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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By EVAN RAMSTAD
SEOUL—The Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that a law requiring South
Koreans to use their real names on Internet forums was unconstitutional,
forcing the government to change the five-year-old regulation created to
reduce anonymous criticism of politicians and celebrities.
The court said the requirement amounts to prior censorship. It also said the
law violated citizens' privacy, was technically difficult to enforce and
was ineffective at stopping online criticism.
The ruling came just three days after South Korea's Supreme Court
recommended new penalties for people who spread false information online and
on social media, such as Twitter, about politicians during an election
campaign.
The seemingly conflicting actions reflect South Korea's twin status as a
young democracy wrestling with limits and freedoms, and as one of the world'
s most technologically advanced countries.
Following Thursday's ruling, Google Inc. said it would restart its Korean
language YouTube service, though it didn't give a specific date.
The real-name verification law has been unpopular with the public, the
operators of major websites, and South Korea's big Internet search firms,
NHN Corp. 035420.SE +2.10% and Daum Communications Inc. 035720.KQ +1.44%
South Korea created the law in 2007 in response to a number of incidents in
which prominent political and entertainment figures were targeted in
anonymous posts. Authorities attributed several suicides to such
cyberattacks.
In its ruling, the nine-justice Constitutional Court also said harm done by
a person's expression can be remedied through existing laws provided for
financial damages and criminal punishment.
Many Korean individuals and business had turned to overseas companies to
host websites and services because the government said it couldn't enforce
the name-verification law on Internet sites operated outside the country.
Google in 2008 closed its Korea-based YouTube site rather than comply with
the requirement for people who uploaded videos. South Koreans since then
have used YouTube sites based in other countries. NHN and Daum complained
the rule made their video-sharing services less competitive.
NHN, operator of South Korea's most popular Web portal Naver, said the
decision would have "positive effects" and expand the use of its message
boards. "We think companies should make constant efforts to create an
Internet environment anyone can feel secure to use by taking appropriate
measures on comments that could invade someone's rights," the company added.
The government came under increasing pressure to change the law after
hackers last August accessed databases for the real-name verification system
, obtaining the resident registration numbers of 35 million people.
In response, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security told website
operators and portals they could no longer use South Koreans' resident
numbers to verify their identity in order to comply with the 2007 law.
Just this week, a new rule took effect requiring one of three other methods
for online identity verification—cellphone numbers, newly created
government certificates or an independent identifier. Companies have
complained about the cost and technical difficulty of compliance with the
rule.
Thursday's court ruling is likely to end the efforts to comply with that law
. Regulators and Parliament will either have to change the law or scrap the
real-name verification process entirely.
Kim Kee-chang, a law professor at Korea University in Seoul, said the ruling
should persuade policy makers to stop trying to regulate Internet speech.
"South Korea has been a very unhappy example of a technologically avant-
garde country experimenting with an idea that has proved to be untenable,"
Mr. Kim said. "I hope this sends a good message to other countries where
they are playing with this idea."
—Min Sun Lee contributed to this article. |
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