Lawyer Shao Shiwei | What Legal Risks Are Hidden in the Business of Buying and Selling Friend Links?

The buying and selling of friend links may appear insignificant, but it is a highly profitable business. Why? Because it involves virtually no cost; simply placing advertisements for others at the bottom of a website can generate substantial returns, leading to increasing wealth day by day.

However, if the links being bought and sold are related to online black and gray market industries, such as gambling websites, the transaction trail can implicate website administrators, friend link intermediaries, and promoters of gambling websites. Depending on the specifics of each case and the charges involved,the statutory penalties range from life imprisonment in severe cases to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years in less severe cases.。

Friend links are generally placed at the bottom or sidebar of a website. They can be simply understood as advertising for others on one’s own website to generate advertising revenue. For example, if Website A has high authority, and Website B places its URL on Website A, it can drive traffic to Website B. Friend links are not primarily intended for internet users, nor do they directly bring significant traffic to a website. Their benefit lies in the fact that if Website A has high traffic, placing Website B’s URL on Website A attracts search engine spiders to crawl Website B. This improves Website B’s indexing status on search engines like Baidu, thereby increasing user traffic to Website B. In short, paying for friend links is aimed at attracting spiders and enhancing the website’s authority.

However, in the eyes of individuals involved in online gambling and otherblack and gray market industries, any lawful transaction model can be exploited for their purposes.，For instance, friend links may be used as one of the methods to drive traffic to online gambling platforms.

1. Not only casino operators constitute the crime of "operating a casino"

A certain technology company mainly engaged in internet information services such as friend links and sponsored article publishing. During its operations, its legal representative, Mr. Lin, knowing that his clients provided links to gambling websites, still instructed employees to provideinternet access services such as friend links for gambling websites, collecting service fees totaling more than RMB 40,000. He was convicted by the court of the crime of operating a casino.[1]。

[Analysis]

Although driving traffic to gambling websites can command higher service fees compared to ordinary websites,being sentenced to imprisonment for earning RMB 40,000 is truly not worth it.。

2. Various methods exist for driving traffic and promoting betting platforms

Server intrusion. Mr. Lin and others jointly funded the establishment of the "Baisou Network Technology Studio" and hired individuals to illegally infiltrate computer servers by purchasing FTP account permissions of other websites. They attached illegal links bearing the name "Baisou Studio" to these websites, thereby improving the search engine ranking of the self-built website of "Baisou Network Technology Studio." The aim was to attract gambling websites to place advertisements on the self-built website, thereby generating illegal income. Mr. Lin and others were convicted of the crime of sabotaging computer information systems.[2]。

Website construction and promotion. Mr. Zhang used website construction and promotion to drive traffic to gambling websites. Among the 590 domain names managed under his Jumming.com account, gambling website navigation sites and news websites (with internal directory links redirecting to gambling websites) were detected. Mr. Zhang was convicted of the crime of illegally utilizing information networks.[3]。

[Analysis]

Compared to crimes related to computer systems, crimes related to information networks (including the crime of aiding information network criminal activities) carry lighter penalties. From a defense lawyer’s perspective, whether to adopt a strategy of arguing for a lesser charge depends on the specific circumstances of the case.

3. Cases where the maximum statutory penalty can be life imprisonment

Some online gambling platforms involve more than just gambling. If a case involves the convergence of pornography and gambling, it may constitute the crime of producing, reproducing, publishing, selling, or disseminating obscene materials for profit, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Mr. Zhong, a technician, was hired by others to develop two obscene video apps. During their operation, these apps drove traffic to gambling websites to register members. He profited more than RMB 3.9 million and held a 10% technical equity stake, providing technical guidance for the development and operation of the apps. In this case, although Mr. Zhong was employed by the boss, he was still identified as a principal offender. He was convicted of the crime of producing, reproducing, publishing, selling, or disseminating obscene materials for profit, sentenced to ten years of fixed-term imprisonment, and fined RMB 4 million.[4]。

[Analysis]

Both "pornography" and "gambling" are illegal. The apps themselves were involved in pornography, yet they also engaged in a "side business" of driving traffic to gambling websites.Knowing that the boss intended to develop pornography-related apps, he still developed them, provided technical guidance, and held equity. Although the income was high, it was insufficient to cover the fine.After working in vain for several years, he also faces ten years of imprisonment.. One must choose their path in life carefully.

