From now on people might want to think twice before purchasing counterfeit CDs or DVDs in Korea.
Because the copyright police may be watching.
Korea has made a name for itself as an IT powerhouse over the past few years but on the other side of this fast growth is a dark world where people are accustomed to illegal downloading and purchasing of pirated media content.
As a means to enhance copyright protection the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has established the country's first copyright police to improve Korea's poor average among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
[Interview : Choi Sangheun, Director of Copyright Protection Team
Ministry of Culture, Sports adn Tourism] "Currently Korea's software piracy rate stands at 43 percent which is much higher than the OECD countries' average of 36 percent. With the establishment of the copyright police, in two or three years time we hope to significantly lower this figure to below the OECD's average."
The culture ministry has always been in charge of overseeing the country's copyright infringement activities however, its jurisdiction did not extend to conducting police investigations or surprise raids as it does now.
[Interview : Choi Sangheun, Director of Copyright Protection Team Ministry of Culture, Sports adn Tourism] "The total losses caused by copyright infringement from 2001 to 2006 came to 20 trillion won, or roughly 17 billion US dollars, but hopefully now we can give this money back to those who really deserve it."
[Reporter : Jang Jiyun jiyun.jang@arirang.co.kr] "Perhaps a society free from illegal downloading and counterfeiting is not too far off now that Korea too has its own copyright police on the alert.
Jang Jiyun, Arirang News."
SEP 18, 2008
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Friday, SEP 03, 2010, (KST) 
