Sori Bada (literally meaning "the sea of sound"), a popular internet site where hundreds of users exchanged music files free of charge, was charged by prosecutors with copyright infringement and the two brothers managing the site were indicted without being arrested. The Computer Investigation Department of the Seoul District Prosecutor's Office announced the prosecutors indicted the two website managers of www.soribada.com Sunday for breaking, and aiding and abetting the copyright law.
The brothers, identified only by their surname, Yang, were charged with making a computer program that allowed people to exchange MP3 music files while running the site Sori Bada from May last year, and letting the site members exchange files using the Sori Bada server without charging a copyright fee from them.
The site had attracted more than 5 million members since it debuted last year.
The Korean Music Records Industry Association filed a suit against the Yang brothers in January this year, claiming the businesses in the industry saw a loss of some W200 billion because of Sori Bada.
Considering this would become the first criminal charge of copyright infringement committed using personal computers, the case is expected to have a significant impact on the nation's information technology and cultural businesses. The prosecution investigated this case for over five months.
The prosecutors said the members of the site who actually exchange the files with one another can also be said to be guilty of copyright infringement, but that the record companies did not indict them as they simply used the internet service.
The prosecutor's office added it would not close down the site before the court makes a decisive judgment.
Separate from the court's upcoming ruling, internet users have launched www.freesoribada.wo. to protest the prosecutors' investigations and to show their support for Sori Bada.
(Jeon Byeong-keun, bkjeon@chosun.com)
