Culture Ministry Arrests Man Operating Illegal IPTV Streaming K-Content in the Philippines

Ministry of Culture, Police Agency, and Interpol Online Copyright Infringement Response Project Results
'No Borders in Copyright Protection'... Crime Surges Amid K-Content Popularity

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 6th that, through close international cooperation with the National Police Agency, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), and the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation, they have apprehended a suspect operating the illegal IPTV service ‘○○○TV’ targeting Korean residents in the Philippines, infringing on K-content copyrights.

Domestic police dispatched to the Philippines and the local investigation team are jointly apprehending suspects on site.
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

The apprehended suspect is accused of operating the illegal IPTV service for a fee, unlawfully broadcasting real-time transmissions of about 60 domestic channels, various video contents on online video services (OTT), video-on-demand (VOD), and adult videos, thereby infringing on K-content copyrights. The industry estimates that the damage caused by this illegal content transmission is considerable.

Since April 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Police Agency have signed a memorandum of understanding with Interpol to crack down on K-content copyright crimes and have been promoting the ‘Online Illegal Reproduction Response (I-SOP, Interpol-Stop Online Piracy)’ project.

The Ministry explained that the recent operation to apprehend the illegal IPTV operator in the Philippines is the result of international cooperation achieved by the Ministry, the National Police Agency, Interpol, and the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation.

This operation began when the rights holders MBC and SLL recognized the infringement of K-content occurring locally in the Philippines and filed a complaint with the Busan Police Agency. Based on the specific copyright infringement evidence and damage statements provided by MBC and SLL, the Ministry and the National Police Agency have been conducting a covert investigation since March, and considering the international nature of the case, they secured international cooperation with the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation through Interpol.

Philippine local seizure site.
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

In particular, in June, prior to the joint local apprehension operation, Interpol and investigators from the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation were invited to Korea to hold an international cooperation investigation meeting, making thorough preparations for successful international cooperation against copyright crimes.

Additionally, beyond international cooperation, the Ministry explained that they are making multifaceted efforts to strengthen international collaboration, such as hosting the ‘2024 International Forum on Copyright Protection Enforcement’ in September and signing a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Intellectual Property Office for copyright protection.

Jung Hyang-mi, Director of the Copyright Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "When K-content expands overseas, activities to protect it must also expand overseas," adding, "The Ministry will continue to steadily expand international cooperation to protect K-content abroad and respond to international copyright crimes."

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