The Game Self-Regulation Rating Board (GSOK) held the third expert forum on the comprehensive amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act (hereinafter the Comprehensive Amendment) on the 11th.

This marked the third regular meeting of the expert forum launched in January, where scholars, legal professionals, and civil society experts gathered to scrutinize key issues centered on the user protection clauses of the Comprehensive Amendment and to explore viable policy alternatives.

Lee Do-kyung, a member and Secretary-General of the Youth Foundation, took the stage to point out the limitations of the current Game Industry Act, which treats users merely as objects to be protected. He spoke highly of the new Comprehensive Amendment for elevating users to the status of responsible consumer agents.

Lee presented core issues and policy improvement directions for effective user protection. Key points included streamlining the operation of the Probability-type Item Damage Relief Center to avoid functional overlap with the Content Dispute Resolution Committee, concretizing criteria for habitual nature and severe disruption in penalizing users of hack programs, designing reasonable penalty regulations for private servers, maintaining the authority for ex officio re-classification of ratings, and strengthening the authority of local agents for overseas game companies to ensure effectiveness.

Lee argued that the Comprehensive Amendment is currently missing penalty clauses for hack program users, which requires reinforcement. He also emphasized the importance of provisions regarding private servers and the local agent designation system. For private servers, he suggested seeking ways to establish distribution order while protecting good-faith users. For the local agent system, he proposed upgrading current document submission requirements to the level of on-site inspection authority to enhance practical effectiveness.

Hwang Sung-ki, Chairman of the Expert Forum (Professor at Hanyang University), remarked, "This forum was an opportunity to identify which areas need supplementation for the advanced user protection model in the amendment to function effectively in the field," adding, "We plan to continue gathering expert opinions to provide substantial grounds necessary for the bill's passage through the National Assembly."

The GSOK plans to continue discussions on core topics such as rating classification, governance, prizes, and gambling throughout the remaining forum schedule to publicize the necessity of the Comprehensive Amendment.

Furthermore, a policy debate will be held at the HJ Business Center on April 13 to gather diverse opinions regarding the comprehensive amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act.