Establishment of Forensic Science Unit and Crime Analysis Office... Strengthening Prediction and Rapid Investigation of Copyright Crimes

Launch of the 'Copyright Crime Forensic Investigation Unit'... Reorganized into 4 Teams
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Copyright Protection Agency Establish 'Copyright Crime Analysis Office'

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 23rd the launch of the ‘Copyright Crime Scientific Investigation Unit’ and the new operation of the ‘Copyright Crime Analysis Office.’ This is a follow-up measure to the ‘K-Content Illegal Distribution Eradication Plan’ announced last July.

Over the past year, the Ministry has focused its efforts on resolving intellectual property-related crimes that are becoming more international and sophisticated. They investigated illegal web novel distribution sites such as ‘Jeju Coffee,’ ‘Kaka Young,’ and ‘Bada.com,’ arresting 4 operators and 8 uploaders. Additionally, they apprehended 3 operators of the illegal IPTV service BeeTV and 2 heavy uploaders who shared domestic broadcast videos via torrents.

However, investigations into streaming-based copyright crimes operating overseas on cloud servers have faced difficulties. Although the illegal streaming service ‘NunuTV’ was shut down in April, the use of remote servers, anonymous accounts, and proxy operations means that investigating these sophisticated crimes takes a long time.

In response, the Ministry reorganized the existing investigative team into the ‘Copyright Crime Scientific Investigation Unit,’ consisting of four teams dedicated to planned investigations, international cooperation, domestic crimes, and investigative support, to strengthen the investigative capabilities of the special copyright police. By subdividing domestic and international investigations, planned and complaint-based investigations, and investigative support tasks, it is expected that specialized investigations by content field will be possible. The planned investigation team is composed of five experts with an average of over 6.8 years of experience in copyright crime.

The newly established ‘Copyright Crime Analysis Office,’ aimed at enhancing digital forensic expertise and capabilities, has introduced the latest digital forensic software, evidence duplication and analysis equipment, and workstations. Beyond analyzing already seized materials, it plans to investigate and analyze illegal sites and distribution routes in advance.

Im Seong-hwan, Director of the Copyright Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, “Going forward, through the ‘Copyright Crime Scientific Investigation Unit’ and the ‘Copyright Crime Analysis Office,’ we will meticulously investigate rapidly changing and sophisticated copyright infringements to eradicate illegal distribution of K-content and strive to gain the trust of the public.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.