In the vast majority of cases involving this type of conduct, it is unlikely that the public security organs have "arrested the wrong person." Therefore, this section addresses only the defense strategies lawyers may employ under the premise that the judicial authorities determine the party is guilty.

1. Degree of subjective knowledge

If the actor is charged with the crime of operating a casino (maximum sentence of ten years), determining the degree of the actor’s knowledge of the upstream crime is crucial. If the final conviction is for the crime of aiding information network criminal activities (maximum sentence of three years), it would be highly favorable to the party. If, at the time someone sought cooperation with a website administrator or link promoter for website promotion and traffic driving, the website was a lawful URL not involving gambling, the transaction was lawful at that time. If the URL later became a gambling platform, or if the URL was actually disguised as a lawful website (e.g., a search engine) where redirection to the relevant page occurred only through specific methods (such as entering an invitation code) on the search page, then the actor did not subjectively know it was a gambling website at the time of the transaction. However, objectively, based on trading habits, volume, amounts, and other factors, if the administrator or others obtained higher profits compared to general transactions, the judicial authorities may presume that the actor had a vague awareness of the unlawful nature of the upstream activity. In such circumstances, it is more appropriate to characterize the actor’s conduct as the crime of aiding information network criminal activities.

2. Striving for recognition as an accessory

Compared to principal offenders, accessories play a secondary or auxiliary role in joint crimes and shall receive lighter or mitigated punishments or be exempted from punishment. Compared to the operators of online gambling platforms, those who provide internet access services such as friend links, place advertisements, or recruit members for websites are, according to legal provisions, considered accomplices in the crime of operating a casino. Whether the actor is employed by the online gambling platform or is an independent third-party external cooperation platform, it is more appropriate to characterize their conduct as aiding behavior and recognize them as an accessory. However, if, as in Case 3 above, the actor holds technical equity and thus becomes a shareholder of the company, they possess decision-making power regarding relevant matters and enjoy greater benefits compared to ordinary employees. In such circumstances, the likelihood of being recognized as a principal offender is higher.

3. Defense regarding the amount involved: Distinguishing between lawful income and illegal gains

Regardless of the charge, there is a positive correlation between the amount involved in the case and the final conviction and sentencing. Therefore, defending against the determination of the amount involved is extremely important. "Friend links" may be only one source of income for website administrators or link promoters. Other sources may include advertising, marketing, paid services (such as SEO optimization and content creation), and online store operations. If the public security organs, by extracting bank statements for a specific period, fail to deduct relevant lawful income when determining the amount involved, it will inevitably lead to disproportionately heavy sentencing for the actor. This is clearly unfair and unreasonable.

There will always be individuals willing to take risks and engage in businesses involving black and gray areas, as the difficulty of making money and the potential returns are incomparable to those of lawful businesses. Precisely because these individuals are deeply aware of the high-risk nature of their business, they often operate with "integrity as the foundation" in maintaining client relationships. This is partly because they hope their business will last longer and generate more profit, and partly because they fear that poor service might lead clients to report them out of frustration.

However, some things arehard to guard against.For example, an online gambling platform may have been operating smoothly, but one day, because a gambler lost too much money on the platform, they reported to the local police station that the platform had defrauded them. Consequently, it becomes a natural progression for the public security organs, through interviewing staff of the online gambling platform and obtaining bank statements, to trace back and identify the websites that drove traffic to the online gambling platform and provided friend links.

For platforms that abide by laws and regulations and operate in compliance, it is essential to enhance risk prevention awareness during the daily buying and selling of friend links. Transactions involving friend links related to pornography or gambling must strictly be avoided. Additionally regularly inspect website source code and immediately delete any abnormalities. It is also recommended to use webmaster tools for detection, frequently change website FTP passwords, and choose secure and stable servers, among other measures, to improve website security and prevent situations such as the insertion of black links.

[2] (2014) Yong Xing Chu Zi No. 252

[3] (2021) Hu 0118 Xing Chu No. 42

[4] (2022) Lu 0305 Xing Chu No. 35