Who is in charge of my account

　　Behind the change of membership rules on the video platform is a struggle between consumer rights and copyright protection

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　　Who is in charge of your account does not seem to be such an easy question to answer.

Since January this year, Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku and other video platforms have been exposed to the news of modifying account login rules. Among them, restrictions on the number and types of login devices have become the focus.

Some people think that it is necessary to restrict, "Otherwise, a member account can log in to several or hundreds of terminals, and each terminal will charge 1 yuan. Wouldn't the gray industry chain earn more than serious websites?" Some people think, "Ordinary people can at most Just a few, this is a video platform that is harming consumers' rights and interests to increase revenue."

　　iQiyi is the first platform to make changes after news fermentation.

On February 20th, iQIYI announced to readjust the VIP membership policy and resumed the 720P and 1080P resolution screencasting services for gold VIP members; There are no restrictions on the types of devices that can be played at the same time.

iQiyi said that when the number of playbacks reaches the upper limit, the user will be prompted to choose the playback device they want to use; if the account is locked due to security risks such as abnormal IP addresses, the user can unlock it by changing the password.

　　Kong Xiayu, a lawyer from Beijing Weiheng Lawyers (Hangzhou) Firm, said in an interview with reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that, interpreted from a legal perspective, the change of rules on the video platform is due to him, as the owner of the copyright, within the scope of the law. Free regulation of copyright property rights.

Step-by-step probing or reasonable rights protection

　　Zhang Yaoyao and her mother have been sharing a member account of a certain video platform, and they often log in to multiple devices at the same time. After the platform modified the rules, troubles arose. Because my mother’s operations were too frequent, the account was banned for a day.”

　　"Many functions were used well before, but now you need to pay more money to use them." Zhang Yaoyao believes, "This is the platform's step-by-step testing. This time users accept it, and next time it will go too far, so everyone unites to resist. , I feel quite useful."

　　Some of Zhang Yaoyao's friends expressed their protest and anger by uninstalling the app, and some even considered looking for pirated resources.

Zhang Yaoyao said: "I still really want to support the original version, and I am quite happy to open a member and share the account with my mother. But if the video platform continues to be a monster in the future, I may also consider uninstalling it."

　　Unlike Zhang Yaoyao sharing accounts with her family, on some Internet platforms, many people post and buy and sell video member accounts.

As long as you search for "platform + membership", you can find a lot of content, and the price is as low as 5 yuan, 3 yuan or even a few cents.

They often take advantage of the feature that the member account of the video platform can log in to multiple devices, rent out the account in a time-sharing and segmented manner, and exploit platform loopholes.

Registering an account, purchasing members in bulk, and buying and selling on third-party platforms, the "shared account" has developed into an underground "grey industry chain".

　　Guo Kaixi bought a shared account when he was in college. "The experience is very bad, and he is often pushed down." Since then, he has been purchasing members through formal channels.

"The restrictions on the platform are also reasonable rights protection. If the behavior of sharing accounts is not restricted, how can the platform make money? How can it pay wages to the workers?" Guo Kaixi said, "The platform did not notify in advance, which may be the point of anger. If it can be set in advance According to the rules, users voluntarily choose to renew or not to renew, instead of directly banning the account of the violating user, it should not cause such a big disturbance.”

The answer is in "Member Service Agreement"

　　As Guo Kaixi said, netizens’ dissatisfaction with the video platform’s restrictions on member devices is mainly concentrated in two aspects: one is the limit on the number of login devices; the other is extreme measures such as banning accounts that exceed the scope of use.

　　Faced with the dissatisfaction of netizens, the three video platforms iQiyi, Tencent, and Youku responded one after another.

iQiyi said that the restriction of device login is to protect the security of user accounts and the rights and interests of members. There is no need to recharge more expensive members to unblock accounts. Users can unblock their accounts by changing their passwords by themselves; The user interface will be optimized. While reminding users that the number of logged-in devices exceeds the limit, a convenient and clear device management interface will be provided to facilitate users whose accounts are in a safe state to untie devices that are not commonly used; Youku responded that it is to protect the security of user accounts. , Crack down on black and gray products.

　　Kong Xiayu believes that according to Article 10 of Chapter Two of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China: the copyright owner may transfer or authorize others to exercise the right of information network dissemination in whole or in part (that is, to provide the public with wired or wireless The right to obtain the work at the time and place chosen by him), and receive remuneration in accordance with the agreement or the relevant provisions of this Law.

"The video platform can adjust the number of account login devices to several. From a legal point of view, this is the free adjustment of copyright property rights. More or less, the rights are all on the video platform."

　　If the video platform adjusts the member rights and interests rules during the period when users enjoy membership services, will it violate the legitimate rights and interests of consumers?

Kong Xiayu believes that it should be handled on a case-by-case basis.

If the content of the login device in the service agreement signed between the user and the video platform is relatively vague, on this basis, it is no problem for the platform to further restrict the number and types of login devices; but if the same account is clearly defined in the service agreement The type and quantity of registered equipment are suddenly adjusted within the performance period, which violates the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

　　According to a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, the Youku VIP agreement stipulates that the same account can log in to 3 devices at the same time, and can watch on 2 devices at the same time; the Tencent Video VIP agreement allows me to log in on 5 devices, and It can be watched on two devices at the same time; the Mango TV membership service agreement specifies that the same account can be used on up to four devices, and supports two mobile terminals and computer terminals to be online at the same time, and two TV terminals to be online at the same time, and the same account at the same time Use on up to two devices.

In other words, if these platforms modify the rules within the validity period of the user membership and ban the illegal accounts, they will violate the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

　　Regarding the damage of rights and interests, Kong Xiayu suggested that consumers: "You can choose to terminate the contract and refund the money after changing the rules; you can also choose to ask the video platform to continue to perform the contract according to the original agreement, otherwise you can go to the Consumers Association to complain or go to the court Sue."

　　Regarding the user's "shared account" behavior, Kong Xiayu emphasized that whether it is paid or free, this behavior is illegal from a legal point of view.

Because most video platform membership service agreements clearly indicate that membership services can only be used for personal viewing, and cannot be provided to others in the form of transfer, rental, borrowing, sharing, or selling.

　　According to the copyright law, a video member account only needs to ensure the normal use of one device for one person.

Kong Xiayu said: "From a legal point of view, you pay the website, and the website allows you to watch the content you want. As for what device you use and how many devices you use, these platforms can freely adjust the rules according to the actual situation."

　　In the past, for the purpose of expanding market share and expanding user traffic, video platforms adopted an attitude of "ignoring" the sharing of accounts, but this does not mean that the platform gave up its rights.

Recently, the foreign video website Netflix (Netflix) has also begun to crack down on shared accounts.

However, its strategy is to still support family-wide sharing. For all account users who are bound to the same family and are trusted, their devices must connect to the Wi-Fi network where the main account is located at least once every 31 days, and turn on the Wi-Fi network. Website browsing to watch any content.

　　Regarding how to strike a balance between copyright protection and consumer rights protection, Kong Xiayu described it as a process of “pull and pull” progress, “Currently, Chinese citizens know relatively little about copyright law, and many During the process, they may not even know that they have infringed. With the gradual development of my country's economy, the public's awareness of intellectual property protection should also gradually increase."

　　(At the request of the interviewee, Zhang Yaoyao and Guo Kaixi are pseudonyms)

　　China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily trainee reporter Tan Sijing and reporter Jiang Xiaobin Source: China Youth Daily