Prosecutors announced Tuesday that they had recorded and were investigating 406 crimes involving infringement of intellectual property rights including the making of illegal copies of computer programmes, medical and language textbooks. Director Kim Hoi-sun of the 6th Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Seoul Prosecution Office said that 45 arrests and 258 indictments, without detention were made after a special crack-down on copyright infringements was made, concentrating mainly on business companies. The remaining 103 were still under investigation, he added.
Seven subsidiaries of the top ten major Korean companies; Ssangyong Engineering, Kumkang Advertising, Daewoo Heavy Industries, LG Ad, Cheil Advertising, Asiana Airlines, Hanjin Construction; and 22 other companies were revealed to have committed illegal copying, with rates from a low 7.9% to a high of 33.5% in 100 computers at Ssangyong Engineer. The prosecution office indicted without detention all responsible for the companies' computer systems and have decided to seek an interim fine of a minimum W50 million won (U.S.$42,000) from the owners. It did however praise Hanjin which spent W2 billion in replacing its software to a legal variety.
The prosecution office with the help of 26 computer experts from the Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC), will hold a special investigation from May 17 on government invested companies and every ministry. Meanwhile, a massive crack-down is to be conducted on the photocopying of publications near college campuses.
Ministries and universities are especially on alert over the prosecution's probe. The Ministry of Education (MOE) deleted all its pirated software from 500 computers and replaced it at a cost of W75 million, as did the Ministry of Health and welfare to the tune of W150 million.
In a survey by Seoul National University's (SNU) engineering school it was revealed that more than 10,000 computers needed their Windows 98 operating program replacing as they were all using illegal copies. At Yonsei, 880 office and 1,700 educational computers needed replacement software.
Park Tae-man, 35, was arrested after making illegal copies and sales of a mathematics education programme which a venture company, LEP Co. had created from research funds. Park made a sales contract with LEP Co. and after getting hold of a password decoding programme, sold illegal copies of the W350,000 to W2.2 million per copy programme for between W187,000 and W500,000 to private teaching institutes around the Seoul area. A source at the prosecutor's office said that LEP Co. had invested W800 million in designing the programme but is now having financial problems due to the illegal copies being marketed; the company hasn't even made enough to cover the amount invested.
Software developers are pleased with the prosecution action as many others also faced bankruptcy. Hangul & Computer boasted sales of W3.8 billion in April alone on the back of orders from the Office of National Tax Administration and Ministry of Labor Affairs for 4,000 and 1,200 copies of its programs, respectively. The sales were three times that of the previous three months combined.
(Lee Hang-su, hangsu@chosun.com)
