Chapter 256: Damn, it really belongs to them, Lawyer Fang! (Seeking monthly votes)

Looking at the feedback on the computer page, Zhou Yi shook his head directly.

Although he had already sought Legal Aid many times by now, strictly speaking, this was the first time Zhou Yi had dealt with the Consumer Association.

Many people actually don't quite understand what kind of organization the Consumer Association is, and they often wonder: why is it that when we say we're going to complain to the Consumer Association, they don't even pay us any mind?

In fact, the problem is simple: the Consumer Association does not have mandatory enforcement power; it is not a government department, but merely a semi-official national social organization.

Yes, it is a social organization.

Therefore, it does not possess mandatory enforcement power; the work it can do is to mediate between the two parties, so when the other party refuses mediation, there is nothing that can be done.

This is why we say that if you go to the Consumer Association or file a 315 complaint, others might ignore you entirely.

But if you go to the Market Supervision Department, it's a different story.

Or, for those with actual business premises, if you go to the Fire Department to complain, you will see something different.

The Fire Department is not just the "biological father" of Property Management!

Zhou Yi's efficiency in complaining to the Consumer Association this time was quite high, but the result he received left him a bit bewildered.

When filing the complaint, Zhou Yi had already clearly stated that if the other party claimed he was in violation, they should produce evidence of the violation.

Furthermore, taking a step back, even if he were in violation, what about the money in the account? How is the money he topped up into the account accounted for?

As it turned out, the Consumer Association's response after coordinating with the Pesticide customer service was still that they had detected the use of third-party software in violation of rules, and therefore, the account was banned in accordance with the user agreement.

As for the issue of his game account and the like, likewise, according to the user agreement, the ownership of the game account belongs to the Company.

In other words, even if he had topped up money, there was nothing he could do, because the game account belonged to them.

To be honest, Zhou Yi was stunned when he saw this reply.

He never expected that from the moment he started playing the game, through all his efforts and topping up money, the final result would be that the ownership of the game account wasn't even his!

Zhou Yi couldn't figure it out: on what grounds? On what grounds is this game account still yours? So I play for ages, top up so much money, and in the end, it all belongs to you, right?

Wouldn't that make me a beggar on my knees?

Zhou Yi felt the other side was lying to him, so he thought about looking for answers online. As soon as he searched, he found that his "on what grounds" was directly shattered by a "user agreement."

Because it was written very clearly in that user agreement: you think that is your game account, you even think that you have used the account for many years, but the ownership belongs to them.

You only have the right to use this account!

This agreement left Zhou Yi in awe; honestly, there really aren't many people who would read those long, stinky, and tedious user agreements when playing games.

Basically, everyone just clicks "Yes" to everything in an instant and then logs directly into the game.

Just like the disputes in the insurance industry, why are there so many disputes? The reason is simple: those long, stinky, and tedious agreements are impossible to understand.

Who among ordinary people knows what the professional content in those agreements says? Isn't it just whatever the insurance salesperson says it is?

And yet, many unscrupulous insurance salespeople are vague, so when it comes time to file a claim, it can't be covered.

This leads to the problem of "this isn't covered, that isn't covered."

So, returning to the account issue, can just one user agreement completely lock down ownership, and even the Virtual Property within the game?

Is this the tyranny of Penguin?

Driven by curiosity, Zhou Yi searched again and found that, in this situation, it has actually become the norm in the gaming industry.

In other words, from a long time ago, the ownership of game accounts has belonged to the game companies themselves.

It is not just Penguin; other game companies, whether domestic or foreign, have such regulations.

Because only by stipulating it this way can the game company legally possess the right of disposal over the game account!

Which is what we call banning an account.

Otherwise, if the ownership of the game account were yours, on what grounds would the game company ban your account?

This was the first time Zhou Mouren had come into contact with the issue of game accounts themselves.

To tell the truth, in the past, Zhou Yi was like many others—simply ignorant of the law—but now, after being influenced by Fang Dazhuang for so long, he had his own insights into the law.

And now, relying on his simplest, most essential understanding of the law, Zhou Yi felt that something was not right no matter how he thought about it.

How could an account he had used for so many years not be his own?

And taking a step back, even if the ownership of the account wasn't his, did the money he topped up into the game just vanish?

This isn't right, because the first task Zhou Mouren received from the system was to turn around and top up one million.

At the time, it was treated as Theft, which explains what? It explains that the Virtual Property within a game account can be counted as property!

So now, if the game company bans the account at will, how is the money he topped up accounted for?

