数字时代搜索引擎竞价排名的刑法规制

Criminal Regulation of Paid Listing of Search Engine in Digital Age

搜索引擎竞价排名现有法律监管手段规制力度的不足“催生”刑法规制的必要。无论是援引技术中立原则还是“避风港原则”均无法合理证立恶意搜索引擎竞价排名行为的正当性。事实上,数字时代的搜索引擎竞价排名已异化为网络犯罪的“帮手”。对于搜索引擎竞价排名刑法规制,关键前提在于确立其广告服务及信息检索服务的双重属性。核心关键可依据正犯归责的路径,在实定法的基础上以虚假广告罪、拒不履行信息网络安全管理义务罪、帮助网络信息犯罪活动罪中的重罪论处。若存在与搜索引擎企业刑事责任不相适应的情形,则宜采取共犯归责的路径,并通过将竞价排名限缩至与人身法益相关的领域以及援引“基于合意的他者危险化”理论等来合理限缩竞价排名企业的刑事责任。

The decline in existing legal regulation of paid listing of search engine has created the need for criminal regulation.Neither the principle of technological neutrality nor the principle of safe harbor can justify the malicious behavior of paid listing.In fact,paid listing of search engine in the digital era has become a“helper”for cybercrime.The key premise of criminal regulation for it is to establish its dual attributes of advertising service and information retrieval service.According to the path of imputation of principal offender,the behavior of paid listing can be charged with the crimes of false advertising,refusal to fulfill the information network security management obligations,assistance of network information criminal activities on the basis of actual laws.However,when the situation is incompatible with the criminal liability of search engine enterprises,it is appropriate to adopt the path of imputation of accomplice,and reasonably limit the criminal liability of paid listing enterprises by limiting paid listing to areas related to personal legal interests and invoking the theory of“consensual dangerousness of the other”.