Park Wan-joo, an independent member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, announced that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Special Act on Eradication of Illegal Information and Acts Online," the "Partial Amendment to the Copyright Act," and other "NunuTV Prevention Three Acts," which include measures for regulating illegal streaming sites and recovering illegal profits as well as punishment measures.
Regarding NunuTV1, which was controversial earlier this year, Park estimates that during its approximately seven months of operation, the cumulative number of visitors reached 83 million, and it earned at least 33.3 billion KRW in illegal profits through illegal advertisements, its main source of income. Online video services (OTT) and broadcasters claim that the damage caused by copyright infringement amounts to about 4.9 trillion KRW.
NunuTV1 ended its service in April due to government pressure and excessive traffic costs. However, last month, an illegal streaming site with the same name, "NunuTV," reappeared and is being promoted on Telegram while operating an alternative site.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission monitors illegal streaming sites and imposes sanctions through the Communications Deliberation Subcommittee, which meets twice a week. However, it is difficult to impose effective sanctions because the sites circumvent regulations by hosting cache servers domestically and continuously changing URLs, making it hard to identify alternative sites. It is also difficult to accurately calculate the damage amount caused by copyright infringement. Unlike trademark law and patent law, which have similar characteristics, the Copyright Act currently lacks legal grounds for punitive damages.
The "Special Act on Eradication of Illegal Information and Acts Online," led by Park, stipulates the establishment of a Special Committee on Illegal Information under the Korea Communications Commission. It requires that when suspicious circumstances of criminal acts using illegal information are found, a request be made to the Minister of Science and ICT to suspend the provision of telecommunications services and notify the competent investigative agency. The law also specifies matters related to preventing the distribution of illegal information and tracking illegal profits, including confiscation of illegal profits and efforts to establish international cooperation. The "Partial Amendment to the Copyright Act" aims to allow compensation of up to five times the damage amount caused by infringement for those who intentionally infringe copyright for profit.
Park said, "It is technically difficult to block the establishment of new illegal streaming sites," adding, "I hope that effective regulation and strong punishment of illegal streaming sites that repeatedly infringe copyrights and operate by evading government regulations with illegal advertisements as their main source of income will help prevent damages."
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