Culture Ministry devises plans to prevent illegal content distribution

Government-wide plans to prevent the illegal distribution of K-content were announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in a meeting at the National Assembly on Monday. The measures include expanding the use of monitoring platforms...

Rep. Park Dae-chul, middle, head of the People Power Party's policy committee, speaks during a meeting on preventing the illegal distribution of K-content at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

Government-wide plans to prevent the illegal distribution of K-content were announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in a meeting at the National Assembly on Monday.

The measures include expanding the use of monitoring platforms that block illegal streaming servers in the country, reinforcing international cooperation with Interpol and reorganizing investigation units on copyright infringement under the Culture Ministry.

The move follows the controversy surrounding the infamous noonoo TV website, which illegally streamed content from both domestic and foreign paid streaming services online from 2021 until April this year. It terminated its service due to “all-around pressure” after the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency launched an investigation into the site.

"There are shadows lurking underneath the K-content industry," Culture Minister Park Bo-gyoon said. "K-dramas such as 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' and 'The Glory' were robbed of views through illegal streaming sites like noonoo TV. The content industry saw damages of approximately 5 trillion won [$3.93 billion] due to noonoo TV alone."

Initially, noonoo TV was able to dodge the Korea Communications Commission’s efforts to block web addresses linking the site by changing domains, reportedly in the Dominican Republic. The ministry found that there was an average of 10 million users per month during noonoo TV’s run.

The Culture Ministry plans to take action along with other government departments, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Korea Communications Commission and the Korean National Police Agency.

The Culture Ministry’s first tactic aims to repeat the process of monitoring and blocking illegal sites more frequently, from checking two times a week to constantly monitoring. For noonoo TV, the Culture Ministry said that it blocked the server 27 times during the last four months before it closed down. Platforms that can automatically detect illegal sites via related keywords are also being developed.

The Culture Ministry will work closely with the United States, citing that it is “another major victim of illegal content distribution.” This involves cooperating with Interpol and signing a business agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to establish joint investigation units, as well as sharing information on copyright infringement with the Motion Picture Association.

Two investigation units under the ministry will be reorganized and split into four teams to “strengthen their professional capabilities according to each field.” There will also be a newly-established “crime analysis unit” that will take care of digital evidence and form policing strategies.

The final tactic will be to heighten social awareness of copyright infringements through related campaigns and adding guidelines in school textbooks.

The K-content industry expects a total of $25 billion of exports and sales amounting to up to 200 trillion won by 2027 following the implementation of these acts, according to President Yoon Suk Yeol in February during the fourth Export Strategy Meeting.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]