Kicking People Off The Internet Not Enough In South Korea, Copyright Lobbyists Demand More

from the it-never-ends dept

If you thought that the entertainment industry would stop at having the ability to force ISPs to kick people they accuse (not convict) of file sharing offline, you might want to pay attention to what's happening in South Korea. South Korea, of course, is home to very high broadband penetration, with exceptionally high speeds. And, not surprisingly, there's a lot of unauthorized file sharing going on there. Of course, if you looked at the Korean cultural world, you'd immediately learn that smart entrepreneurs and entertainers quickly learned to adapt and take advantage of this new world. Entrepreneurs like JY Park recognized the changing marketplace, and adapted -- and the massive success he's had with artists like Rain and Wonder Girls, suggests that perhaps "piracy" wasn't a big deal. All you need is some smart business people who can adapt.

But, of course, we've all seen what sorts of companies are afraid to adapt. The big record labels and the big movie studios couldn't be bothered with the tricky proposition of actually understanding the new marketplace and adjusting their business model. So, they went to the US government and said "something must be done." That "something" turned out to be a new "free trade" (ha ha!) agreement with South Korea, that had little to do with free trade, but plenty to do with pushing ridiculously draconian copyright laws on South Korea (i.e., protectionism for the entertainment industry, not free trade). Of course, these new laws went way beyond what any other country had, and included getting the government to shut down file sharing sites while restricting how user-generated content sites could work as well. Not surprisingly, once the law passed, various sites began restricting how they could be used, even limiting the uploading of any songs, even ones that users themselves had created. And, of course, with all that, a "three strikes" plan to kick people off the internet was also included.

You would think that the industry would be happy and leave well enough alone, right?

Of course not. Reader Dan alerts us to the news that some entertainment industry lobbyists are now demanding that all file sharing services must use content filters. Otherwise, they plan to sue. Just another reminder that for some of these folks, enough will never be enough. They will keep pushing for more and more, just as consumers keep pushing back on having their own rights stripped away.

And, don't think this is limited to South Korea. Many of the "leaked" points about the needlessly secretive ACTA deal are supposedly "based on" the trade agreement that was done with South Korea. So take a look at what's happening there and see if that's how you think copyright law should work in the US.

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South Korean Prosecutors Reject Charges Against Thousands Of Uploaders

from the no-mass-infringement-cases dept

Last month, we noted that a group of mostly Japanese porn publishers tried to bring charges against 10,000 people under South Korea's harsh new copyright laws, claiming that they were guilty of uploading copyrighted material. More recently, those same publishers announced plans to increase the number sued to nearly 65,000. Well, that plan may not be getting very far as Michael Scott alerts us to the news that South Korean prosecutors have rejected the charges against those 10,000 uploaders, instead saying they would just charge 10 "habitual offenders," though those offenders may face jail time.

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Copyright Used Against Censorship?

from the well,-sorta dept

We've talked a lot about how copyright is used to censor things someone doesn't want, but Michael Scott points us to a story where it's claimed that copyright is being used against censorship. It's over in South Korea, where the authors of a history book are suing their own publisher, after it altered their text based on government demands. The government apparently didn't like sections of the book A Modern and Contemporary History of Korea, and ordered them "revised." The publisher obliged, and the authors are now suing, claiming that it was copyright infringement. Of course, to me, it seems a lot more like this could easily be handled contractually, rather than with copyright law, but if someone wants an example of copyright being used for good, here you go...

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Porn Studios Sue 10,000 Korean File Sharers

from the that'll-work dept

Apparently some porn studios haven't realized what a disaster the RIAA's "sue 'em all" strategy has been. A bunch of US- and Japan-based porn studios have supposedly decided to sue 10,000 individuals in South Korea for uploading unauthorized porn. Do they actually think this will help their business models? On top of this, they're asking the police to investigate as well, hoping to get some of the lawsuits to lead to jailtime. I'm sure that South Korean citizens are happy their gov't signed a "free trade" agreement with the US that included a bunch of provisions put there by US entertainment industry lobbyists, resulting in these strict new copyright laws.

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South Korea Implements New Copyright Law; ISPs Ban P2P Ads; File Sharers Get Summary Trials

from the ch-ch-ch-changes dept

Looks like a bunch of things are happening in South Korea concerning copyright law there, as I keep seeing new (seemingly unrelated) stories pop up having to do with changes in South Korea. We'd already discussed how South Korea had agreed to a three strikes plan a little while, and how other oddities in the new copyright law were leading Google to forbid uploading any music to blogs for fear of running afoul of an incredibly, broadly-worded law.

It appears that Google's not the only one. Basically any kind of copyright infringement can get you a "strike" -- meaning all kinds of the typical "unintentional infringement" that people do every day that are really harmless can now get you kicked offline. So, all sorts of social networking sites are basically warning their users not to do anything potentially infringing. No homemade videos with music in the background. No mentioning song lyrics. On top of this, South Korean search engines have agreed to stop accepting ads for any sort of P2P file sharing service -- even if it has perfectly legitimate uses.

