south korea

South Korea has abandoned a law requiring Internet users to use their real name, declaring it a restriction of free speech. However, the Chinese government continues to employ a similar rule. The South Korean law took effect in 2007, following ... extensive abuse and malicious false stories written about public figures by anonymous individuals. Under the law, any South Korean website with more than 100,000 visitors a day had to verify the identity of those posting comments, including checking their resident registration numbers (roughly equivalent to U.S. Social Security numbers). (Source: bbc.co ... (view more)

Chinese hackers are being blamed in the wake of a recent attack on two popular South Korean websites, breaches that together resulted in the loss of personal information associated with 35 million personal accounts. South Korea's SK Telecom, which ... owns and operates both of the websites involved in the attack -- a social networking platform called 'Cyworld' and a web portal named 'Nate' -- was recently forced to apologize for the breach. The number of personal accounts exposed in the attack is quite staggering, given that South Korea's population is only about 50 million. That equates to 70 ... (view more)

Just in time for the announcement that the National Security Agency (NSA) will be pervasively monitoring private networks comes news that cyber attacks attributed to North Korea paralyzed major South Korean and U.S. government web sites. Eleven ... South Korean organizations, including the presidential Blue House, the Defense Ministry, the National Assembly, Shinhan Bank, Korea Exchange Bank and top Internet portal Naver, and coincidentally, eleven U.S. sites including the U.S. Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department, went down or experienced ... (view more)

YouTube has blocked user uploads and comments in South Korea: the result of a new law which bars anonymous posting. However, there is an easy way around the ban, which makes the rules virtually worthless and could even help YouTube's business. Since ... April 1st, 2009, Korea's Cyber Defamation Law means any firm with more than 100,000 different daily users must verify their identity and receive an identification number. They must then post their name and number when uploading video clips or posting comments. Google Follows Letter, but not Spirit, of Law YouTube's owner Google has complied with ... (view more)

Imagine being shipped off, kicking and screaming, to forested areas in the heart of Seoul, South Korea for boot camp rehabilitation. The victims are then subjected to military-style obstacle courses, counsellor-lead discussion groups and hobby ... classes designed to take their minds off their uncontrollable urges. The addiction? Online Surfing. South Korea is one of the most "wired" nations in the world. An astounding ninety per cent of homes are connected to cheap, high-speed broadband connections. Now, many are finding it impossible to pry themselves away from their computer screens. In many ... (view more)

You want proof that the seemingly endless number of antitrust suits against Microsoft is actually having some effect? Look to South Korea, where the Redmond-based company is currently launching a version of its operating system XP that has seen many ... of its prominent features removed. Late last year, long after its legal troubles began in the United States, a South Korean court found Microsoft guilty of monopolistic actions. At that time, the South Korean Fair Trade Commission lashed out at the Big M for its bundling of media player software and instant messaging with its newest operating ... (view more)