Naver, Daum Launch Movie Download Services
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Naver and Daum, the nation's biggest Web portal sites, have launched online movie downloading services.
NHN, operator of Naver, said Thursday it is providing the service after signing a contract with MBaro, the first Korean movie download provider.
MBaro is a joint venture of CJ Entertainment and NHN's affiliate, NHN Business Platform, and was launched last month.
Some 500 movies, including ones owned by CJ Entertainment and Showbox, two of the largest Korean movie distributors, are available in HD resolution through the new service, NHN said.
This will also enable Internet users to enjoy the latest productions with one easy search, it added.
Downloading charges are set at similar levels to those of Internet protocol television services: Recent movies ― not available on DVD ― cost 3,500 won ($3), while older movies can be purchased for 1,000 won.
MBaro plans to expand its services so users can enjoy movies on portable digital devices, including iPhones.
The company is also reportedly in talks with several other media firms, including SK Telecom, Gom TV and Bugs, over the downloading service.
Naver's announcement came a day after archrival Daum said it would launch the same service after a successful beta test that started in June last year.
Daum has been operating the online movie service in collaboration with local contents providers. Now, some overseas distributors including Paramount, Walt Disney and Warner Bros. will be newly added to the service lineup to provide Korean Internet users a broader choice of downloadable movies, it said.
``This will offer safer contents than Web-based peer-to-peer video services, and also contribute to the Korean movie industry by preventing illegal distribution of online products,'' a Daum Communication spokesman said.
Recent data show that piracy has been declining in the last few years. According to a 2009 annual report by the Copyright Protection Center, the market for online and offline illegal copying contracted to 965.9 billion won ($831.2 million) in 2008, down from 4.4 trillion won in 2006.
The market for pirated copies of movies amounted to 571 billion won in 2007, but nearly halved to about 300 billion the following year.
This is the result of the steady growth of the legitimate download market, which is said to be worth up to 20 billion won. Online downloads passed 2 percent in 2008, surging from 0.4 percent in 2005, according to data from the Korean Film Council.