The global voice for consumers La voix des Consommateurs à travers le monde La voz global para la defensa de los consumidores

Country report for KOREA for CI Regional Meeting on A2K Eunsook Moon, Ph.D. Strategic Planning Director Consumers Korea 17 February 2009

Summary of issues of concern to consumers in Korea

1. Cost and availability of learning materials The cost of accessing learning materials varies depending on the quality, quantity, and issued date, yet the range of cost is from $0.38~2.30 The learning materials are provided for free by a lot of universities, institutes, government agencies and libraries to students, professors, or researchers Korean government plans to build more libraries for local people (1 library for every 50,000 people) from 2009 to So the availability of learning materials will be improved in the future

2. Use of copyright material by libraries According to Copyright Act of Korea Article 31, ‘Where, at the request of a user and for the purpose of research and study, a single copy of a part of books already made public is provided to him’ However, the ‘digital copy’ of the book is prohibited in this case. Library Law Article 28

3. Locks on access such as region coding and DRM RC and DRM exist, not incapacitated in Korea. About 20 programs named ‘Dissolving region code’, ‘Code-free’, and ‘No DRM software’ are available in portal sites and free to download for consumers.

4. Restrictions on copying for personal use The copying for personal use is strictly restricted in Korea, but in practice the restriction has little effect. According to BSA (Business Software Association), the proportion of illegal copying of software in Korea is about 43%, which is 5% higher than the average, 38%.

5. Availability of local content Sufficient contents originally written in or translated to Korean are provided.  Translation by automated program by portal sited is very common.  Normally captions are added to the movie-clip.

6. Needs fulfilled by black or grey markets The proportion of needs fulfilled by black or grey markets is high in Korea  For example, PC game software for charge is very rare in the market

Korean intellectual property regime

IP conventions Korean Government has signed Berne Convention(1996), Trips(1994), WIPO Copyright Treaty(1979), International Convention for the Protection Performers Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations(2004), WTO(1995).

Local laws The Copyright Act of Korea is supported and enforced by related local acts E.g., Industrial property acts, Act on the Protection of Personal Information Maintained by Public Agencies, Computer Programs Protection Act, Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies, Juvenile Protection Act, Culture and Arts Promotion Act, Framework Act on the Video Industry Promotion, Public Performance Act, Promotion of the Motion Pictures Industry Act, Libraries and Reading Promotion Act, Registration, etc. of Periodicals Act, Broadcasting Act and Import and Distribution of Foreign Publications Act.

Bilateral trade agreement The government agreed Multilateral Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Copyright Royalties. Multilateral Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Copyright Royalties The works of foreigners shall be protected in accordance with the treaties to which the Republic of Korea has acceded or which it has ratified. The works of foreigners who permanently reside in the Republic of Korea (including stateless persons and the foreign legal persons having their principal office in the Republic of Korea) and foreigners‘ works which are first published in the Republic of Korea (including works published in the Republic of Korea within thirty days after their publication in a foreign country) shall be protected under this Act.

US 301 Watch List Korea is listed in the [US Special 301 Report - Watch List] because of the forgeries. The government has made efforts to change the negative perception for the better. The awareness of IP alternatives such as open source, PSP and creative commons licensing has been increasing rapidly in Korea since the late 2000s.

IP Alternatives The awareness of IP alternatives such as open source, PSP and creative commons licensing has been increasing rapidly in Korea since the late 2000s.

Other communication rights in Korea

1. Blogs or Monitored or censored Daum : 300 people, three 8-hour shifts, 24 hours  Number of cases reported as harmful content: 106,101 (’08 Jan~Aug)  Year-on-year 147% increase  Number of UCC reported as harmful: 300~400 of (per day) Naver: 430 people, three 8-hour, shifts 24 hours Portals currently have 800~1,000 ‘taboo’ words Monitoring criteria  Obscene internet posting  Commercial  Violation of intellectual property  Release of personally identifiable information  Repetition of the same content

2. Internet Access Filtering Most of Korean websites require users to provide their social security number to verify personal identity. Due to possible danger of (un)intended disclose of personally identifiable information, alternative system ‘i- PIN’ was suggested, which is a kind of identification number to be used only on the web.  LG Telecom is the first to adopt ‘i-PIN’ system According to the current law, Korean intelligence agency can trace a record of individual on the web.

3. Net Neutrality issue in Korea Primary reason why net neutrality became an issue in Korea has to do with IPTV business in Korea While KT, a sole owner of network in Korea, seems to prevent other players to enter into IPTV business by asking them to pay for using its network, people approach the net neutrality issue in the perspective of ‘fair trade’

4. Privacy & Data Protection Law Personal Information Protection law exits. Revised ‘Information and Communication Network Law’ also ended in a stalemate due to the adoption of ‘cyber-bulling law’.

5. Government policy, software interoperability and open standards The most representative case is WIPI (Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability) Korea Communications Commission decided to abolish the policy about mandatory WIPI on all handsets in Korea, from next April. The policy kept foreign handset players from entering into Korean market as handset manufacturers didn’t want to take extra burden to adopt software only for Korean consumers in the production Since mobile handsets can be launched without WIPI in Korea, Korean consumers will have more options to choose from

The Korean government aims to lead the country to be one of the best countries in computer-use About 95% of Korean families can use high-speed internet service, so most Koreans have little difficulty to access any learning materials on internet Nearly all government agencies, universities, institutes, and media companies web sites provide huge database of learning materials Access to the Internet in Korea

Korea is No.1 in terms of broadband penetration (95%) Mobile internet penetration: 42,739,959 (as of Dec., 2008)  WAP(Wireless Application Protocol)/ME(Mobile Explorer) : 42,468,270  iSMS(interactive Short Message System) : 271,689  number of cdma x subscriber(=number of handset ): 27,560,300

Laws or policies that impact on Internet access Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity & promotion (KADO), devoted to providing comprehensive support for domestic and international digital divide closure. It provides the disabled, the elderly and farming and fishing villagers with easy and affordable access to information and communication service by supporting following activities Development of alternative hardware Development of digital content specifically for the disabled, the elderly and other minority groups Recycling of second-hand pc Public IT education to upgrade IT literacy… etc

Eunsook Moon, Ph.D. Strategic Planning Director