Korean NCsoft monitors the chat in its MMORPG Lineage II without getting the user¡¯s approval, which has provoked fierce debate.

Mr. Park, a member of the Science and Technology Information Communications Council of South Korean National Assembly said, NCsoft¡¯s illegal monitoring (monitoring without getting the approval of the person concerned) is a violation of the existing Communications Secrecy Protection Law and is a harm to citizen¡¯s freedom of communications. In order to avoid the repetition of such acts in the future, it is necessary to enhance precautions and give stricter legal punishments.

According to the Communications Secrecy Protection Law, it is illegal to monitor without the approval of the person concerned. However, NCsoft protects that according to the Fair Trade Commission, concerning the nature of MMORPG¡¯s, it is proper to save gamers¡¯ in-game chat in order to avoid user disputes, though which should be stipulated in User Agreement.

The debate occurred due to two Lineage II gamers whose Lineage II accounts were permanently suspended by NCsoft. The two gamers refused to accept the punishment and brought a lawsuit to the court against NCsoft, requesting NCsoft to cancel the decision on permanently suspending their accounts for their use of illegal program. During the lawsuit, NCsoft submitted the two gamers¡¯ in-game chat to the court as evidence, including the two gamers¡¯ private conversation.

The plaintiff¡¯s attorney disclosed that, the judge held that the materials submitted by NCsoft do not constitute evidence since they were obtained through the way of illegal monitoring.

But NCsoft retorted that, illegal monitoring means monitoring the content or record of communications secretly without the approval of the person concerned. They saved in-game chat after getting the approval of users via Terms of Service. It is not monitoring. In addition, Lineage II¡¯s Terms of Service which contains provisions regarding saving in-game chat has been verified by Fair Trade Commission and other organizations. NCsoft also stated that it is legal to obtain users¡¯ approval through Terms of Service, and there are no exceptions to other Korean online games.

Some industry insiders stated that, some gamers cause harm to other innocent gamers through cheating, damaging reputation or using illegal program. It is right and proper for online game businesses to utilize in-game chat in case of disputes. However, some other held the opposite opinion that according to the existing laws and regulations, it is illegal to monitor in-game chat.