China Mulls Limits for Excessive Tipping During Livestreams
中国考虑限制直播期间的过度打赏
A new proposal to better regulate China’s booming livestreaming industry would introduce a “cool-off period” for big tippers, especially young ones.
一项旨在规范中国蓬勃发展的直播行业的新提案，将针对大额打赏者实行“冷静期”，尤其是年轻人。
The rule is expected to go into effect by the end of the year, according to domestic media, though further details about the so-called cool-off period and limits on rewards given to livestreamers remain unclear.
据国内媒体报道，这项规定预计将于今年年底生效，不过，关于所谓的“冷静期”以及对直播者的奖励限制的更多细节尚不清楚。
Streaming has emerged as a lucrative medium for China’s live performers, as entertainment venues have had to shut their doors during the coronavirus outbreak.
对中国直播表演者们而言，直播已经成为一种赚大钱的媒介，因为在新冠疫情期间，娱乐场所不得不紧闭大门。
Along with the boom in business, viewers’ generous giving has come under scrutiny. In 2019, a Shanghai woman surnamed Weng sued her husband after he gave a large portion of their joint savings to a livestreamer. And in March, a middle schooler in the southern city of Shenzhen made headlines by tipping a livestreamer over 120,000 yuan while using his father’s phone.
随着直播行业的蓬勃发展，观众的慷慨大方也受到了人们的密切关注。2019年，一名姓翁的上海女子起诉了她的丈夫，原因是他将两人共同储蓄的很大一部分给了一名直播者。今年3月，南方城市深圳的一名中学生在使用父亲的手机时，给直播者支付了超过12万元，这也成为了新闻头条。
The proposal has been widely discussed on microblogging platform Weibo, with a related hashtag viewed over 140 million times by last Friday afternoon. Many users applaud the prospect of regulating the current reward system, while some argue that viewers alone should be responsible for their financial decisions.
这个提案在微博平台新浪微博被广泛谈论，在上周五下午，相关话题标签浏览量已经超过1.4亿次。许多用户支持规范现行打赏制度，而一些人则称，财务决定应由观众自己负责。
“If there’s a cool-off period for rewarding livestreamers, why should they even exist?” wrote one Weibo user. “Most consumption behavior is a consequence of being impulsive.”
“如果有一段冷却期来奖励直播者，他们为什么还要存在呢?”一位微博用户写道。“大多数消费行为是冲动的结果。”
Liu Junhai, a law professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing, told us that, while he agrees with the proposal in theory, there should be laws to support it.
北京中国人民大学的一位法学教授刘俊海先生告诉我们，他在理论上赞同这个建议，但也应有法律去支撑它。
Technically, tipping during livestreams isn’t “commercial behavior,” as it’s not transactional and therefore doesn’t fall under China’s e-commerce law, Liu said. “Now, we must rely on the platforms and the livestreamers themselves to help create a better, healthier online environment.”
刘说，严格说来，直播期间的打赏并不是“商业行为”，它并非交易，故而不处于中国电子商务法之列。“如今，我们必须依靠平台和直播主自己，来帮助创造一个更好、更健康的网络环境。”
