In a column signed by the CEOs of around 20 agencies including France’s Agence France-Presse, Britain’s Press Association and Germany’s Deutsche Presse-Agentur they called on the European Parliament to update copyright law in the EU to help address a “grotesque imbalance”.

“The internet giants’ plundering of the news media’s content and of their advertising revenue poses a threat both to consumers and to democracy,” the column said.

European Parliament lawmakers are to set to debate a new copyright law this month that would force the internet giants to pay more for creative content used on their platforms such as news, music or movies.

A first draft of the law was rejected in July and the plans have been firmly opposed by US tech firms, as well as advocates of internet freedom who fear that the regulations could lead to higher costs for consumers.

“Can the titans of the internet compensate the media without asking people to pay for access to the internet, as they claim they would be forced to? The answer is clearly ‘yes’,” the column said.

The joint statement from the agencies, which are major suppliers of news, photos and video, said Facebook reported revenues of $40 billion (€34 billion) in 2017 and profits of $16 billion, while Google made $12.7 billion on sales of $110 billion.

“Who could reasonably argue that they are not in a position to make fair payment for the content they use?” the agencies asked.

“What we are really talking about is introducing a fair payment by those who have ripped off the news. For the sake of Europe’s free press and democratic values, EU lawmakers should press ahead with copyright reform,” they added.

‘Neighbouring rights’

The column marks a new lobbying effort by media groups, backed by artists such as Paul McCartney, to sway European lawmakers as they prepare for a second vote on September 12.

The fight is over two parts of the planned law.

The first is Article 13, which would make platforms like Google-owned YouTube legally liable for copyrighted material to prevent content producers from seeing their work posted without pay.

The second is Article 11, which would create a so-called “neighbouring right” meaning that newspapers, magazines and news agencies would have to be paid when Google or other websites link to their stories.

“Without paying for it, internet giants such as Google and Facebook use vast quantities of news that is produced at great cost by press publishers and news agencies,” added the joint statement on Tuesday.

Critics argue that the reform would lead to blanket censorship by tech platforms because of copyright problems, reducing their role as a hub for creativity, especially YouTube.

They say it would also restrict the usage of memes and remixes by everyday internet users who often use content without securing the rights.

The column was signed by the heads of TT in Sweden, STT in Finland, Belgium’s Belga and APA from Austria, as well as other media groups across the European continent.

The Pew Research Center report found 42 percent of US Facebook users said they had “taken a break” from the platform in the past 12 months, and 26 percent said they had deleted the Facebook app from their phone.

Among those in the 18-29 age group, the break with Facebook appeared more pronounced, with 44 percent claiming to have deleted the Facebook mobile app.

Although the survey did not indicate how many users were quitting Facebook entirely, the findings suggest a clouded outlook for the company which has been roiled by news of the hijacking of private data by political firm Cambridge Analytica and concerns of foreign influence campaigns on the platform.

“Significant shares of Facebook users have taken steps in the past year to reframe their relationship with the social media platform,” researcher Andrew Perrin said in a blog post.

According to Pew’s survey, three-fourths of US Facebook users have taken some steps to change how they interact with Facebook, including more than half who have changed their privacy settings.

Perrin said the concerns about Facebook appeared to transcend political affiliation.

“The poll found that nearly identical shares of Democrats and Republicans (including political independents who lean toward either party) use Facebook,” he said.

“Republicans are no more likely than Democrats to have taken a break from Facebook or deleted the app from their phone in the past year.”

The report was based on a survey between May 29 and June 11 including 3,413 Facebook users aged 18 and older, with an estimated margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

The survey comes ahead of a congressional hearing on foreign influence campaigns on social media, at which Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg was to testify.

And it comes with President Donald Trump stepping up his attacks on internet platforms with his unverified contention that they are suppressing conservatives and Republicans.

Facebook has already lost ground in the United States among teens and young adult users, losing ground notably to Snapchat, but with some switching to Facebook-owned Instagram.

But Facebook remains the world’s largest social network with well over two billion users worldwide.

Pomo Huose annouhnced that Hong Kong communications platform as a service (CPaaS) provider M800 has arranged to integrate its communications SDK suite into smartwatches produced by Singapore child safety wearable solution provider Pomo House.

The integration will allow Pomo House smartwatches to take advantage of live voice call and push notification services using the M800 platform, the press statement said.

M800 has recently been partnering with enterprises in various verticals to integrate communications capabilities into various devices including smart cars, security cameras and set top boxes. Now the company is expanding into smart wearables via the Pomo House alliance.

