This summary text is fully AI-generated and may therefore contain errors or be incomplete.
The Chinese government has issued a statement declaring that stealing digital collections, including nonfungible tokens (NFTs), will be considered a theft crime. The statement presents three views on the nature of this crime, with the third view emphasizing that digital collections should be seen as both data and virtual property, falling under the category of “co-offending.” The act of stealing a digital collection involves intruding into the system where it is stored, thereby committing the crimes of illegally obtaining computer information system data and theft. The statement highlights that digital collections should be recognized as “network virtual property” and considered as property in the context of criminal law. NFTs are specifically mentioned, as they are derived from the concept of NFTs abroad and utilize blockchain technology to map unique and non-copyable assets. Although China has banned most crypto-related activities, there has been recent interest in NFTs. For instance, a Chinese marketplace, Xianyu, removed its censorship of NFT-related keywords, and the Chinese government-owned newspaper, China Daily, expressed its intention to create its own NFT platform.