The Chinese government published a statement on November 10 stating that anyone who steals digital collections, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), will be subject to sentences for theft.
It outlines three views on the type of crime to which the theft of digital collections belongs; the first two classify it as data or digital property. However, the statement emphasizes that the third view, which views digital collections as data and virtual property, would fall under the umbrella of “co-crime.”
The statement explains that the theft of a digital collection includes intrusion into the system in which it is housed, which is why the crime of illegally obtaining data from computer information systems and theft is also committed.
“The theft of digital collections violates the protection law and the interests of the crime of illicitly obtaining data from computer information systems.”
He elaborates on this topic, calling digital collections “virtual property of the network” and emphasizing that in the context of criminal law, “collections must be recognized as property.”
“Since property is the subject of property crimes, digital collections can obviously become the subject of property crimes. If the digital collection is stolen through system intrusion or other technical means, the act also damages property law.”
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NFTs were specifically mentioned, stating that digital collections are derived from the “offshore” nft concept and use blockchain technology to “map specific assets” with “unique, non-copyable, tamper-preventing, and permanent storage characteristics.” .
The statement said that although China has not opened the “secondary flow market” for digital collections, “consumers can rely on trading platforms to complete purchases, collections, transfers, destruction and other operations to achieve exclusive possession capabilities, use and disposal. “
Despite China’s official ban starting in 2021 on almost all cryptocurrency-related activities and transactions, aside from simply owning cryptocurrencies, there have recently been rumors surrounding NFTs.
A local Chinese media. reported On October 25, Alibaba-owned peer-to-peer marketplace Xianyu removed its censorship of keywords related to “non-fungible tokens” and “digital assets” in its search.
Before that, on October 6, China Daily, an English-language newspaper owned by the Chinese government, announced that it wanted to create its own nft platform and would grant 2.813 million Chinese yuan ($390,000) to a third-party contractor to design the platform to its specifications.
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