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Netflix, Tving, and Wavve are some of the video streaming service providers in South Korea, and they are said to have been negatively affected by illegal streaming in the country. Coupang Play and other over-the-top (OTT) video streaming service providers are impacted as well.
According to The Korea Times, the local video streaming platforms are in distress because of Noonoo TV, which is said to be an unauthorized site that streams programs and shows from the leading OTT streaming platforms. Netflix, Tving and the others are subscription-based, where customers pay to view content; however, NooNoo TV is reportedly allowing people to view the same content for free.
As a result, the OTT video streaming service providers in the country are losing revenues. Officials in this line of business said that the illegal streaming of content is definitely a big stumbling block to the growing media industry in South Korea.
OTT streaming platforms said they had lost KRW4.9 trillion or about $3.7 billion because of the illegal site. Now to stop the unlawful practice, broadcasters, streaming service providers, and other media organizations have come together and formed an alliance. On March 9, they collectively filed a criminal complaint against Noonoo TV.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency acted fast after receiving the complaint and immediately launched an investigation. The BMPA is now looking into the copyright infringer. Moreover, an official in the OTT industry said that they are also cooperating with broadcasters, companies, and related government agencies to stamp out the illegal website.
"The illegal site is known to be serviced in the Dominican Republic. Even if telecom companies block the address of this service, their servers do not disappear, which means they can continue to provide this illegal service by simply changing their address," the spokesperson of one OTT company said. "The operators of this illegal service have to be arrested through a police investigation, so we are currently watching the progress of the investigation."
Meanwhile, EToday reported that the issue with illegal sites is a hot topic in the country today, and this is because OTT companies can’t block access to the sites as they often change their domain address to avoid crackdowns. In any case, Noonoo TV was estimated to have more than 10 million monthly active users now, and it closely follows Netflix with 12.57 million users.
Photo by: charlesdeluvio/Unsplash
