By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Suh Ji-su, not her real name, has been getting dozens, or often hundreds, of daily visitors for her blog on movies, music, television and other pop culture staples.

But despite enjoying all the fun that comes from a growing online readership, she is now deciding to close her blog on Naver (www.naver.com).

With the country enforcing a new anti-file sharing provision last week, which gives authorities more power to prevent Internet users from illegally accessing copyrighted material, violators could face the suspension of Web accounts. Suh was suddenly uncomfortable about the many captured movie images and Japanese animation posters on her articles.

``It's not like the authorities upstairs would care, as I am not close to being one of the country's popular bloggers, but I really don't want to take any chance,'' said the 33-year-old Seoul office worker.

Suh plans to move her cyber home to a foreign-based blogging platform or social networking service, such as Facebook (www.facebook.com), saying she isn't sure what flies and what doesn't under the new rules.

``Of course it is frustrating. But what is the point of running a blog when you have to handcuff yourself with fear, as nobody can tell you for sure what will be allowed and what not?'' said Suh.

Suh is apparently not the only blogger who is confused over Korea's new Internet regulatory regime. With already hundreds of blogs being closed or converted into ``undisclosed'' status, critics say the new law might hurt the vibrancy of Internet culture.

Bumchon, a blogger popular for his travel writing, was forced to shutdown his Egloos (www.egloos.com) blog recently, after answering police questions over a pop song streamed over one of his posts.

``I used a pop song, which was like 40 years old, on one of my posts. I was surprised to learn that I had been sued for copyright infringement and was questioned at a police station. I am forced to block my past postings and review if they are illegal under the new law,'' he recently wrote on his online journal.

Internet users in Web communities are just as uneasy as bloggers. The members of a Kim Yu-na fan club at DC Inside (www.dcinside.com) are fiercely debating whether they will be allowed to use the photos of their figure skating star because the copyright belongs to SBS.

NHN, the operator of Naver, the country's most popular Web site, said it is receiving about 200 calls a day from Internet users on copyright.

Tatter Media (www.tattermedia.com), which operates an online magazine-like service compiling the writings of popular bloggers, says that the confusion is also shared among the more experienced Internet users.

``We get queries about using streamed music, captured photo images, and even captured television images taken from the official review sites of certain products,'' said a Tatter Media official.

The Lee Myung-bak administration has been considering more ways to impose rules on Internet users.

Along with measures to limit online anonymity on major Web sites, the new anti-file sharing requirements may have the biggest impact.

The revised copyright law grants authorities the power to suspend Web accounts of Internet users involved in the illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property for up to six months.

Users accused of illegally moving copyrighted content will be subject to the ``three strikes'' rule, having their Web accounts severed after a third violation.

The same goes for Internet companies, which could have their Web sites shut down after a third warning over copyright infringement, whether or not copyright owners complained about it.

Government officials said that the provisions aren't intended to target the average blogger, but ``heavy uploaders'' moving a larger volume of illegal files for commercial gains.

However, critics argue that the loose definition of ``copyrighted content,'' which could be anything from movies, music and news to online diaries, make the law over-the-top.

Equally vague is how to define commercial interest. For example, will a blogger who uses a captured movie image for his movie review be punished when he gets some pocket money from the Google AdSense advertisements that are attached to his blog?

When reached by The Korea Times, Culture Ministry officials didn't have a clear answer.

And what about all the copy-and-pasted news stories from professional news organizations that account for a massive amount of material in the blogosphere?

A ministry official, admitting that there are no clear-cut rules, suggested that ``straight'' news stories or press releases, which don't contain ``ideas'' or ``sentiment,'' may not be subject to the copyright law, but other feature stories may.

``If authorities decide to impose the law exactly as it is written, virtually every Korean site would be tagged for violation. It is clear that the new copyright would eventually hurt the copyright owners themselves by limiting the buzz generated from their materials, which would clearly hurt consumption,'' said an official from a Web technology company, who didn't want to be named.

``Everybody is confused, and I think it will eventually come down to the Internet companies to figure things out. The copyrighted material, such as photos and music, used by bloggers are pretty predictable, and I think it would be possible for Internet companies to reach some kind of agreement with copyright owners like television stations, while allowing their bloggers the same kind of freedom they had before.''

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr