South Korea Takes A Stand Against The Three-Strikes System

[Guest Ethan]

South Korea Takes A Stand Against The Three-Strikes System

Four years ago, more accurately in July 2009, South Korea was the first country to adopt the graduated response system known as “three-strikes”. Now, Korean lawmakers and human rights experts are willing to take a shot at the legislation in an attempt to right the wrong.

Not long after South Korea introduced the three-strikes system, the entertainment industry turned the country’s willingness to fight piracy into a model that should be adopted by everyone. Luckily, this didn’t happen, but the graduated response system did appeal to France, the UK, and the US.

Also to mention is that according to South Korean law either the Minister of Culture or the Korean Copyright Commission can ask internet providers to suspend their customers’ accounts and block/delete online content that infringes copyright, without any judicial process, no chance to challenge the claims of copyright infringement, no appeal, and no wonder that the industry was so fond of South Korea.

The question that begs an answer is: how did the three-strikes system work out for South Korea? Well, this is where things get complicated. Instead of taking a shot at heavy uploaders, the graduated response system went right off the scale, with half a million takedown notices being sent by rights holders. For that, a little over 400 Korean web accounts were shut down, most of which being online storage providers. Furthermore, Choi Jae-Cheon, a rather curious Korean politician, led an investigation which proved that just half of those suspended accounts were indeed infringing copyright at a minimal scale – so minimal that the infringement was estimated at 90 U.S. cents.

Something’s got to give, so Korea’s National Human Rights Commission proposed on Wednesday for the three-strikes system to be revised. Why? The legislation is not just ineffective, but can also lead to a “potential violation of the human rights to receive and impart information and to participate in the cultural life of the community.”

Choi Jae-Cheon, along with twelve members of the Korean National Assembly, is driven to change that by forwarding a plan that will break the three-strikes system down.

The news did not pass the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who was quick to act on Mr. Choi’s initiative:

“We, along with many other major international Internet rights groups, including Access, Association for Progressive Communications, Creative Commons Korea, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, Freepress, Free Software Foundation, Global Voices Advocacy, GreenNet, La Quadrature du Net, OpenMedia, ONG Derechos Digitales, and Public Knowledge, have written to strongly support Mr. Choi’s brave stand for his own citizens,” the EFF wrote.

Below is the letter written by the EFF, as seen on their official website.

Dear Honorable Member of the National Assembly:

Internet access is vital to people’s livelihood, education, health, and engagement in social, cultural, and civic activities. However, recent copyright enforcement measures neglect the heavy implications of disconnecting and limiting users’ online access.

Graduated response, or so-called “three-strikes” policies punish users following repeated

accusations

of copyright infringement. Such regulations frequently have minimal or no judicial involvement, depriving their victims the right to due process, and subsequently free expression, freedom of association, and innovation — all of which are fundamental to social and economic progress. Internet restriction policies create a legal imbalance that gives content owners unfair and disproportionate enforcement rights at the expense of Internet users’ rights.

The Republic of Korea was the first country to implement a three-strikes policy and its harmful impact on Internet users is already apparent. In the past three and a half years since its enactment, 468,446 take-down notices have been sent to users, and it has shut down 408 website accounts. Under its current copyright law, an administrative body has the power to disconnect Internet service without a court order. The chilling effect this has had for users is immeasurable, but its impact is already apparent.

The Republic of Korea is at the forefront of technological development with one of the most Internet-connected populations in the world. Therefore it is especially crucial that Korean lawmakers show their leadership in opposing online censorship and to position themselves as strong defenders of digital civil liberties.

We are Internet freedom and free speech groups dedicated to the rights of all people to access cultural and educational resources, to enjoy a free and open Internet, and to benefit from open innovation. We jointly sign this letter in support of National Assembly Member Choi Jae Cheon’s proposed bill to completely remove the three-strikes and ISP monitoring and content filtering provisions from the Korean Copyright Act.

We are happy to continue the conversation with the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly Member, and provide you with information, evidence, and reports from the rest of the world in support of this initiative.