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What's Congress going to do? The reason China has so much influence is because Chinese companies are willing to invest in (western) video game companies (or at

What's Congress going to do? The reason China has so much influence is because Chinese companies are willing to invest in (western) video game companies (or at least Tencent is). Most game developers aren't exactly swimming in money and if a Chinese company offers them more resources then many of them are going to take it even if it comes with strings attached. Another reason is access to the Chinese market. Congress can't really do anything to stop companies from complying with the Chinese government so that they can publish their games in the Chinese market.

ineedasername 7y ago
There are already regulations that dictate how companies must regard and comply with laws and regulations of other non-US jurisdictions. This could be a similar thing. Or maybe not, maybe there is a better way. The point is, this is a long term issue of national security. US companies bolstering a foreign authoritarian regime by facilitating it's propaganda and censorship gives aid an comfort to a regime incompatible with our values.
bcrosby95 7y ago
The latter is the reason why China has so much influence. Tencent only owns 5% of Blizzard. Heck, Blizzard only gets around 6-8% of their revenue from China. But they're looking at it as an avenue of future growth. Just like every other international corporation.
- Mirioron 7y ago
  >The latter is the reason why China has so much influence. When specifically talking about Blizzard, yes, but not when you think of companies like Riot.
arcticfox 7y ago
If China wants to enforce global censorship by using their market as a hammer, America should use their market to enforce global (or at least bilateral) freedom of speech. It's an intl trade issue, it's impossible to expect every company to stand up to the CCP when they use access to one of the biggest markets in the world as a weapon
- Mirioron 7y ago
  As a European, I would like to see that, but I think the EU would have a problem with the US demanding free speech, let alone most of the other countries outside the west.
  - PavlovsCat 7y ago
    > I think the EU would have a problem with the US demanding free speech That's because you reduce it to the word "freedom of speech", and then expand it again, to all sorts of other things. Call it freedom to criticize governments, totalitarianism, murder, and so on, and there will be no issue. https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-million-people-are-jailed-at-china-s-gulags-i-escaped-here-s-what-goes-on-inside-1.7994216 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-milli... Most people don't want to be treated like this. So, either they are against it, or they don't get to speak anything on the matter, being hypocrites. A double standard is no standard. It really is that simple.
- ianleeclark 7y ago
  > If China wants to enforce global censorship by using their market as a hammer, America should use their market to enforce global (or at least bilateral) freedom of speech. China has an interest in their global censorship, American companies don't have the same impetus towards free speech. China has roughly 4x the population of the United States, and, as their GDP per capita raises, they will increasingly start to fulfill the American role: vacuuming up trade surpluses. It would be a poor business decision for Western companies to not seek the larger, emerging market. These companies don't have nations, they just have the pursuit of shareholder value. You're fooling yourself if they're going to express any sort of value system contrary to that stated goal.
- jasonlotito 7y ago
  There was a plan to do that. Americans (including people here) hated it. The TPP, as many issues as it might have had, was the solution. Instead of supporting it, we voted for our wallets.

ineedasername 7y ago

There are already regulations that dictate how companies must regard and comply with laws and regulations of other non-US jurisdictions. This could be a similar thing. Or maybe not, maybe there is a better way. The point is, this is a long term issue of national security. US companies bolstering a foreign authoritarian regime by facilitating it's propaganda and censorship gives aid an comfort to a regime incompatible with our values.

bcrosby95 7y ago

The latter is the reason why China has so much influence. Tencent only owns 5% of Blizzard. Heck, Blizzard only gets around 6-8% of their revenue from China. But they're looking at it as an avenue of future growth. Just like every other international corporation.

Mirioron 7y ago
>The latter is the reason why China has so much influence. When specifically talking about Blizzard, yes, but not when you think of companies like Riot.

arcticfox 7y ago

If China wants to enforce global censorship by using their market as a hammer, America should use their market to enforce global (or at least bilateral) freedom of speech. It's an intl trade issue, it's impossible to expect every company to stand up to the CCP when they use access to one of the biggest markets in the world as a weapon

Mirioron 7y ago
As a European, I would like to see that, but I think the EU would have a problem with the US demanding free speech, let alone most of the other countries outside the west.
- PavlovsCat 7y ago
  > I think the EU would have a problem with the US demanding free speech That's because you reduce it to the word "freedom of speech", and then expand it again, to all sorts of other things. Call it freedom to criticize governments, totalitarianism, murder, and so on, and there will be no issue. https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-million-people-are-jailed-at-china-s-gulags-i-escaped-here-s-what-goes-on-inside-1.7994216 https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-milli... Most people don't want to be treated like this. So, either they are against it, or they don't get to speak anything on the matter, being hypocrites. A double standard is no standard. It really is that simple.
ianleeclark 7y ago
> If China wants to enforce global censorship by using their market as a hammer, America should use their market to enforce global (or at least bilateral) freedom of speech. China has an interest in their global censorship, American companies don't have the same impetus towards free speech. China has roughly 4x the population of the United States, and, as their GDP per capita raises, they will increasingly start to fulfill the American role: vacuuming up trade surpluses. It would be a poor business decision for Western companies to not seek the larger, emerging market. These companies don't have nations, they just have the pursuit of shareholder value. You're fooling yourself if they're going to express any sort of value system contrary to that stated goal.
jasonlotito 7y ago
There was a plan to do that. Americans (including people here) hated it. The TPP, as many issues as it might have had, was the solution. Instead of supporting it, we voted for our wallets.