Official Reply of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Issues concerning Conviction and Sentencing for Activities of Profit-Making through Production, Reproduction, Selling, and Dissemination of Pornographic Electronic Information by Using Cloud Storage

· Document Number：Interpretation No. 19 [2017] of the Supreme People's Court

· Area of Law： Criminal Law

· Level of Authority： Judicial Interpretation

· Date issued：11-22-2017

· Effective Date：12-01-2017

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Supreme People's Court Supreme People's Procuratorate

Announcement of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate
The Official Reply of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Issues concerning Conviction and Sentencing for Activities of Profit-Making through Production, Reproduction, Selling, and Dissemination of Pornographic Electronic Information by Using Cloud Storage, as adopted at the 1,724th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on August 28, 2017 and the 70th meeting of the Twelfth Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on October 10, 2017, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on December 1, 2017.
Supreme People's Court
Supreme People's Procuratorate
November 22, 2017

Official Reply of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Issues concerning Conviction and Sentencing for Activities of Profit-Making through Production, Reproduction, Selling, and Dissemination of Pornographic Electronic Information by Using Cloud Storage Official Reply of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Issues concerning Conviction and Sentencing for Activities of Profit-Making through Production, Reproduction, Selling, and Dissemination of Pornographic Electronic Information by Using Cloud Storage 
(Interpretation No. 19 [2017] of the Supreme People's Court, as adopted at the 1,724th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on August 28, 2017 and the 70th meeting of the Twelfth Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on October 10, 2017, and to come into force on December 1, 2017)
The higher people's courts and people's procuratorates of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the Military Court and the Military Procuratorate of the People's Liberation Army; the Production and Construction Corps Branch of the Higher People's Court of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the People's Procuratorate of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:
Recently, some higher people's courts and provincial people's procuratorates have requested instructions for issues concerning conviction and sentencing for activities of profit-making through production, reproduction, selling, and dissemination of pornographic electronic information by using cloud storage. Upon deliberation, the following reply is hereby made:
I. The relevant provisions of the Criminal Law, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases about Production, Reproduction, Publishing, Selling, and Dissemination of Pornographic Electronic Information via the Internet, Mobile Communication Terminals, and Sound Message Stations (Interpretation No. 11 [2004], SPC), and the Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases about Production, Reproduction, Publishing, Selling, and Dissemination of Pornographic Electronic Information via the Internet, Mobile Communication Terminals, and Sound Message Stations (Interpretation No. 3 [2010], SPC) shall apply to the issue on whether activities of production, reproduction, selling, and dissemination of pornographic electronic information by using cloud storage for the purpose of making profits should be subject to criminal liability.
II. When criminal liability is investigated for activities of production, reproduction, selling, and dissemination of pornographic electronic information by using cloud storage for the purpose of making profits, in view of the characteristics of cloud storage, full consideration shall be given to such circumstances as the dissemination scope, the amount of illegal income, the performance of the actor, and whether the pornographic electronic information and disseminated objects involve minors rather than only the quantity of pornographic electronic information produced, reproduced, sold, and disseminated, to make comprehensive assessment of social harm, determine appropriate punishment, and ensure that the severity of the punishment is commensurate with the crime committed and the criminal liability to be borne by the offender.