San Francisco — Defending its mantra of free-speech about an anonymity-blocking law in South Korea, Google has disabled both the ability to upload videos and comments on the Korean version of YouTube video portal in reaction to a new law in that country that went into effect on April 1st, that requires users to provide their real identities of a contributor who wishes to uploads files or leave comments.
A new Korean law called “Cyber Defamation Law,” came into effect on April 1, which demands real-name identification for all sites with more than 100,000 unique visitors per day. Under the law, people must identify themselves with a name and identification number before they can upload video or post comments.
According to officials at the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, the law is an attempt to quell the cyber-bullying and spread of misinformation over the Internet. However, analysts say that it is just another example of the Lee Myung-bak government’s overzealous efforts to monitor and control cyberspace.
“We believe that it is important for free expression that people have the right to remain anonymous, if they choose,” the company said in a blog post that also tells people that they can get around the restriction by using a different country’s version of the site.
The new demands for web sites were induced into legislation after the death of a popular Korean actress, Choi Jin Sil, who was incited to commit suicide after a series of online rumors and threats. Since people now have to submit their real name when uploading content, the government hopes this will cut down on the problem of cyber-bullying in the country.
Many have believed Google would submit users IDs in response to the requirements from uploading via its Korean portal rather than start a new registration system.
“We have a bias in favor of freedom of expression and are committed to openness,” said Lucinda Barlow, a spokeswoman for YouTube in Asia. “It is very important that if users want to be anonymous that they have that chance.”
But while the move obeys the letter of the law it passes around the spirit of it by allowing users based in South Korea to continue uploading and commenting on YouTube by switching their preference setting to a country other than Korea.
Another Google spokesperson, Rachel Whetstone, vice president of Global Communications & Public Affairs at Google, was quoted in The Hankyoreh newspaper as saying “we concluded in the end that it is impossible to provide benefits to Internet users while observing this country’s law because the law does not fall in line with Google’s principles.”
Although, some were forced to think that Google might have complied with it anyway had YouTube been a more dominant force in the country.
In addition to blocking uploads and comments, Google informed Korean YouTube users via their Korean Google blog that they can change their preference setting to a country other than Korea if they want to continue to upload and comment on videos.
Had Google complied with the law, it would have delineated the first time that the company had ever collected the actual names of Internet users.
Nevertheless, while many are congratulating Google on taking a firm stand and protecting freedom of expression on the Internet, in this case the company was not really risking that much.
“That is because in Korea, Google has a much smaller presence than its domestic counterparts like www.naver.com and www.daum.net," says Read Write Web’s Sarah Perez. “Let us see how the company behaves in countries where they have a much larger market share.”
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