Korea's version of the RIAA - the Korean Association of Phonogram Producers - says it is going to sue the carrier LG Telecom for distributing MP3-capable handsets. The network operator has sold 80,000 of the devices in two months. In a compromise reached in April, LG agreed to limit the capabilities of the phones: the MP3s would self-destruct 72 hours after being downloaded onto the handset.

But that's not enough for the Korean record industry, reports the Korean Herald. The producers' association has now promised to file an injunction against LG and vowed to boycott the carrier. The dispute being closely watched by operators in countries outside Korea, where high speed mobile bandwidth lags. In comparison to the tardy adoption of 3G networks in Europe, Korean operators managed to convert a third of their subscriber base to 2.5G data networks within the first eight months of launch. ®

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Korean RIAA nobbles MP3 phone