Prosecution withdraws porn probe
Published: 18 Sep. 2009, 22:40
An investigation into Korean internet users who allegedly violated the intellectual property rights of overseas pornographers will be suspended, according to the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office yesterday.
The men had been accused of illegally downloading and distributing video clips and then selling them online.
“Prosecutors decided to turn down all the complaints because they didn’t want to promote pornography by protecting the intellectual property rights off the filmmakers,” said So Byung-chul, a senior prosecutor at the office. “Instead we are planning to intensify a probe into the act of circulating those films by the users.” It is illegal to spread pornography online, he said.
The decision marks a turnaround for the prosecution. It previously pledged to investigate users who have uploaded video clips more than three times for profit.
After studying examples in other countries, he added that it is customary to resolve such cases through civil lawsuits rather than criminal investigations. Some 50 makers of pornographic movies in the United States and Japan have sued thousands of Korean Internet users through a local law firm for allegedly violating their intellectual property rights by downloading video clips and selling them online.
By Lee Min-yong [[email protected]]
The men had been accused of illegally downloading and distributing video clips and then selling them online.
“Prosecutors decided to turn down all the complaints because they didn’t want to promote pornography by protecting the intellectual property rights off the filmmakers,” said So Byung-chul, a senior prosecutor at the office. “Instead we are planning to intensify a probe into the act of circulating those films by the users.” It is illegal to spread pornography online, he said.
The decision marks a turnaround for the prosecution. It previously pledged to investigate users who have uploaded video clips more than three times for profit.
After studying examples in other countries, he added that it is customary to resolve such cases through civil lawsuits rather than criminal investigations. Some 50 makers of pornographic movies in the United States and Japan have sued thousands of Korean Internet users through a local law firm for allegedly violating their intellectual property rights by downloading video clips and selling them online.
By Lee Min-yong [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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