Summary: | 碩士 === 東吳大學 === 法律學系 === 106 === The online gaming industry in R.O.C. has experienced a thriving period of boom in home economics (or otaku economy). However, after 2008, large and medium-scale online game company did not keep update to do business of Web page games, the development of domestic online game industry was getting out of touch of regional online game industry. Then, after 2012, since telecom operators started to operate the 4G business, the focus of the online game market gradually shifted to mobile games.
Despite the changes in the online gaming industry and the increase in legal issues involved, the core and fundamental legal issues in online game industry have not changed. This article attempts to start with the legal regulations of the online games in the United States, and then use the contract by and between EA (the famous online game company in the United State) and the players, as the starting point for discussing the issues of on-line game contracts. Then it goes back to the perspective of the laws of R.O.C. to discuss the legal attributes of the online game contracts, and the special ways to enter into online game contracts, as well as the elements of the effective of the said contract. In addition, due to online game contracts are characterized by standard form contracts, this article further discusses several issues on standard form contracts, including (i) the backgrounds and reasons of government involving in the civil contractual relationship between companies and consumers; (ii) the legal attributes of the shall-be-stated and shall-not-be-stated terms of online game standard form contracts; (iii) the legal effect when the standard form contracts drafted by companies breach the said terms; and (iv) and the boundary of government involving the civil laws relationship between companies and consumers.
In the sixth chapter, I try to classify the relevant issues of the Provisions of On-line Game Standard Form Contract that Shall Be Included In and Prohibited From. The issues discussed includes: (i) the protection of minors - rating system of online game software; (ii) the conditions for entering into a contract with minors; (iii) the exception for the termination rights regarding distance sales; and (iv) the warranty for the game software defects.
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