The two companies have developed a range of smartwatches designed to allow parents to monitor the whereabouts of their children, and to give parent and child the ability to instantly contact each other with the push of a button on the watch or its accompanying app.

They use the M800 Communication SDK Suite, as well as other solutions backed by M800’s globally distributed network infrastructure, which consists of multiple points of presence as well as connections to over 260 tier-1 telecoms operators.

The watches can also send real-time notifications to the parents if their child leaves a specific area, such as the home or school. Besides the safety features, the watch also has a translator function designed to give children the ability to learn more than ten new languages.

“We are incredibly excited about our latest partnership with Pomo House, and integrating our distinctive communication SDKs into their innovative smartwatches,” M800 co-founder, chairman and CEO Steven Yap said.

“Ensuring the security of children is a top issue for every community around the world. With the introduction of Pomo House’s range of smart wearables supported by our communication SDKs, we are sure that we can make the world a safer place for families.“

Lenovo said in a press statement that the ThinkPad P1 would fulfill the desire for workstation performance and reliability in a thin and light design.

Lenovo said the ThinkPad P1 represents not only an opportunity to increase productivity, but to also work with a high quality and performing product within a fast-paced environment

“At Aston Martin, we are committed to a high standard of excellence with a drive to push to the next-level,” said Neil Jarvis, Director of IT and Innovation, Aston Martin.

“We see the expression of similar values in the creation of the new ThinkPad P1 Whether it’s our creative team benefiting from the professional graphics and stunning display or our executive team looking for an ultra-thin and light system with a touch of style, the ThinkPad P1 is the right fit for a variety of users across our company.”

The ThinkPad P1 gives users a premium experience – both in look and feel and superior construction and components. With a signature, black finish, glass touchpad and seamless keyboard, and premium packaging the ThinkPad P1 has the high-end design that users expect, the statement dded.

It said ThinkPad P1’s power supply is 35 percent smaller and lighter than predecessors.

Certified for key ISV applications, the ThinkPad P1 features 8th Gen Intel Xeon and Core processors, including support for the Core i9 CPU, and delivers ECC memory support and clocks speeds up to 4.6GHz. Users can also enjoy a boost in performance with the latest NVIDIA Quadro P1000 and P2000 professional graphics cards.

In addition to its graphics and processors, this mobile workstation offers a 15-inch, 4K UHD display, representing 100% of the Adobe color gamut, as well as a touchscreen, IR camera standard, 4TB of M.2 PCIe premier storage and 64GB of memory at 2667MHz.

With more than 25 years of experience developing the best commercial laptops, ThinkPad P1 design engineers chose the best features from the ThinkPad portfolio to maximize power, performance and premium design from top to bottom, Lenovo added.

“When we set out to create the ThinkPad P1, we knew our challenge was to build a mobile workstation that would carry the legacy of professional power and reliability of our ThinkPad portfolio, but also meet our customer’s need for a thin, light and sleek design,” said Thanet Angkasirisan, General Manager, Lenovo Indochina.

“Whether you are looking for power, the lightest mobile workstation around or sleek and slim tech-envy, the ThinkPad P1 delivers on all counts, period.”

ThinkPad P72

Lenovo also introduced on Tuesday its new ThinkPad P72. Purpose-built for users looking for top of the line power and performance; it demonstrates Lenovo’s capabilities in simultaneously addressing different customer needs and market segments.

The ThinkPad P72 is the ideal choice for users in the oil and gas, automotive and financial industries. A true desktop replacement, this 17-inch chassis includes the latest 8th Gen Intel Xeon and Core processors, and the most powerful NVIDIA Quadro graphics – up to P5200 – to tackle the most demanding workflows with ease. With up to 6TB of storage, 128GB of memory and 16GB of Intel  Optane  memory, users can handle immense data sets with vast amounts of compute power, the statement said.

Top executives from Twitter and Facebook were to appear in two hearings on Wednesday, with Google’s participation a question mark.

The hearings come with online firms facing intense scrutiny for allowing the propagation of misinformation and hate speech, and amid allegations of political bias from the president and his allies.

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey and Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg were set to appear at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Lawmakers were seeking a top executive from Google or its parent Alphabet, but it remained unclear if the search giant would be represented.

The tech giants are likely to face a cool reception at best from members of Congress, said Roslyn Layton, an American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar specializing in telecom and internet issues.

