By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Illegal downloads are a problem not even Apple, the maker of iPods, or major Hollywood record labels can solve. Now this fight to protect copyright is finding a new ally in a dubious sector: pornography.

U.S. and Japanese porn makers are suing 65,000 people here who they claim have downloaded their products without permission.

This is the second round of the battle following their attempt to take culprits to court last July.

Then, a group of 50 porn producers in the two countries filed a lawsuit against 10,000 Koreans for posting the producers' adult films on local file-sharing Web sites.

They also alleged that Koreans charged subscribers to download them.

However, the prosecution decided to investigate only those who uploaded the films more than three times, with only 10 of them being held legally responsible.

Dissatisfied with the result, they plan to file a lawsuit next week against 65,000 Korean Internet users.

This time, the porn makers are enlisting the help of Korean legal experts. A law firm was hired and is working on their behalf.

The firm has cited the double standards employed by Korea in handling piracy.

"Copyright laws should be applied equally whether it is local or foreign material," said an official at the law firm.

The firm said they believe they were discriminated against by Korean prosecutors and plans to bring their case before the U.S. government.

The company is also planning to take advantage of juvenile protection-related laws.

It said that its clients selected 65,000 user IDs against which they have strong evidence.

The firm also said it will take legal action against some 80 file-sharing service providers for assisting in the distribution of the content.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr