ID :
78253
Fri, 09/04/2009 - 08:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/78253
The shortlink copeid
Police narrow probe on digital theft of Korean blockbuster
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- Police on Thursday began investigating users of 24 local peer-to-peer Web sites that first uploaded pirated copies of the South Korean summer blockbuster "Haeundae."
South Korean filmmakers and investors fear the case may tarnish the reputation of
the Korean cinema industry as the megahit film was being released overseas in
some 24 countries, including China and the United States.
The big-budget disaster flick about a 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 on Thursday requested 24 Web sites to hand over records of the Internet
users who first uploaded bootleg copies of "Haeundae," the Cyber Terror Response
Bureau of the National Police Agency said. The list of the Web sites was provided
by CJ Entertainment, the film's distributor and largest investor.
Police launched their investigation Sunday, a day after a relatively clean copy
of the film appeared on file-sharing sites, being downloaded more than 100,000
times by the time it was deleted a few hours later.
Confirming that the illegal file was created sometime in early July, ahead of the
movie's official cinema release in August, police are narrowing down the
investigation to editors and computer graphic designers who made final
adjustments to the film.
Dozens of suspects will be called in for questioning, the police agency said.
"Haeundae" is among the few 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.
The incident broke as South Korean authorities have toughened punishments on
digital theft, which is blamed for annual losses of more than 2 trillion won in
South Korea, the world's most wired country.
The size of the legal downloading market shrank by nearly 60 percent last year
from 2005, with nearly 20,000 files of copyrighted content circulating illegally
last year alone, according to government data.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
South Korean filmmakers and investors fear the case may tarnish the reputation of
the Korean cinema industry as the megahit film was being released overseas in
some 24 countries, including China and the United States.
The big-budget disaster flick about a 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 on Thursday requested 24 Web sites to hand over records of the Internet
users who first uploaded bootleg copies of "Haeundae," the Cyber Terror Response
Bureau of the National Police Agency said. The list of the Web sites was provided
by CJ Entertainment, the film's distributor and largest investor.
Police launched their investigation Sunday, a day after a relatively clean copy
of the film appeared on file-sharing sites, being downloaded more than 100,000
times by the time it was deleted a few hours later.
Confirming that the illegal file was created sometime in early July, ahead of the
movie's official cinema release in August, police are narrowing down the
investigation to editors and computer graphic designers who made final
adjustments to the film.
Dozens of suspects will be called in for questioning, the police agency said.
"Haeundae" is among the few 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.
The incident broke as South Korean authorities have toughened punishments on
digital theft, which is blamed for annual losses of more than 2 trillion won in
South Korea, the world's most wired country.
The size of the legal downloading market shrank by nearly 60 percent last year
from 2005, with nearly 20,000 files of copyrighted content circulating illegally
last year alone, according to government data.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
