Internet freedom being curtailed in SOUTH Korea? UPDATED (9 Apr 2009)

UPDATE (9 April 2009 6:14pm Korea time) - The Korea Times reports that YouTube has rejected the Real Name system as previously described. Youtube "will allow users to view YouTube content but without being able to post videos or comments." - the two things that would require the Real Name system by Korean law. The story also reports that "South Korean users will likely be able to post videos on the site without difficulty if they set their country preference to countries other than South Korea." Just like I said - the technical abilities of virtually any internet user to click their mouse will overcome a stupid law and system. Now, if Korea really wants to play the cat-and-mouse game, they could try and force websites to track people back by the IP's they've been using. Oh, wait, that doesn't work either.

Internet 1, Korea 0.

UPDATE (30 March 2009 10:13pm Korea time) - the story finally made the Korea Times. Not sure what took them so long. In their story they mention the official - and unofficial - reasons:

KCC [Korean Communications Commission] officials explain that such measures were inevitable to curb "cyber bullying'' and reduce misinformation on the Internet. However, critics argue that the Lee Myung-bak government is getting overzealous in its efforts to monitor cyberspace, after being repeatedly attacked by bloggers, first over the controversial decision to resume U.S. beef imports, and more recently for its ineptitude in economic policies.

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This is not satire.

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Every now and then there's a story that doesn't make the Korea Times [see update above] or Korea Herald, two of Korea's largest English-language newspapers. Although there are plenty of news sources about Korea in English (the Chosun Ilbo being another excellent one), I have yet to see this story reported elsewhere. From the Hankyoreh (here's the article):

Google, the world’s largest Internet company, has finally submitted to South Korea‘s unprecedented Internet regulations, including agreeing to implement a “real name” system in which any South Korean can post their contents only after they confirm their resident registration number [somewhat like a social security number; emphasis mine].

The head offices of Google have explored various means of bypassing the “real-name registration system,” arguing that freedom of expression should be experienced globally by all users, including proposing to shut down YouTube services in South Korea but to no avail. A representative of Google Korea says that South Korea “is the first country worldwide [emphasis mine] for which Google will be collecting real-name information that can be used to identify individuals.”

The company plans to reorganize its site beginning April 1 so that subscribers in South Korea must confirm their real names before posting materials or replies on YouTube Korea. Concurrently April 1 is when the amendment to South Korea’s Act on the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and User Protection will go into effect. It expands the scope of sites subject to the real name registration system to those that have at least 100,000 users per day.

Wow. Just. Wow. But wait, it gets better...

...The government had promised Google 1.2 billion won [about $892,000 USD] in research and development support upon entering South Korea’s market, and more through its online advertising. “It’s difficult to ignore South Korean Internet regulations while we‘re engaged in offering search services as well as engaged in online advertising,” lamented a Google Korea official....

Again, wow. So let me get this straight - the Korean government GAVE Google money for "research and development", then passes a law requiring you to use your real name (at least to post to YouTube) online? 'Freedom of speech'? Ha. It's a slippery slope down from there - one you wouldn't expect from a free and democratic country...

So what are Youtube-lovin' Koreans to do? The article makes it sounds like posting and commenting were the only things that requires one to use their real name. Viewing things won't be a problem. A technical solution would probably work (using a foreign proxy server and registering as though one lives in the US), but that might still be blocked if a Korean address were detected... I'm not sure how '1984'-ish this solution will be; as of this writing searching YouTube didn't show anything about the change. I really hope this is just a (NOT FUNNY) April Fools Day joke, and that someone will let the world know that Korea isn't turning into the land George Orwell wrote about.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the Korean government. After the Minerva incident (put simply, a popular blogger in Korea was arrested on charges of undermining the country's financial markets with his dire predictions) and the use of the internet to organize the mad cow protests from last summer (which paralyzed traffic in downtown Seoul more than once and drew crowds numbering in the tens of thousands), terms and concepts like 'free speech', and 'democracy' go out the window.

Other countries might accept North Korea and China has odd internet restrictions thanks to the nature of the Communist government, but one certainly doesn't expect the same from a country trying to pass itself as a democracy with free speech.

In some related news, a 'three-strikes-and-you're-out' law could be taking effect, wherein an ISP may cut off internet access if one is accused of sharing copyrighted files over the internet three times - with or without proof. The story, written about on another excellent Korea blog called the Marmot's Hole, is another piece of evidence in Korea's move to clamp down on piracy, something no country has yet to have success at. If you're serious about stamping out 'piracy', why not catch the guys OPENLY SELLING PIRATED DVD'S on the sidewalks or in the subway stations?

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