“The Democrats are upset about the spread of misinformation in the 2016 election, and the Republicans over the perception of bias,” Layton said.

“They are equally angry, but for different reasons.”

Layton, who was a member of the Trump transition team on telecom issues, said she did not view the president’s comments as a threat to start regulation, but that Silicon Valley firms could nonetheless expect tougher scrutiny.

This could come in the form of tougher enforcement on consumer protection and deceptive practices by the Federal Trade Commission, or congressional action on privacy in response to a law passed in California.

Still, she said the tech firms have a chance to improve their public image if they emphasize what made them successful.

“They forget to emphasize how much people love their products, how people use them around the world, including dissidents,” she said. “Now they are on the back foot.”

Dorsey and Sandberg were to appear at a morning hearing in the Senate on “Foreign Influence Operations and Their Use of Social Media Platforms,” which could see an empty chair for Google.

Sources familiar with the matter said Google offered chief legal officer Kent Walker, who the company said is most knowledgeable on foreign interference, but that senators had asked for the participation of CEO Sundar Pichai or Alphabet CEO Larry Page.

Dorsey testifies later in the day at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on online “transparency and accountability.”

Questions of bias

Both hearings could offer lawmakers a chance to vent at the firms following claims from Trump and some Republicans that online firms have suppressed conservative voices.

In a series of tweets in recent days, Trump assailed Google for what he termed “rigged” results that hide news from conservative outlets and promote content from what he called “left-wing” media.

That followed similar comments from Republican lawmakers including House majority leader Kevin McCarthy who claimed that “conservatives are too often finding their voices silenced” on online platforms.

Technology and media analysts say there is little evidence to suggest Google is skewing results for political reasons. And if they did, the president would have little recourse under the constitution’s free speech protections.

But public perception is another matter.

A Pew Research Center survey released in June found 43 percent of Americans think major technology firms support the views of liberals over conservatives, and 72 percent accepted the idea that social media platforms actively censor opposing political views.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a University of Pennsylvania professor and author of an upcoming book on Russia’s role in election hacking, said the hearings could give the companies a platform to explain how they operate.

“Hearings are an opportunity as well as a liability,” she said.

“These companies have put in place fixes (on foreign manipulation) but they have done it incrementally, and they have not communicated that to a national audience.”

‘An opportunity’

Adam Chiara, a University of Harford professor who follows social media and politics, said the public hearings will offer an opportunity for Silicon Valley firms to deliver their message to the public.

“I think we’ll see the tech companies much better prepared than (in hearings) in November 2017,” Chiara said.

While Silicon Valley’s image has been battered in recent months, Chiara said, “if they can come up with a concrete message that the lawmakers can understand and the public can understand, maybe they can gain control of the wheel.”

Chiara said Google’s likely absence could end up hurting the company.

“Google is missing an opportunity to craft a message for itself,” he said.

Jeff Hemsley, a Syracuse University communications professor, said the hearings are likely to bring greater public scrutiny to concerns which may have only been raised by a small percentage of the population.

“Being in front of Congress, regardless of the outcome, elevates some of these data privacy and social media bias issues into the national conversation,” Hemsley said.

To avoid a further deterioration of their image, the companies “need to be seen to answer the questions and show they are paying attention.. they have to do their best to show the bias they are accused of is not there.”

The UN Special Rapporteur on promoting and protecting human rights while countering terrorism has written to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg to express concern about the company’s efforts to block “terrorists” from using its platform, according to a statement.

“The use of overly broad and imprecise definitions as the basis for regulating access to and the use of Facebook’s platform may lead to discriminatory implementation, over-censoring and arbitrary denial of access to and use of Facebook’s services,” Fionnuala Ni Aolain warned.

Facebook’s definition, she said, equates all non-state groups that use violence in pursuit of any goals or ends to terrorist entities.

The social media network’s polices prohibit terrorists from using its services, and it uses detection technologies and a growing team of moderators to find and remove content.

“The use of such a sweeping definition is particularly worrying in light of a number of governments seeking to stigmatise diverse forms of dissent and opposition — whether peaceful or violent — as terrorism,” Ni Aolain said.

“The definition is further at odds with international humanitarian law as it qualifies all non-state armed groups party to a non-international armed conflict as terrorists, even if these groups comply with international humanitarian law,” she stressed.

She also voiced concern over a lack of clarity about the methods Facebook uses to determine if a person belongs to a particular group, and if that person has “the opportunity to meaningfully challenge such determination.”

