Conflict over MP3 handsets deepens
The conflict between the recording industry and mobile carriers over online music is widening, with lobby groups threatening to seek an injunction on the sale of LG Telecom Co.'s MP3 player-equipped handsets.
"LG Telecom's MP3 cellular phone provides no protection against playing free copies of copyrighted songs, which is a threat not only to the music industry but to the mobile content industry as a whole," said a legal advisor working for the Korean Association of Phonogram Producers yesterday.
"We are considering every legal measure possible, including filing a provisional injunction against the sale of the MP3 handsets," he added.
The statement comes a day after mobile operator LG Telecom offered to pay a percentage of sales from its MP3 phones to set up a digital music development fund, in a belated attempt to mend fences. However, the producer's association officials balked at the offer and insisted LG Telecom halt the sale of its MP3 phones immediately.
The association and other lobby groups, including the Recording Industry Association and Entertainment Producers' Association, held a rally in front of LG Group headquarters in Seoul's Yeouido district yesterday, demanding the company remove its MP3 phones from the market.
The groups said they will refuse to provide music files to www.ez-i.com and other music download sites operated by LG Telecom starting today.
The dispute over online music began in February when the country's three mobile carriers - SK Telecom Co., KTF Co. and LG Telecom - and cell phone manufacturers confirmed plans to launch MP3 player-equipped handsets within the first half of the year.
The recording industry responded by expressing their concerns over the illegal distribution of music files and both sides have been engaged in talks ever since to set the guidelines of copyright protection.
The conflict appeared to be nearing a settlement early last month, when SK Telecom, KTF and cell phone makers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Teletech reached an agreement to limit the playing time of free MP3 copies to 72 hours after downloading.
However, LG Telecom refused to accept the conditions and went on to release their LG-LP3000 model, made by handset manufacturer LG Electronics Inc.
Around 80,000 units of the LG-LP3000 model have been sold through this month, making it one of the hottest items on the telecom market. LG Telecom is Korea's smallest mobile service provider, controlling 5.5 million of the country's 35 million cellular phone users.
"Our MP3 phones are equipped with a DRM (digital rights management) system that limits the transmission of content to other handsets, thus reducing the possibility of illegal reproduction," said LG Telecom's Kim Seung-bum.
"We consider it a violation of consumer rights to limit the usage of individually obtained music files downloaded on personal computers. There are currently no such limitations on personal MP3 players here or abroad," he added.
In a survey conducted by local portal site Daum.net, 83 percent of the 6,398 respondents said they take the limitations on the playing time of MP3 files as a violation of consumer rights.
With more than 11 million Korean households, or 73 percent, having Internet access, the free distribution of digital music has always been at the center of copyright disputes. The online music site Bugs Music (www.bugs.co.kr), which provides free music streaming services, has more than 14 million subscribers, while the peer-to-peer file-sharing network Soribada has more than 4.5 million members.
(thkim@heraldm.com)
By Kim Tong-hyung
AI
