This month, The South Korean government has dealt a decisive blow to digital piracy by shutting down Agitoon, the largest illegal distribution site for webtoons and novels on the web. Additionally, the site's administrator was arrested in a joint operation between the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as part of the government's ongoing efforts to eradicate piracy of Korean content.

Agitoon has become a massive platform for illegal content distribution, hosting approximately 2.5 million web novels and 746,835 webtoons without the creators' consent. According to the Ministry of Culture, the website has generated approximately 120 million won (about $90,200) in the past six months, mainly through illegal advertisements related to gambling, prostitution and other illicit activities. The website administrator accessed his domain remotely from servers in Latvia, using a virtual private network (VPN) to hide his location. Furthermore, server costs were paid through a PayPal account in China, which made tracking them even more complicated.

The closure of Agitoon marks a significant milestone in the fight against digital content piracy, especially in the field of webtoons and web novels, sectors in which South Korea is a world leader. Agitoon not only distributed illegal content directly to its users, but also served as a primary source for many other piracy websites around the world. With its closure, the illegal distribution of this type of content is expected to suffer a severe blow.

However, the problem of piracy is more complex. When one site closes, others often spring up to take its place. However, in the case of Agitoon, being the main site that fed others with content, its disappearance could create a void that would be difficult to fill. Many smaller sites relied on Agitoon to obtain content that they then redistributed, meaning the global piracy network could be severely affected.

Piracy becomes global and sophisticated

According to Jung Hyang-mi, Director General of the Copyright Office of the Ministry of Culture, Copyright infringement crimes are becoming increasingly globalized and sophisticated, utilizing offshore servers, VPNs and international money launderingamong other tactics. This highlights the need to strengthen joint international investigations and cooperation between governments to effectively combat digital piracy.

The South Korean government’s ability to track down and shut down Agitoon demonstrates its commitment and ability to protect creators’ rights. However, the challenge remains great. The fight against piracy continues, and while the closure of Agitoon is a big step, the battle will likely continue on other fronts.

Source: Korea's JoongAng Diary