Korean blockbuster distributor vows tough action against illegal uploaders

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- The largest investor and distributor of "Haeundae"
vowed strong legal action against digital thefts of the South Korean blockbuster
Sunday, claiming the recent illegal circulation of the film on the Web is
expected to cause it a "colossal amount of damage."

The big-budget disaster flick, portraying a fictional tsunami that hits a popular
beach in the Korean port city of Busan, drew more than 10 million viewers as of
last week, becoming the fifth South Korean movie to reach the milestone.
Police said Sunday they began investigating the circulation of a bootleg copy of
"Haeundae" on a local file-sharing site as the megahit film is being released
overseas in some 24 countries, including China and the United States.
A relatively clean copy of the film was uploaded on the Web Saturday and was
downloaded more than 100,000 times by the time it was deleted a few hours later,
threatening the film's slated overseas releases and domestic profit, CJ
Entertainment said.
"We will find out who is behind this incident and plan to request authorities the
heaviest possible legal measures against all those responsible," the movie
distributor said in a press release. "This incident broke out amid the movie's
continuing overseas releases, threatening the competitiveness and reputation of
Korean cinema."
The film's creator Yoon Je-kyoon expressed his "deepest disappointment" over the
incident and asked local Internet users to refrain from becoming "those few
immoral and reckless people."
"Haeundae" is among South Korean films that held up well among a deluge of
Hollywood blockbusters this summer, venturing into the disaster genre, normally
dominated by U.S. films. South Korean movies saw their worst sales figures in
eight years in 2008, falling by more than 20 percent from the previous year.
Digital theft is blamed for an annual loss of more than 2 trillion won in South
Korea, the world's most wired country, with nearly 20,000 files of copyrighted
content circulating illegally last year alone, according to government data.
In February, a court sentenced the chiefs of the country's four top Web portals
to one year in prison and a fine of 30 million won on conviction of facilitating
illegal distribution of copyrighted content. It was the first criminal case
involving illegal on-line activity.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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