Seoul Unfazed by U.S. Move Against Piracy

Government officials expressed concern about copyright violations on American goods yesterday but were largely unfazed by Washington`s decision to place Korea on the U.S. Priority Watch List.

The move represented a step down for Korea, which already was on Washington`s Watch List for copyright piracy. But, according to officials at the Foreign and Commerce ministries, the lower status should not affect bilateral relations.

On Thursday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick accused Korea of failing to halt U.S. copyright violations. He announced the addition of Korea to the U.S. list of countries that are subject to special monitoring and consultations, to ensure they properly address piracy of music and other intellectual property.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade quickly released a statement saying, "We will continue our efforts to protect copyrights ... and review the U.S. government`s requests and positively consider those we believe will help protect copyrights."

It also expressed regrets that the U.S. government failed to acknowledge Korea`s antipiracy efforts so far, but said it was too early to decide on a formal response, if any.

Neither the U.S. Embassy nor the Korean government viewed the new listing as a threat to bilateral trade relations.

"We don`t anticipate a major impact on the bilateral economic relations as we have been conducting regular dialogue with Korea on this issue," said a senior U.S. Embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Stressing that the move does not come as pressure for Korea to lift the import ban on U.S. beef as some in the local media allege, he said the action represents valuable feedback to an important trade partner of the United States.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade echoed his views, saying that it is not concerned about the implications it might have on ties with Washington.

"The `downgrade` is simply a message for Korea to apply stronger antipiracy measures," said Yang Dong-han of the ministry`s North American Affairs Division.

An official of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, speaking on condition of anonymity, seconded Yang`s opinion. "There is no point in interpreting this as a trade issue," he said.

He was in agreement, however, with others in the local entertainment providers who see demands for exclusive transmission rights to U.S. music companies as excessive.

While accepting U.S. entertainment industry concerns about Korea`s high Internet penetration rate that allows easy access to overseas records without payment, he criticized a U.S. demand to control the downloading of music.

Exclusive transmission rights for a U.S. music company would ensure payment from an Internet user in Korea who wants to download music. Critics complain that this exclusivity is not even applied to the U.S. domestic market.

The United States has long been expressing outrage over the nationwide distribution of illegally imported movies, records and computer software in Korea. The U.S. action came amid complaints that Korea had failed to address two high-priority commitments - legislation providing for exclusive transmission of sound recordings and total resolution of film piracy.

The Korean government`s tough talk about cracking down on piracy over the past few years has done little to get Koreans to think about giving copyright owners their due compensation.

Surveys show that online piracy is still rampant. A Chung-Ang University survey of 967 people working in Web site design found that 9.6 percent of respondents frequently use illegally copied digital images for their work, while 23.6 percent said they sometimes use illegal images. Another 34.9 percent said they have used such images a couple of times without seeking permission from the rightful owners.

A joint crackdown on pirated software by the Software Property-rights Council and prosecutors during the first half last year found that 327 companies were using unlicensed software, valued at $6.4 million.

In early 2001, the Ministry of Information and Communication also teamed up with the SPC to crack down on companies using unlicensed software. It was of such a scale that some cash-strapped venture firms collapsed after paying the heavy fines.

Koreans are no better when it comes to films and recorded music.

Many movie buffs see foreign films long before they are released in Korea via file-sharing sites such as PDBOX and V-Share. The DVD market has lost substantial revenue from widespread illegal copies, which are readily available for cheap prices at places like Yongsan Electronics Market in central Seoul.

Korea`s music industry probably has suffered the most from their countrymen`s lack of regard for copyrights. According to the Recording Industry Association of Korea, the industry was valued at 414 billion won in 2000 but shrank to 280 billion the following year due to the popularity of free music downloads and file-sharing services.

The development led the nation`s recording companies to file lawsuits against major online music providers in the following months.

While many Koreans still advocate that online music should be free as long as they are not copied en masse, the court has ordered two major Korean online music-sharing Web sites - Soribada and Bugs Music - to stop their illegal actions. Bugs Music, the biggest domestic online music provider with 14 million members, has fought hard against the lawsuit saying their form of sharing music through streaming - where subscribers can only listen to music but not download - does not infringe on copyrights held by recording companies.