China is working on a law that will make webshops responsible for intellectual property violations. Those who do not want to obey must face up to it: serious offenders will have to close down completely.
Close down
With the new regulation, Beijing wants to force webshops to take action against traders who sell counterfeit goods. If they do not take action against offenders, they could even be forced to close down completely, reports Belgian newspaper De Standaard. Especially platforms like Alibaba and Pinduoduo have a bad reputation when it comes to counterfeit goods. For that reason, both companies are also an eyesore to the United States.
The Chinese government also wants to introduce more regulatory legislation in various areas in the coming years. This month, for example, a law was already approved that should better guard citizens’ online privacy.
Almost all these new regulations are aimed at curbing the power of large tech companies such as Alibaba and Tencent. The fine of 2.3 billion euros imposed this spring on Jack Ma’s company for monopoly practices was a case in point.
