Kim Tae-gyu
DCInside, a famous Korean Internet site, has been criticized after a student used the community site to spread pornographic video clips.
He uploaded the tape on a gallery of DCInside late last week.
In the process, personal information such as name, school, cellular phone number and even mini-homepage address was also made public but that information turned out to belong to another student who had nothing to do with the video clip.
DCInside identified the perpetrator as a male but failed to divulge any other information about him, saying the site does not require its customers to log onto it to make postings.
In other words, anybody can upload any text or any video clip on the huge number of DCInside galleries without fear of being traced except for the elusive Internet protocol address.
This case is triggering debate on whether the Internet real-name system, which the governing Uri Party is trying to introduce in phases, is the answer to misuse of the Internet.
The Uri Party plans to urge big portal sites with more than 300,000 daily visitors and media sites with more than 200,000 visitors to accept the real-name formula.
If this revision goes into effect, Koreans who make online postings at the sites will be forced to provide their identification data.
Most Internet users agree with the system due to cyberspace controversies involving the growing number of anonymous attacks, including the DCInside case.
However, privacy advocates claim the new system will fail to bring rampant cyber crimes under control and end up increasing risks regarding the private information gathered by Web portals and media sites.
Furthermore, some law professors contend the real-name scheme violates constitutional rights of free speech.
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