“The absence of any independent processes of review, oversight and monitoring of Facebook’s actions is also highly problematic,” she added.

“We have discussed launching our own ‘AMLO Wallet’ to hold or confiscate digital currency from illegal sources,” Witthaya Neetitham, secretary of AMLO, at a seminar on the legal system and cryptocurrency crime, said.

Currently, there is no law allowing the agency to freeze or seize digital currency, nor anywhere to keep it.

As a result, Thai authorities can jail or extradite cybercriminals and confiscate their physical assets – but they cannot touch their digital assets.

Earlier this year the Technology Crime Suppression Division of the Royal Thai Police joined their Dutch counterparts to arrest a Moldovan suspected of operating a child-porn website that earned Bt123 million per year.

“We found bitcoin in his e-wallet, but had to leave it there because we don’t have any regulations [governing its seizure],” Pol Captain Ekkanit Natethong revealed.

Bitcoin is underpinned by block-chain, part of new finance technology that is proving a hurdle for law enforcement globally.

Witthaya said AMLO does have measures to combat crimes involving digital currencies licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but it was still difficult to handle cryptocurrency operators who are outside the system. “We cannot identify the cryptocurrency operator or receivers when duped victims transfer money to the criminals,” he said.

Chartpong Chirabandhu, deputy director general of the Department of Special Litigation, Office of the Attorney General, voiced concerns over ways to collect electronic evidence in cybercrime cases.

Evidence can be used in court if it is acquired in line with the law and came from a trusty source.

“A big problem with digital assets and other such evidence is the difficulty in discovering the identity of those transacting. When we present the evidence to court, it often fails to convince the judges,” he said.

Cybercrime is forecast to grow rapidly, with losses worldwide already topping US$600 billion (Bt19.6 trillion), according to Julien Garsany, deputy regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Garsany told a separate seminar on cryptocurrency and cybercrime that the economic cost and other damage to Asean alone ranges somewhere between $120 million and $200 million. In Thailand, illicit activities involving cryptocurrency are mostly limited to scams luring people to transfer money for bogus investments in bitcoin, said Pol Lt-Colonel Patana Sugarasut, special case expert at the Department of Special Investigation.

Recently, a Finnish investor and a Thai businesswoman were swindled out of bitcoin worth almost Bt800 million. But concern is now focused on transnational crime organisations that are using advanced technology to target elderly people, he said.

In response, Thai law-enforcement agencies are urging policymakers to issue regulations and tools to combat the trend.

Pol Colonel Pisal Erb-Arb, deputy commander of the Narcotics Suppres-sion Bureau, suggested launching a working panel tasked with suppressing crypto-related cybercrime.

“We need to hurry. Thailand is a haven for money laundering that finances terrorism,” said Pisal, who took part in joint operation with the FBI to arrest Alexandre Cazes, founder of the “darknet” marketplace Alpha-Bay, in Bangkok last year.

AlphaBay operated for more than two years, hosting transactions in bitcoin and other digital currencies worth more $1 billion.

The growth in popularity of eSports is seeing games players turn professional and earn incomes as respected and disciplined athletes, as well as driving a new business sector into rapid growth.

Thailand has around 18.3 million gamers, putting it at number 20 in the world, according the 2017 Global eSports Market Report, conducted by Newzoo. The global eSports industry is worth about US$905.6 million (Bt29.6 billion), and has the astounding growth rate of around 38 per cent yearly.

Newzoo also forecasts the 2020 global eSports market value will reach $1.48 billion, up from $696 million in 2017. Meanwhile, global eSports viewers are expected to growth by around 50 per cent in 2020, increasing from 385 million viewers – 191 million of them fan-club viewers and the remaining 194 million general viewers. In parallel with the global market growth, Thailand’s eSports gaming market was estimated at Bt9.7 billion in 2017.

According to one survey, Southeast Asia’s gaming market is growing fastest with the highest rate. The region is also the world’s fastest growing region for eSport audiences, with numbers expected to increase to about 290 million by 2021 from 167 million in 2017.

In Southeast Asia, the eSports audience is expected to more than double from 20 million in 2017 to over 40 million by 2019. As audiences grow, e-Sports are pushing into the sporting mainstream.

The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) said Thailand’s game software industry is worth over Bt10 billion, with 12 per cent growth per year.