About the only slightly reasonable thing we've heard is that South Korea is changing the rules for handling lawsuits against those accused of file sharing, basically shifting it from a full trial to something more akin to a small claims court, with the idea being that if someone is found guilty to give them a small fine, rather than the ridiculous numbers the industry usually requests. There was one interesting quote in explaining the reasoning why:

The police say targeting youngsters is unfair because the parents are usually unaware of the illegal activity, and then desperate to come up with the money, the kids resort to theft or other crime to come up with the settlement money demanded by copyright holders.

Nice work, recording industry: apparently you've been driving kids to real crime in your effort to stop file sharing. That said, now that the industry has a massively broad three strikes tool to use, it probably doesn't even need to take as many kids to court. It can just kick them offline.

The crazy thing about this, too, is that the music industry in South Korea has actually been doing a really good job adjusting to the changing market. A huge percentage of folks in South Korea have broadband connections (by which we mean real broadband connections, not what they call broadband in the US), and smart entrepreneurs like JY Park have adapted by changing the business model, recognizing that selling music directly no longer makes sense, but there are plenty of other business models that do. And by embracing that, he's been able to create some massive stars, and bring in a ton of money. So why do we need this drastic change in the law?

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New Law In Korea Means Google Bans The Uploading Of Music On Any Blog

from the life-without-safe-harbors dept

While some in the copyright community feel that things like the DMCA safe harbors are bad, it's worth watching what happens in situations where they don't exist. South Korea just changed its copyright law, such that sites that don't filter for copyrighted material can potentially be liable. So, what is the response? Google is now forbidding the uploading of any music files to avoid liability and possible shut down under the law (the law is a three strikes law that doesn't just apply to users, but to sites that the users use) (found via Techmeme). Lucas Gonze does a good job laying out the damage this causes:

The problem is not the freedom to use copyrighted content. I don't know of any such freedom. The problem is the right to play.

A guitar teacher will be unable to post lessons, and a guitar student will be unable to post homework. Two musicians working together at a distance will be unable to share unfinished multitracks. An unsigned classical quartet will be unable to post samples of their work. Only the tiny few who work on commercially published recordings will still be able to be heard, and even only the small proportion of their recordings that are completed commercial works will be heard.

Most musicians are amateurs with no financial interest in copyright. The proportion of amateurs to professionals is so overwhelming that the word "musician" is a synonym for "amateur." Whenever copyright is wielded on behalf of the professionals in a way that makes it harder for amateurs to make music, it is hurting musicians.

Oh, and don't forget, the entire reason why South Korea is suddenly putting in place draconian, self-damaging, protectionist, copyright policies is because the entertainment industry went on a huge lobbying campaign claiming that South Korea was a haven for piracy, and then had the US gov't include requirements for much more stringent copyright laws in a free trade agreement -- despite the fact it was about the opposite of free trade. The entire purpose wasn't free trade, but protectionism of the US entertainment industry. Soon after that passed, we noted that it would require shutting down any service that permitted unauthorized reproduction... and we're seeing the impact of that now.

South Korea has been a leader in internet technologies. It had real broadband (both wired and wireless) to nearly every home well before almost every other country. As such, it has a thriving internet industry... but it has also had a thriving entertainment industry made up of execs who embraced the internet. Folks like JY Park, who recognizes that selling music directly is the past, but by embracing that fact, is building a media empire. But, of course, the folks back in Hollywood don't want to compete and don't want to change... so they got the US gov't to force South Korea to put in place these ridiculous copyright laws that help them and harm pretty much everyone else.

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South Korea Bans Anonymous Posting On Popular Websites

from the no-anonymity-for-you dept

While the US courts have been quite clear over and over again that people have a right to post anonymously online, other countries have been a lot less open to the concept. Over in South Korea, we recently covered the lawsuit against an anonymous (ok, formerly anonymous) blogger who was accused of spreading "false rumors." Apparently there was also another recent case in the country, involving photos anonymously posted online of a woman who failed to clean up after her dog. In response, Korea has now passed a law that requires anyone posting on a site that has over 100,000 unique visitors a day to reveal their real names and national ID (found via Michael Scott). This seems quite extreme. There are certainly pros and cons to allowing anonymous speech, but it seems to go overboard to outlaw it completely on any relatively popular site.

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South Korean Economic Blogger Acquitted (For Now)

from the phew dept

Earlier this year, we were quite troubled by news reports out of South Korea, concerning a (formerly) anonymous blogger who had been arrested for his financial commentary online that had been so good that it moved markets. He was charged with "spreading false rumors," when in reality the problem was that the info he was spreading was pretty accurate, and that was the problem. But, the good news is that he's now been acquitted, as the court noted that there was no evidence that the guy intended to spread false information, and that he appears to have believed the content he was writing. Of course, the case may not be over yet, as many expect the government to appeal.

