According to Courier Herald (October 14, 2012) – Kim Sang-jin was sentenced to 40-months’ imprisonment for two counts of copyright infringement.
Kim operated websites which distributed pirated copies of movies, television shows, software and workout videos via internet download.
Some of the pirated materials were television shows illegally downloaded from Korean broadcasters. The programs were marketed to the Korean community in the United States. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones also ordered Kim to forfeit $409,776 to the government as proceeds of his crime. Judge Jones said Kim was a “one man wrecking ball” against the industries whose work he stole.
“This defendant operated websites that engaged in copyright infringement on a massive scale,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “By stealing and selling the work of others, he damaged people working in many industries – software and video production companies, musicians and movie companies, even broadcast companies in Korea. All were denied income by his theft.”
It appears that Korean authorities alerted the Immigration authorities and Homeland Security in the United States of Kim’s wrong doings. Why the harsh sentencing?
In asking for a prison sentence at the high end of the guidelines range, prosecutors wrote: “Mr. Kim created a one stop shop for pirated content that included music and videos as well as: software, video games, fitness videos, recorded sporting events, television shows, and movies including pre-release movies still in theaters. His ability to market to an immigrant community and offer stolen content from a foreign country magnified his ability to go unnoticed and generate substantial personal profits.”
According to this short piece in The News Tribune (October 15, 2012) he was also ordered to pay $410,000 to the government.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Thats weird – although the guy deserved it for making a business out of it.
But weird because I thought most Koreans downloaded everything for free (here is Korea).
you thought wrong.
World’s top 10 online piracy countries
1. Russia
2. Pakistan
3. Israel
4. Indonesia
5. India
6. China
7. Chile
8. Canada
9. Argentina
10 Algeria
http://www.siliconindia.com/news/technology/Worlds-top-10-Online-Pirate-Nations-nid-114689-cid-2.html
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-video-piracy-countries-map.html
Lists differ from different sites, but these countries are always mentioned in the list.
Why the hypocrisy? Koreans are downloading tons of pirated content on GOM TV and Torrent Sites like crazy. But most Koreans think they are legit sites because they have to pay a membership fee. I remember a conservative button down Catholic Korean girl telling me when she downloads her episodes of ‘Sex and the City’ it’s legit. I asked her to show me the site and it was a pirate torrent site.
I used to work for a major online video company, and we monitored the pirate market. When they crackdown hard one guy like this, it’s usually to make an example and deter others.
If I was Hulu, Fox, and Universal’s legal team I would start attacking Korea ASAP and filing for some serious compensation. It’s looks like the Koreans, unlike the Chinese, would be cooperative enough to actually enforce and fork over the money if asked.
or wedisk…content is easy to find here. So easy that video stories have all gone under. Can’t rent dvds here, although you can sometimes buy shitty old titles on sale at retail stores
# 2 Pawi. how would you know? You dont’ live here.
# 2 and # 4 are correct – Koreans download most stuff and don’t pay for it – or they just join a site and pay the site owner 100won or 200won per download.
(Exactly what this guy was offering in the USA)
Can’t rent dvds here, although you can sometimes buy shitty old titles on sale at retail stores
Or just go behind Yongsan station.
No he didn’t, but this case is in the US so his thought while not wrong is completely irrelevant.
And what about all the non-Koreans who download Korean dramas? There are quite a few all around the world who download them for free and watch them. There are even clubs/groups who specialize in creating sub-titles for them in the local language.
Oh wait . . . this is probably viewed as an integral part of hallyu promotion ~ so it’s overlooked.
You can download for your own pleasure not for profiting by selling the pirated media contents. I have downloaded all most all the movies, musics from Hollywood, Bollywood, Chiwood, Japood. I’ve never paid anything for last 10 years and still got away all because I’ve kept the collection at my home.
Koreansentry,
You are a very very bad man.
I was gobsmacked to find that my colleauge bought all his songs and movies off Itunes and he was gobsmacked that I downloaded everything for free.
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