Allen Hsu, country head for strategic partnerships, Garena, said that eSport in Thailand is experiencing continuous growth since every stakeholder, especially the government and the education sectors, have devoted effort and support to drive the sector.

Public interest has widened, driving the popularity of eSports. Many universities have signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Garena to launch and to improve eSports related curriculum, including Bangkok University, Sripatum University, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Dhurakij Pundit University.

Other businesses have shown an interest in supporting eSports through sponsorships, hosting eSports events and tournaments, and supporting eSports athletes. For example, Buriram United announced its own eSports team. Other examples include the Workpoint TV channel’s eSports programme called “King of Gamer”.

Said Hsu: “Truemove H and Oppo also joined our RoV Pro League season two. It is clearly the scenario that eSports keeps growing and expanding to other businesses beyond the gaming industry.”

Around 380 million people around the world now watch eSports competition. Thailand is new to the game compared to China and South Korea, which are the number one and number four largest eSports markets globally.

The new eSports market is the result of games and sports being tied together by technology, said Hus. “Businesses are eyeing it, seeking to utilise the growth of eSports to enhance, and expand and otherwise benefit from eSports.”

To drive eSport’s growth requires competitions, eSport athletes and eSport content.

Nitipat Praweenwongwuthi, marketing director of Acer Computer, said that his company played a role for the past two years as a leading hardware vendor dedicated to promoting and supporting e-Sport in Thailand. The company helped establish the Thailand E-Sports Federation, as well as establishing a regional and national tournament called Predator League.

Initial, Acer emphasised educating people, helping them understand what eSports is about and the differences between professional eSports athletes and game addicts. In the future, the company plans to support a country-level eSports league, said Nitipat.

The last two years have seen eSport become widely accepted and continuously expanding from a niche group to a large viewership who watch tourneys via online platforms, including YouTube and Twitter, said Nitipat. There are so many often eSports events every week in Bangkok and throughout the country.

Rapidly growing in the country now, eSports has recently experienced the debut of many eSport teams, along with many sponsors. Players can now make a career of their gaming skill. As well, in the past two years, many eSport clubs have started up, and eSport study programmes have been launched at universities.

There are factors driving the growth of eSports. First, the omnipresence of high-performance home computers and games directly led to its emergence and growth. Therefore, eSports have created economies of scale for high performance computers.

In the meantime, Advanced Info Services (AIS) has joined with Singtel Group and other regional partners to launch an e-Sports tournament, the PVP E-Sports Championship, with the aim to encourage the development of a region-wide ecosystem for eSports.

Under the PVP E-Sports Championship, teams will compete at local qualifiers in each country. The winning teams from each country will move on to battle professional teams from North America, Europe and China at the regional tournament in Singapore in October.

The eSports industry in Thailand has also seen dramatic growth, agrees Pratthana Leelapanang AIS’s chief consumer business officer. Thailand’s eSports community comprises more than 30 million amateur and professional gamers, as well as tournament viewers.

Pratthana said that around Bt20 billion has been spent on the games industry in Thailand, with PC and mobile platforms each contributing about half of this.

With the aim to be Thailand’s first full eSports battlefield, and to transform game addicts into eSports national athletes, Infofed has invested Bt50 million to develop the Thailand E-Sports Arena.

Jirayod Theppipit, CEO and founder of Infofed, said that the main objective of Thailand E-Sports Arena is to jointly develop the capability of eSports athletes and the eSport business in Thailand to compete at the global level.

Another goal is to change the mindset of Thai society towards eSports from viewing it as an addition to seeing a national opportunity. The Arena will serve as a knowledge centre and link up with local and international institutes for support and exchanging information.

“We want to improve the quality of young people with the idea of changing ‘game addictions’ into ‘national opportunity’,” said Jirayod.

Thailand E-Sports Arena is located on the 5th floor at The Street Ratchada. It covers 1,000 square metres, has plans to expand to 5,000 square metres in future.  “The arena can deliver 24-hour space for leagues and tournaments, both mobile and PC competitions, as well as eSports events,” said Jirayod.

Thailand E-Sports Arena has an eSports tournament programme for pro players, semi-pro players and amateur players. In addition, the arena also provides live streaming, the eSports Academy and eSport events, he added.

The company is not only setting up the most modern eSports arena in Thailand, he said, but also aims to be a centre for athlete development and to promote the eSports industry in Thailand at an international level.

Their target group is young people aged between 15 and 30. Many brand products have expressed sponsorship interest, particularly in the IT sector, Internet providers, beverages and even automobile makers.

