YouTube Halts Uploads and Comments In Korea

adeelarshad82 quotes AppScount.com with this disconcerting bit from what many people rank the world's best-connected country: "YouTube users in Korea are no longer able to upload new videos or comment on existing ones. The changes come in response to the country's recent Cyber Defamation Law. Enacted on April 1st, the law requires users of all sites with more than 100,000 uniques a day to provide real names and national ID numbers, in order to curb anonymous comments."

Google's response is what surprises me

[freedom_india]

Google's response to such limitations was to cease uploading altogether. "We have a bias in favor of freedom of expression and are committed to openness," YouTube Asia spokeswoman Lucinda Barlow, told Yahoo. "It's very important that if users want to be anonymous that they have that chance."

It's surprising that Google ejects South Korea while continuing to hand over its user information to Brazil [cnet.com] and India [nartv.org] and kowtowing to Chinese for Censorship [theregister.co.uk].
Very odd.

Re:Google's response is what surprises me

[Daengbo]

In reality, adding the ability to register (and verify) accounts based on the citizen ID number is probably just too much effort for Google. Many Korean websites are having a difficult time complying with the new law.

From S. Korea

Re:Provide real names?

[dargaud]

Why don't website in korean hosted out of the country spring up all over the place to provide the much needed anonymity ? After all there are a lot of korean speakers in the US who could stand to make a buck or two providing this service. Why don't they ?