PC room and converting game money earned by customers through internet games such as poker and Go into cash.
The Game Industry Act prohibits exchanging prizes or virtual currency acquired through the use of game products, or arranging currency exchange. Violation of this rule is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine not exceeding 50 million won.
This law was introduced after the so-called ‘sea story’ incident in 2006, and the Constitutional Court also declared the game industry law constitutional in 2009 and 2010.
The Constitutional Court said, “Repeatly continuing to trade in cash for the results obtained from the use of game products may encourage the use of game products that disturb the distribution order.” It functions to block ‘acts that encourage the use of game products that disturb order’.
He continued, “The purpose of preventing acts that damage the foundation of the game industry or the sound game culture is recognized. will be,” he added.