By the second half of this year, the arena is expected to generate revenue of Bt15 million, with 50 per cent coming from rental fees and the remainder contributed by sponsors to support tournaments or leagues.

Thailand E-Sports Arena has also entered into partnerships with public and private business sectors to create an eSports Academy, an institute that will develop the knowledge and technique of players. The entire business, from emerging enthusiasts to related new businesses, is experiencing growth at 30-40 per cent annually.

Recently, Ascension Gaming team, a group of Thai eSports athletes, won the Globe Conquerors Manila 2018 tournament in the Philippines and earned the spot representing Thailand to compete in the World Championship 2018 in South Korea later this year.

Nuttapong Menkasikan, 20, a member of Ascension Gaming team, is a professional eSports athlete and started playing eSports since 2013.

He plays League of Legends. He normally practices his eSports skill for eight to 12 hours daily.

He emphasises that being an eSports athlete is different from being a gamer, because of the seriousness of daily practice. It is not about sitting down and playing a computer game, which aims to achieve improvement level by level. Playing eSports takes a lot of time for each game, around 40 to 60

minutes, it requires concentration and practice.

“The important difference is that eSports athletes need to practice playing the eSports game, but also need to do well at other daily activities,” said Nuttapong. “We must manage our time, we do not only play games and do nothing.”

Preecha Pornpetpaiboon, 19, known within the eSports community as Leo (Romeo), is a member of Buriram Arctic Wolf team, playing in the “offlane” position. He started his eSports athletic career last year with Dota 2 Season 1. He says he really loves playing Dota 2.

Preecha decided to concentrate on eSports, making it his career and so changed his approach from his past game playing to now dedicating 10 hours a day to practice. Already he is earning Bt50,000 to Bt70,000 monthly.

“I have discipline in my eSports practice, studying, and doing the other things in daily life such as exercise – and not just playing a game,” said Preecha.

Witsarut Jaroensatthayatham, known as Jay (jAyGODz), playing in ADLane position, said that his eSports athletics started a year ago with ROV game. He was a gamer since he childhood and dreamed of becoming a professional eSports athlete.

And now he is that professional eSports athlete, earning an income of Bt40,000 to Bt60,000 per month.

“Playing an eSports game is much the same as playing a normal game,” he begins. “But the difference is that playing eSports requires discipline and setting a goal for playing each game.

Hsu insisted that being an eSports athlete and a recreational gamer is totally different. Anyone who plays a game can be called a gamer, he said: They do not have a goal in playing the game, and are just having fun and enjoying themselves. But eSports athletes have a solid goal – to play to win the competition – and so need to do practice hard as a team. “

In turn, professional eSports athletes can earn an income, including a salary from the club, sponsorship awards and competition rewards.

Meanwhile, Jirayod said that young people, who are often considered game addicts by society, could be trained to the calibre of eSports athletes and take part in professional leagues and tournaments as do football players and professional golfers.

Santi Lothong, president of Thai e-Sports Association (TESA), said that the eSports athlete is totally different from game addicts. As it is a real sport and not just game playing, it requires not only the discipline of practice, but also sport science and sport strategy.

In Thailand, there are fewer than 100 eSport clubs, averaging 10 athletes each, and so around 1,000 athletes spread across the eSports clubs.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has adopted a policy to include eSports in the national sports development plan.

On Aug. 30, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Information and Communications Network Promotion and Information Protection Act. The bill is expected to prevent foreign companies from misusing personal information without consent.

Under the revised law, global companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon and even those without local offices are obligated to report information leakage cases to the Korean authorities through their personal information protection officers just as Korean companies do now.

The current law only has regulations on the overseas transfer regulations of users’ personal information. When the personal information is relocated to a third country, it is possible to do so without obtaining a user’s permission because there are no relevant grounds. But now companies have to obtain the consent of users, according to the amendment bill.

“Global behemoths like Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon have been making a lot of money using personal information of our citizens but have taken little responsibility,” Park Dae-chul, an opposition lawmaker who drafted the legislation said.

“Once foreign companies designate agents, it would solve the issue of ‘reverse discrimination’ against domestic companies and the level of personal information protection can be reinforced as the government will be able to strictly control them,” Park added.

Global companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon are gathering and utilizing personal information of Korean citizens through various businesses and services in Korea. However, as they are not subject to domestic laws, it is difficult to determine how, where, when, why and how personal information is used. In addition, the collected personal information is transferred to a third country.