South Korean P2P service powers down

Court-ordered closure

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 8th November 2005 13:48 GMT

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South Korea's largest online music service, Soribada, yesterday shut down its P2P file-sharing operation, seven days after it was ordered to do so by the Seoul Central District Court.

Soribada had some 22m users, South Korean paper the Chosun Ilbo reports.

The court order was the result of legal action brought against Soribada by the Korean Association of Phonogram Producers (KAPP), South Korea's answer to the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA). In addition to the suspension, the court fined Soribada KRW10m ($9,550) a day for so long as the P2P service remained operational.

The KAPP this week said it may institute fresh legal action against Soribada in a bid to reclaim money it alleges its members lost to illegal file-sharing enabled by the service.

In September, Korean P2P company Bugs Music agreed to charge users a subscription fee and license content from local music labels. The KAPP said it is currently talking to other Korean P2P business about paying royalties for songs traded on their networks. If they fail to agree, they face legal action, the organisation warned. ®

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