YouTube Disables Comments and User Uploads For Korean Users 237
Craig Mundie may want a driver's license for the Internet, but Korea has actually implemented something of that kind. And, as first-time accepted submitter Pseudonym Authority writes, in the form of an excerpt from PC World: "Google has disabled user uploads and comments on the Korean version of its YouTube video portal in reaction to a new law that requires the real name of a contributor be listed along each contribution they make. The rules, part of a Cyber Defamation Law, came into effect on April 1 for all sites with over 100,000 unique visitors per day. It requires that users provide their real name and national ID card number."
Re:Korea? Wich Korea? (Score:0, Informative)
Nope. FTFA, it's South Korea.
We're doomed.
Seriously old news (Score:5, Informative)
Google did this over two years ago..seriously slashdot.. I know you're usually behind but this is embarrassing.
Wow timothy you are really clueless aren't you?
Cmdrtaco must be spinning in his grave.
This is extremely easy to bypass, just set your location to another country, done, you can upload and comment just fine.
This is not new, nor a surprise (Score:5, Informative)
This comes as no surprise to me, having worked and studied in Korea for over five years. There was virtually no way to access any online services - buying tickets, posting comments on news sites and the ubiquitous online cyber-cafes, online gaming - without a government ID number. As foreigners, we are issued an Alien Registration Card (ARC) which ostensibly does the same thing, however in my experience this never worked. Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise, as it meant I didn't put myself in a position to be easily tracked.
That all aside, the mad cow protests of 2008 [wikipedia.org] exemplify why the government wants to do this. Inflammatory comments on cyber-cafes fueled a ridiculous campaign of misinformation that led to the shutting down of downtown Seoul for months on end (not to mention riot police, water cannons, abuse of foreigners, etc). This all stems from the National Security Law [wikipedia.org], designed to prevent discussion of communist ideals, and support for the DPRK. The acceptance of that law has led to gradual acceptance of further but unrelated restrictions on free speech.
The most depressing aspect of this is that most South Koreans who I know don't see this as a problem. As long as they continue to achieve economic progress, lack of civil liberties is little more than an inconvenience. I hope the attitudes of this generation will change, but only time will tell.
Re:What a terrible law . . . (Score:4, Informative)
That's not how it works. The real name is only attached to the back-end, not what people see. Even then, this story is 2 years old and the government here is moving away from it in a sense. They're now encouraging the use of the real name system through a proxy. Your first create an ID at another site, you then use that ID to sign-up at the target site. At some point your ID is verified, but not on the main site. They won't have your identity to reveal, but it still allows them to permanently ban trolls.
It turns out S.Korea now wants to scrap this act! (Score:5, Informative)
FTA: "The Ministry of Public Administration and Security is set to report to ruling party lawmakers about comprehensive measures to protect personal information online, including abolishing the real-name registration system, Yonhap news agency said."
Also, this says the system was in effect since 2007
Re:Posted Anonymously (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Posted Anonymously (Score:4, Informative)
Okay, looking further down the comments, I see some people did notice. But still, this is ridiculous. You suck, timothy.