게임콘텐츠산업 규제 법제에 관한 연구

Abstract

In Korea, bills have recently been proposed in the name of protecting game content users. Two examples can be cited. One is the amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act, which states that, when a value-added communication service provider that registers and sells mobile content provides mobile content to an app market operator, it must also provide it to other app market operators on fair and reasonable conditions without discrimination. The other is a partial amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act, which imposes a game user rights protection committee in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and imposes an obligation on game producers and game distributors to establish a game product user committee to protect users' rights and interests. This study examines the appropriateness of the regulations contained in the legislation based on a review of the current game content industry environment and legal feasibility. Considering the difference from the existing concept of equal access rights and the nature of the game content market, the appropriateness of the Telecommunications Business Act amendment can be evaluated in the following aspects. First, regarding the need for regulation, it can be concluded that the mobile content market in the Internet model based on autonomy has a weak degree of publicity and can be controlled through existing regulations. Second, although certain obligations are imposed on content providers as a method of regulation, it is not justified in terms of the appropriateness of the method to regulate content providers that do not occupy a dominant position in the game content ecosystem and are not parties to competition. Third, from the perspective of the rule of law, the content of the regulation does not have clarity and predictability, and the requirements, subjects, and objects of the act are delegated by Presidential Decree without specific standards. Fourth, it is questionable considering that IPTV operators' equal access to programs referred to by the bill has not been effective and discussions on abolition are taking place. The amendment bill of the Game Industry Promotion Act recently points to the issue of the disclosure of online game probability items by some game companies and requires large game companies to set up a "game user committee" to monitor and check citizens like the same as the viewer committee established and operated under the Broadcasting Act. First, in relation to the necessity of regulation, the game content area based on the Internet model is difficult to see as a public arena unlike broadcasting, and it is necessary to guarantee the freedom of content providers more broadly. Second, the degree of regulation and the appropriateness of the method are not justified in that the purpose of the establishment and operation of the user committee is already achieved through self-regulation. Third, in terms of the effectiveness of the regulation, there is a question as to whether the representatives participating in the user committee can actually represent all users. Lastly, according to the Contents Industry Promotion Act, the Contents Dispute Mediation Committee has already been formed, and its functions are overlapping.