게임중독 예방을 위한 소위“셧다운제”에 관한 검토

As the number of on or offline game users has been rapidly increasing, gameaddiction has been leading to serious social problems. The just policies such aseducation and public relations of establishing wholesome game playing andself-regulation system by game industries are not enough to prevent gameaddiction. Finally, the imperative regulatory measures have been provided and therevised bills of those have been submitted to make game service providers takemeasures to prevent game users from playing game excessively. This article looks through the background of the shutdown system, looks into“optional shutdown system” and “compulsory shutdown system” of ‘Game IndustryPromotion Act’ and ‘Juvenile Protection Act’ in detail, and reviews the need forunifying individual regulations which are a little bit different in each Act, whetherthis program is unconstitutional or not, and several problems relating to the scopeof game which can be applied by the regulations.100)Game addiction problems cannot be solved by the regulatory measures of‘Game Industry Promotion Act’ and ‘Juvenile Protection Act’. Thus I suggest thattentatively named “Game Addiction Prevention Act” should be legislated anew andseparately to provide from the definition of terms to the object and the scope ofregulation, and etcetera. and the existing regulations, related to game addiction, of‘Game Industry Promotion Act’ and ‘Juvenile Protection Act’ should be abolished. The Constitutional Court is in the process of deciding on the constitutionality ofthe regulations of the shutdown system. Adolescents are not only the object ofthe protection but also the subject of human rights. Parents' concerns for theirchildren are the most essential one of requirements to prevent juvenile gameaddiction. If so, new shutdown system should reflect the intentions of adolescentsand their parents. Lastly, mobile games should be included in the scope of games which are the object of the shutdown system on the premise that the new provisions areenacted to reflect the intentions of the game users and their person with parentalrights because mobile internet is about to be the internet in itself soon.