China declares stealing digital collections like NFTs liable for criminal theft sentence
The Chinese government says theft of digital collections violates the protection law and interests of the crime of illegally obtaining computer information system data. The Chinese government released a statement on Nov. 10 declaring that anyone stealing digital collections, such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), will be subject to theft sentences. It outlines three views on the type of crime that theft of digital collections falls under, the first two classifying it as either data or digital property. However, the statement stresses the third view which sees digital collections as both data and virtual property that would fall under the umbrella of “co-offending.” The statement explained that stealing a digital collection includes intrusion into the system on which it is housed, therefore also committing the crime of illegally obtaining computer information system data and theft . “The theft of digital collections violates the protection law and interests of the crime of illegally ob...