A blogger, who writes under the pseudonym Black Phone, has reported Culture Minister Yu In-chon to the Central Radio Management Office “unlawfully” using the Apple iPad, which has yet to be certified by the radio laboratory. / Korea Times |
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The drama never seems to escape actor-turned-Culture Minister Yu In-chon, who has somehow become the mascot of government ineptitude regarding information technology (IT) issues.
It was just a month ago when Yu drew a stir by suing an Internet user for uploading a doctored video clip that zoomed in on Olympic figure staking champion Kim Yu-na's reluctance to accept a hug from Yu upon her arrival at Incheon Airport. After enduring much ridicule from media and politicians alike, Yu dropped the suit weeks later.
Now, he finds himself on the other end of a legal dispute, albeit a lighthearted one. An Internet user reported Yu to the Central Radio Management Office, along with Doosan Infracore Chairman, Park Yong-man and singer, Koo Joon-yup, for dabbling with Apple's iPad tablet computer, which has yet to gain approval for use in Korea.
It all began during a news briefing at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Monday, when Yu, in explaining the country's growth policies for the electronic-books industry, pulled out an iPad and demonstrated its e-book functions.
``It's convenient and easy when I do it with this (iPad),'' Yu said, apparently clueless about the controversy he just touched off.
Yu's Steve Jobs impersonation baffled the reporters on hand ― less than a week earlier, the Radio Management Office, a unit of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), vowed to punish those who buy iPads in foreign countries and use them here without permission.
A certification by the radio laboratory is mandatory for all telecommunications equipment to be used locally, according to a law that was originally intended to prevent the interception of wireless communication from military and law enforcement.
Violators could face up to 20 million won (about $18,000) in fines, and the radio laboratory has a section on its Web page to receive reports about the use of unapproved electronic devices. The online form allowed the blogger, who writes under the pseudonym ``Black Phone'' and runs an iPhone community sites in Daum (www.daum.net), to name Yu, Park and Koo as unlawful iPhone lovers.
``The thought that Minister Yu might get mad and sue me for libel scares me,'' Black Phone said on Twitter (http://twitter.com/123123qwe).
Apple isn't commenting on when it will offer the iPad in Korea or whether the device was submitted for testing to the Radio Management Office. And until the device is certified, all iPads brought to the country, either by Koreans or foreign nationals, will have to be returned to where they came from or held by customs.
The Culture Ministry claims that Yu didn't violate any regulations. In the presentations, Yu was using an iPad borrowed from an e-book content company, which bought the device for research purposes, ministry officials said.
Although the law is strict about the use of uncertified electronic products, it also provides exceptions for devices that are brought in for research or public display.
However, critics argue that the loose definition of ``research purposes'' exposes the arbitrary nature of the law. One would bet that high-profile figures like Yu or Park could get away with claiming research reasons, but Black Phone might want to avoid walking up to a heavily-fined Koo on a dark street corner.
It could be said that the controversy over Yu and the iPad is the latest proof of the country's crumbling technology laws.
Local regulations had kept the iPhone from reaching Korean shores for over two years, but since its belated debut in November last year, the following Apple invasion has been exposing the needs for a regulatory shakeup here.
The Lee Myung-bak government has been considering more ways to monitor Web behavior, including limiting online anonymity to curb cyber-bullying and libelous online claims.
However, the rules that required verifiable real-name registrations on major Web sites were rendered irrelevant with the iPhone ushering in the era of the mobile Internet, with the KCC now saying it would allow iPhone users to upload YouTube videos from their handsets.
아이패드에 반한 문화체육관광부 장관
연기자출신인 유인촌 문화체육관광체육부장관의 주변에는 여전히 드라마가 끊기지 않는다. 어떡하다 보니 유장관은 한국정부의 어설픈 IT규제를 상징하는 인물이 되어버린 듯하다.
유장관이 `회피 연아 동영상’과 관련된 인터넷 유저를 고소한 것은 지난 달의 일이었다. 언론과 정치계의 비판이 잇따르자 유장관은 몇 주 후 고소를 취하하였다.
한 달이 지난 지금 유장관은 이제 반대로 인터넷 유저에게 불법행위를 신고 당하는 신세가 되었다.
한 인터넷 유저는 유장관과 두산인프라코어 박용만 회장 그리고 가수 구준엽을 아직 전파관리소의 인증을 받지 않은 아이폰을 사용한 혐의로 전파관리소에 신고하였다.
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yistory@koreatimes.co.kr
