Tech & Biz

Online Gamers in China Must Soon Register with Real Names

by Jordan Yerman | January 17, 2009 at 07:29 am

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The Chinese government somehow thinks that forcing MMORG (massively-multiplayer online role-playing game) users to register with their real names and addresses will prevent them from getting "addicted".

I don't believe this for one tenth of a second.

More likely, it's another manifestation of "If we can just get a little bit more data on our citizens, then our country will be [better/safer/more productive](delete as appropriate)" that is so prevalent in official attitudes toward technology, which most governments still see as some sort of magic.

We can probably file this one under "monumentally missing the point".

Zhang Yijun, director of the General Administration of Press and Publication's technology and digital publication department in China, said this week in Qingdao that the Chinese government will begin taking in personal information from any players who register to play MMO, free or otherwise. Gamers will need to register their names along with the code for their government-issued ID cards.

While this "real-name system" will not affect what players do once they are in the game directly, the system is designed to link real people to their online accounts for the purposes of monitoring usage and preventing potential addiction.

Kind of scary, considering that gaming "addiction" still feels like a few (albeit real) shocking headlines inflated ad infinitum by a media and government that's hungry for a scapegoat. And now everyone must pay.