Zhou Yi felt this problem had exceeded the scope of his understanding; the most ridiculous thing is that it turns out the game account really isn't his!

The ninth day since Fang Dazhuang left; I miss him.

Zhou Yi sat in the office feeling a bit lost; he felt this problem wasn't right, and it absolutely couldn't end like this.

Although according to that user agreement, the ownership of the account is yours, can the money I topped up just be written off like that?

And what is the nature of a game account, anyway?

Zhou Yi couldn't figure it out. In the past, whenever he couldn't figure something out, a single phone call—or even without saying a word—would lead to meeting at the Old Place.

Fang Dazhuang would explain the whole problem clearly and thoroughly, like a tapeworm in his stomach.

What to do? Should he send a message to Fang Dazhuang?

The last time he called Fang Dazhuang, the other party answered, but it was clear he was indeed very busy and answered the phone reluctantly.

So, to be honest, Zhou Yi was unwilling to disturb Fang Dazhuang now.

Then what to do? Zhou Xinran? Could she do it?

On a whim, Zhou Yi dialed Zhou Cainiao's number.

One hour later, Old Place Cafe.

Zhou Yi habitually pushed the door open and entered, habitually shouting: "Dong Shu, three coffees... oh no, two, thank you."

Dong Shu, inside the counter, began preparing the coffee himself while curiously asking: "Why is it two cups? Which one of Lawyer Zhou and Teacher Fang didn't come?"

This place had now become the Lao Difang for the three of them, and Dong Shu had specifically prepared a corner table for them.

There was no helping it; it was mainly because the conversations between Zhou Yi and Fang Dazhuang were too uninhibited, and many people would find it unbearable if they heard them.

"Fang Dazhuang didn't come; he went abroad. He has business."

"He went abroad, huh." Dong Shu nodded: "He should have gone long ago."

What the hell? Zhou Yi turned his head to look at Dong Shu: "Uncle, do you know why Fang Dazhuang went abroad?"

"Ah? Didn't he tell you?" Dong Shu smiled as he stood there.

"He was in such a rush when he left, he didn't manage to tell me anything."

"Oh, didn't manage to, I see."

Zhou Yi: "o((⊙﹏⊙))o" What situation, you know again? Uncle, can you tell me what you know?

"Alright, Boss Zhou, don't count on learning about Lawyer Fang's situation from me. So today it's just you and Lawyer Zhou, right? Do you two have business, or do you have business?"

Zhou Yi waved his hand and said: "Uncle, the way you put it, of course we have business. We encountered a problem and wanted to ask Zhou Cai... Xinran."

Dong Shu was just about to say something when he saw the cafe door pushed open, and Zhou Xinran walked in, still wearing her hair long and dressed in professional attire.

It was just that because of the hot weather, she was wearing a white shirt on her upper body.

"There, she's here. You two chat first."

"Xinran, over here!" Zhou Yi stood up to greet her.

Zhou Xinran walked to the table and sat down, took two sips of coffee, and then said: "What's wrong, Zhou Yi? Something up?"

After a pause, a strange look appeared on Zhou Xinran's face as she said: "I'm not Lawyer Fang. If you call and don't speak, I can't understand what you mean."

Zhou Yi spread his hands: "But you still came, didn't you."

"So what do you want to consult about?" Zhou Xinran brought up the real business.

"Oh, it's like this. Recently Fang Dazhuang went abroad, and then I thought, without Fang Dazhuang, I should avoid trouble, so I got addicted to games."

"Get to the point."

Zhou Mouren hurriedly stopped his rambling and stated the problem.

"It's that my game account was banned. I saw a skin that was really to my taste, so I topped up five hundred yuan..."

"So my problem now is, Xinran, I topped up five hundred yuan, probably used a part of that money to buy the skin, and the remaining part is still in the game account."

"Now that they have almost permanently banned my account, what should I do?"

Speaking of this, Zhou Yi said casually: "Oh right, I searched online before, and it seemed to say that the ownership of the account belongs to the game Company. Xinran, you say this..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Zhou Xinran.

"You searched for results online?"

"Yeah, wait no, Xinran, I didn't do it on purpose..."

But as soon as these words came out, Zhou Yi realized that whether it's a Lawyer or a doctor, they are actually very wary of you "asking around" online or "searching" online.

It's not that they don't let you find answers online.

You can still look up statutes online.

But for legal issues themselves, the biggest taboo is that you found an answer online, then went to consult a Lawyer, and told them that I found such-and-such online...

