"To Prevent the Reappearance of 'NunuTV,' Consider Recovering Illegal Profits and Punitive Damages"

'The 2nd Great Legislative Debate to Prevent NunuTV' Held

There has been a call to establish a legal basis that enables the recovery of illegal profits and the imposition of punitive damages to fundamentally prevent the reemergence of illegal streaming sites like 'NunuTV.'

On the 28th, the 'Legislative Grand Debate to Prevent the Second NunuTV' was held at the National Assembly Library Auditorium.

Participants of the 'Second Legislative Debate to Prevent a Second Nunutv Incident' are discussing the topic 'The Need for Regulation to Prevent the Recurrence of the Nunutv Incident.'
[Photo by Oh Su-yeon]

NunuTV shut down in April following a strong crackdown by the government, but recently, NunuTV Season 2 has appeared, raising concerns again. They generate profits by streaming popular content without authorization and posting illegal advertisements related to gambling, drugs, and pornography. Representative Park Wan-joo estimated that NunuTV earned at least 33.3 billion KRW in illegal advertising revenue over seven months until the service was terminated, and the industry damage caused by copyright infringement amounts to 4.9 trillion KRW.

At the debate, proposals were discussed to establish a Special Committee on Illegal Information under the Korea Communications Commission to monitor illegal information, punish illegal advertisers, and enable the recovery of illegal profits through the 'Special Act on Eradication of Illegal Information and Acts Online' and to introduce a punitive damages system for copyright infringement through the 'Partial Amendment to the Copyright Act.' This aims to block the possibility of NunuTV's reappearance.

Nam Jung-gu, a lawyer at Inheon Law Firm, presented on the topic of 'The Need for Regulation to Prevent the Recurrence of the NunuTV Incident.' Lawyer Nam pointed out, "The NunuTV format is easily copied, and it is difficult to identify criminal organizations that secure illegal content," adding, "The scale of illegal profits reaches tens to hundreds of billions of KRW, but there are limitations in the legal procedures to recover these profits." He also said, "The existing method of banning website addresses alone cannot prevent the operation of sites that can be infinitely created and replicated," emphasizing, "The incentive to operate illegal sites itself must be reduced."

He then analyzed the effects of legislative measures that restrict the distribution of illegal content and prevent the acquisition of illegal profits. These include measures such as requesting account payment suspension similar to voice phishing when suspicious accounts are used for illegal profits or restricting electronic financial transactions of the account holders suspected of using illegal profits. The confiscation and recovery of illegal profits are also being considered. Lawyer Nam stated, "By granting the committee and investigative agencies the authority to broadly investigate and restrict illegal information, which was a gap in existing laws, a swift and effective blocking effect is expected."

In the subsequent discussion, Kim Jang-ho, head of the OTT Activation Support Team at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "One of the similar sites had no advertisements at launch but later recruited advertisers and linked three illegal advertising banners," emphasizing, "It is necessary to block illegal sites and illegal advertisements together to disrupt the revenue structure." Yoon Woong-hyun, director of the Digital Harmful Information Response Division at the Korea Communications Commission, mentioned the need for a special law, stating, "The government and related agencies monitor illegal information, but it is inefficient as it is not linked to investigations." Lee Byung-gwi, head of the Cybercrime Investigation Division at the National Police Agency, said, "Under current law, it is impossible to recover criminal proceeds through payment suspension for crimes involving copyright infringement or distribution of illegal information," adding, "The enforcement of a special law will significantly help eradicate illegal advertisements and recover illegal profits."

The second session presenter, Professor Lee Hae-wan of Sungkyunkwan University School of Law, pointed out that due to the nature of copyright infringement, it is difficult to detect infringement or prove damages, resulting in small compensation amounts under the current system and low deterrent effects. He emphasized the need to introduce a punitive damages system as an effective countermeasure.