Definitio Of The Objective Requirements Of The Crime Of Impairing Commercial Reputation And Commodity Reputation

The relationship between “fabricating” and “spreading” in the crime of impairing commercial reputation and commodity reputation has been a relatively controversial issue in both theory and practice.From the view of grammar,when two verbs are connected by “and”,it refers to a parallel relation.In this crime,however,it is problematic if both “fabricating” and“spreading” are considered as perpetrating acts,especially in the internet era.The parallel arrangement of “fabricating” and “spreading” injures the protection of legal benefits.Thus,“spreading” shall be considered as the only perpetrating act of this crime.The definition of “false facts” shall be based on an integration of “the theory of factual nature” and “the theory of subject evaluation of the right to commercial reputation”.Given that false facts can spread rapidly and the harm can be severe in the age of the internet,the definition of “fabricating” shall not merely be built on literal interpretation.Fabrication shall be confirmed provided that the act of spreading false facts is short of documents support or is done without careful confirmation.An intention is regarded as one of the constitutive requirements provided that the person has clear knowledge of one's own act.The definition of “other people” also finds dispute in whether certain product or industry shall be included.“Other people” shall be a precise and specific person or institution,and thus certain product or industry shall not be included.“Significant losses” refers to direct financial losses that can be measured by currency.To this regard,“significant losses” excludes indirectlosses which may blur the boundary of imputation and thus can merely be considered as a circumstance for sentencing.“Other serious circumstances”shall be based on the Provisions(II)of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on the Standards for Filing Criminal Cases under the Jurisdiction of the Public Security Organs for Investigation and Prosecution(the “Standards II”).The relatively generalized acts of spreading related to the internet shall be selected as “other serious circumstances”.We Media,such as Weibo,Tieba,BBS,public WeChat accounts,QQ,or short video sharing platforms,such as TikTok,Kuaishou,shall all be put under the evaluation of online media.