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South Korea The Latest To Introduce Three Strikes Plan

from the entertainment-industry-lobbyists-are-everywhere dept

Even with cutbacks, you have to hand it to entertainment industry lobbyists who are able to push through similar legislation around the world. The latest is that South Korea is joining the ranks of countries like New Zealand and France in pushing for a "three strikes" rule that would kick users off the internet after being accused (not found guilty) of unauthorized file sharing. Notice how this works, of course. Just last week, New Zealand officials were defending this plan by saying they were only doing what plenty of other countries had already done (which isn't true, since no one has made such a plan into law yet). But, by getting many countries to introduce vaguely similar laws, everyone can just claim "oh look, it's what country X is doing, and we need to do the same thing to stay current." It's how the entertainment industry has forced legal changes world wide for years.

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More Civil Liberties Concerns Over Jailed Korean Blogger

from the freedom-of-speech dept

We've covered the story of the South Korean blogger who went by the name Minerva, and who was arrested for "spreading false rumors." The whole episode seemed troubling to us. It seemed as though the blogger was just posting his thoughts online, and the government didn't like what he was saying. Now even more information is coming to light, including reports that what he said (about the Korean gov't telling banks not to buy US dollars) wasn't quite as false as the government claimed. Apparently it wasn't an official order -- but banks were urged to avoid dollars. This has plenty of people up in arms over what seems like a clear politically motivated arrest of a guy for telling the truth that the government didn't want people to know about, rather than any sort of "false information."

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Lesson From Jailed South Korean Blogger: Don't Be Too Good With Your Predictions

from the it'll-come-back-to-bite-you dept

There's been a fascinating story coming out of Korea over the past few months, concerning the (formerly) anonymous online commentator who went by the name Minerva. He accurately forecasted some of the early days of the financial collapse last fall, and suddenly the press talked him up and everyone wanted to know who he was. Then he claimed that the Korean government had told companies to stop buying US dollars -- forcing the government to put out a statement denying this was true. Then, following a few weeks of searching, he was arrested for spreading false information and (a week later) his identity was revealed (along with a background that shows he wasn't particularly well connected or knowledgeable -- he likely made some lucky guesses).

But, it does raise questions about the fine line between making predictions and spreading false information. Because he had been so accurate with his earlier predictions, many started to assume that he was well-connected, and any future predictions he made would also be equally accurate. It seems that, once again, the old saw that "past results is no guarantee of future performance" was ignored. Now, there may be a difference in terms of how the information was presented -- in terms of whether he specifically claimed to know for certain that the Korean government had done what he said, as opposed to just predicting that it was about to happen -- but it seems like the line between a prediction and "spreading false information" gets pretty thin once everyone thinks you know what's going on better than anyone else.

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Microsoft Against Free Software... But In Favor Of Paying Nations To Use Its Software?

from the something-doesn't-seem-right dept

With more and more countries aggressively moving to embrace free and open source software, it appears that Microsoft is using its own money to its advantage, such as with this agreement to hand over $60 million to South Korea to get it to use its software, rather than the alternatives. While it may seem silly when you take a step back and look at the situation, it does show some of the mixed up incentives related to software. Individuals and organizations can simply embrace free software, or Microsoft can pay out $60 million towards various projects now, knowing that it will pressure the South Korean gov't and firms into spending a lot more than that on its software. At some point, people will begin to realize this is just a bad deal. The programs Microsoft invests in make out well, as do some government officials, but everyone else ends up worse off.

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South Korea To Fine Portals If Their Users Upload Porn

from the that's-gonna-backfire dept

While we have problems with plenty of US laws when it comes to innovation and the technology industry, one thing this country has gotten right is making sure that service providers usually aren't blamed for the actions of their users. Between the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA and section 230 of the CDA (both of which are mostly awful laws other than those small points within them), it seems that our laws recognize that an individual who does something on the site of an online service provider is responsible for those actions, rather than the service itself. This makes plenty of sense. You don't blame the phone company when someone uses a phone to commit a crime. You don't blame the highway department when a getaway car drives off on the highway. You blame whoever actually committed the crime. There have been efforts underway in the US to change this -- mainly because the service providers are easier to find and they often have a lot more money -- but that doesn't make it right.

Other countries haven't been as clear on this, and it appears some are going in the opposite direction. South Korea is looking to start fining web portals that make pornographic content available. Fines will also go to those who uploaded it, but clearly this law is targeted at the service providers. Apparently, explaining to the government that it's pretty much impossible to manually check every uploaded video isn't particularly convincing, as the gov't appears to have responded with "hire more people." Somehow, I get the feeling this won't do much to actually stop porn online, but could make things more difficult for various web portals in South Korea.

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