Or, that's what they say online.

Do you know what a doctor or a Lawyer thinks when they hear you using an answer found online to talk to them?

If you can solve the problem online, then why spend money to come to me?

So after Zhou Yi said it, he realized something was wrong and hurriedly explained, but the result didn't seem very good.

Zhou Xinran in front of him said with a smile: "Brother, when Lawyer Fang was here, you never went online to look for answers."

One doesn't fear a woman making a scene, one fears a woman smiling, especially this kind of smile!

"Forget it, I, Lawyer Zhou, am a magnanimous person and don't hold grudges. Let's talk about the real business. You want to know what to do now, right?"

Zhou Yi thought to himself, you say you don't hold grudges, but why do I feel a chill down my back?

Although he still calls her a rookie, this person is no longer the previous rookie; she just sent a suitor inside not long ago.

That was truly sending him inside!

"So the core of the problem is the issue of the ownership of Virtual Property within the game account." Zhou Xinran ignored the rest and started discussing the real business.

"Right, Xinran, that's the part I've never been able to understand. If we follow their agreements, then everything in the game account should also be theirs." Zhou Yi replied with doubt.

"That is to say, our money, from the moment it is topped up, is no longer our own money."

"I can't wrap my head around this. No matter what legal principle you look at it from, it doesn't seem right."

"And my previous case shows that property within a game account is also protected by law."

Zhou Xinran smiled and said: "Actually, our country didn't have very specific legal provisions regarding the protection, or rather the recognition, of Virtual Property in the past."

"But it's different now. The new Civil Code has very clearly recognized Virtual Property, and Virtual Property should be protected."

"So I don't think you need to worry. The game account—or let's take a step back—the ownership of all accounts belongs to the other party, that's correct, but that doesn't mean the Virtual Property inside is also theirs."

"I actually don't know much about this aspect, but I can probably still confirm this point."

Zhou Yi's brow was still furrowed. He trusted Zhou Xinran's professional knowledge, but... how to put it, it just didn't have that flavor of Fang Dazhuang.

It wasn't like Fang Dazhuang, whose words were like gold and iron, making people completely convinced.

"Xinran, then what kind of existence do you say a game account is? What is its essence? Why, in the situation where the ownership of the game account belongs to someone else, can we still claim the Virtual Property within it?"

That's right, Zhou Mouren's routine contrarianism was back.

In the past, he and Fang Dazhuang would often engage in similar activities; Zhou Yi would play devil's advocate, and then Fang Dazhuang would use professional knowledge and theory to refute him until he had nothing left.

Then Fang Dazhuang would be happy, and Zhou Yi would have learned knowledge and be happy too.

Things like this that are beneficial to physical and mental health were things the two of them did often.

Take, for example, the classic argument: a wife suddenly falls critically ill and urgently needs to go to the hospital.

But because it is too late and they are in a remote village, there are no taxis or ride-hailing cars nearby, and friends cannot be reached.

The husband has had too much to drink and has already reached the threshold for drunk driving.

In such a situation, if the husband chooses to drive his wife to the hospital, does he commit the crime of Dangerous Driving?

Zhou Mouren rambled on at length, only to be directly refuted by the four light words from Fang Dazhuang: "Emergency Avoidance."

We won't discuss the issue of eating pandas here; it is simply Emergency Avoidance.

Therefore, the answer is that it does not constitute the crime of Dangerous Driving.

According to Fang Dazhuang, the Court must base its judgments on facts, analyzing each specific case individually; here, Emergency Avoidance applies.

So the question arises: what Zhou Xinran said also makes sense, but Zhou Yi cannot help but want to argue.

He just feels that there are many problems in the answer given by Zhou Xinran that need to be explained clearly.

Hearing this series of questions, Zhou Xinran was stunned.

Seeing this situation, Zhou Yi turned his head to look out the window; there is only one Fang Dazhuang in this world, and he is irreplaceable.

But should this matter just be let go?

It is not that he cannot afford to lose these five hundred yuan, but mainly that he feels uncomfortable.

On what grounds? How is it that everything belongs to you? Then is the pocket money in my account also yours?

Does anyone dare to say yes?

Today's... sleep-aid chapter is here; traveling on business, the update time really cannot be controlled.

Thanks to Zhongxia Jufeng, Aibzai, Desirekyo, Feimaowuyu, Qiu Changren, thank you to these brothers for the tips, thank you; it is the beginning of the month, Can I get a little bit of support, please give some guaranteed monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)