On May 12, Suqian intermediate people's Court of Jiangsu Province announced in court a civil public interest litigation case in which E-sports hotels provided Internet services to minors, banned them from providing Internet services to minors, and made an apology to the public in the state-level media. This is the first case of this type of civil public interest litigation in China.
The court found that the hotel involved in the case had 20 rooms, all of which were E-sports rooms, and each room was equipped with 2 to 5 computers. The computer provides Internet access services. The software and hardware configuration of the computer is basically the same as that of the Internet cafe. According to different rooms, the cost ranges from tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan. It can be seen that compared with ordinary hotels, this hotel has obvious differences in facilities, consumption mode and charging mode. In essence, it takes the provision of Internet access services as the main purpose and consumption mode, and belongs to the business place of Internet access services.
China's law on the protection of minors and relevant laws and regulations clearly stipulates that Internet service business places shall not accept minors; Minors over the age of 16 can check in at the hotel with their ID cards. The court found that in March last year, the hotel began to engage in the operation of "E-sports theme" and did not apply for the "online culture operation license"; As of June 24, 2021, the hotel accommodation system shows a record of 387 minors. It can be seen that although the licensed business project of the hotel involved does not include Internet services, it actually not only provides Internet services, but also faces unspecified consumers, including a large number of minors. This kind of illegal business behavior of accepting minors to surf the Internet infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of minors and damages the social and public interests, so it should bear legal responsibility.
Accordingly, the procuratorial organ filed a civil public interest lawsuit and actively performed the functions of the procuratorial organ, which not only effectively safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of minors, but also formed a strong deterrent to such businesses, promoted businesses to adhere to the legal bottom line in their operation and earnestly undertake the legal obligation to protect minors.
At the same time, it must be noted that after the rise of e-sports industry, an emerging business form with superimposed Hotel and E-sports elements appears. Its overall layout is the same as that of ordinary hotels, equipped with beds, and computers for people to play E-sports games. As an emerging E-sports Hotel, is it a hotel or an Internet service place? As the e-sports hotel not only provides hotel services, but also provides Internet access services, it is also a hotel and a business place for Internet access services. China's "Regulations on the administration of Internet service business places" stipulates that business units of Internet service business places shall not accept minors into business places. In the past, the regulations were mainly aimed at Internet cafes and other business places. In fact, the emerging E-sports hotels also meet the limited conditions of "Internet service business places", and minors should also be prohibited from entering according to the regulations.
It should be recognized that the e-sports Hotel operated and managed with reference to the hotel model avoids the rules and restrictions of prohibiting minors from entering the business premises of Internet service. After the operators perform the obligations of inspection and report, minors can enter. This kind of operation mode is difficult to fulfill their responsibilities in protecting minors.
The case also reminds the whole society that when E-sports elements are added to the hotel, the supervision should also keep up with it and should not open the door for minors to surf the Internet without restraint. In fact, in June last year, Nanjing Municipal Bureau of culture and tourism issued the reply on clarifying the attributes of E-sports hotels and related matters, which proposed that if the number of computers in the room is greater than the number of beds (except one or two computers), the e-sports hotel needs to apply for the "network culture operation license" and shall not provide Internet services for minors with reference to the management of Internet cafes. The people's Procuratorate of Xingyang City, Henan Province has also issued procuratorial suggestions that it is necessary to implement the dual management of "Hotel + Internet cafe" for E-sports hotels and prohibit minors from entering. These explorations and efforts are conducive to promoting the standardized operation and healthy development of new business forms.
On the one hand, we should strengthen the public's understanding of the harmfulness of accepting minors in E-sports hotels through this case, further promote local legislation, clarify the attributes of E-sports hotels, divide the law enforcement authorities of different law enforcement agencies, clarify the supervision responsibilities of various departments, establish a linkage mechanism, strengthen daily supervision and inspection, and severely investigate and deal with all kinds of violations, Ensure that the operation of E-sports hotel is legal and compliant. On the other hand, schools and families should also reflect on the education and management of minors in this public interest litigation case, so as to earnestly perform their duties, strengthen the norms of care, escort and restraint, find problems in time and intervene as soon as possible.
□ Huang Zongyue