By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
An appeals court ruled major portal Web sites should compensate a man in a libel suit involving news articles posted on their pages. It said such sites could be regarded as semi-media spreading information to unsuspecting persons.
The Seoul High Court ordered four major portals ― Naver.com, Daum.net, Cyworld.com and Yahoo.co.kr ― to pay a total of 30 million won ($30,000) in compensation to an unidentified man, who claimed to have been threatened and accused by Internet users for allegedly letting his former girlfriend die in articles uploaded at the sites.
According to the court, news articles saying the man's girlfriend committed suicide when he tried to break up with her after she fell pregnant were posted on all portal Web sites in 2005.
The deceased woman's mother alleged in the report that he even called up police as she tried to persuade him to return to her daughter.
After the article appeared online, hundreds of Internet users identified him and moreover posted his photograph.
He said in his files that he was labeled as a complete villain and had to quit school as well as work and move house, due to threats from unidentified netizens.
The court said since the major portals have rights to ``position'' news on the screen and invite tens of thousands of readers everyday, the companies should have erased articles that could tarnish other people's honor.
Naver was fined 10 million won while Daum, Cyworld and Yahoo were ordered 7 million, 8 million and 5 million, respectively. The amount of damage was double that of a lower court.
It is the first time for these Web sites to be defined as a form of media.