By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter

Now appears to be a good time to push for the Internet real-name system, which will force South Korean Web surfers to provide their identification data to make online postings.
The government, political parties and most Internet users agree with a new approach due to recent cyberspace controversies involving anonymous attackers.

Encouraged by wide support, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), which is in charge of overseeing the Internet, plans to draw up specific ways to introduce a real-name system in October.

However, privacy advocates claim the new system will fail to bring rampant cyber crimes under control and will end up threatening those who use the Internet (netizens) with exposing private information.

In addition, some professors contend the real-name scheme violates constitutional rights on free speech.



This is a picture of a bulletin board of a local Web portal. The postings, indicated by being underlined with red lines, were slanderous.


Serious Cyber Crimes
If the controversial system is enforced, people will be required to use their real names and resident registration numbers - the Korean equivalent of U.S. social security numbers - when making online postings.

It became a national hot-button issue after Prime Minister Lee hae-chan said the government was considering the system last month as a means of halting harassment and defamation by anonymous Internet users.

``I think it is undesirable to express one’s opinion behind a veil of anonymity. Posting comments on the Internet is an act to which people should be held responsible,’’ Lee said at the time.

Early this month, the MIC followed up by announcing it will come up with specific ways to start the real-name system in October and both the governing Uri Party and the main opposition Grand National Party agreed with the scheme.

Even netizens, who have been against the real-name policy thus far, accept the initiative, a turnaround that MIC officials guess is the result of recent incidents of cyber terror.

According to a poll of Yahoo Korea, the country’s major Internet portal, 78 percent of 1,782 respondents supported the real-name system while just 19 percent were against it.

Other Web portal sites’ surveys presented similar results. Naver found that 65 percent of its respondents agreed with the use of real names while 57 percent of Dreamwiz’s respondents supported the use of real names.

These results contrast with the feelings of netizens in 2003 when a majority urged the MIC to scrap its plan to introduce the real-name format.

``Cyber terror appears to have raised people’s awareness of the dangerous nature of online anonymity,’’ MIC director Rha Bong-ha said.

According to the police, the number of cyber crimes reported in 2002 stood at just 119,000 cases but it soared to 165,000 in 2003 and surpassed 200,000 last year.

Furthermore, online assaults can become nasty as demonstrated by an incident last month involving a photograph of a girl who did not clean up her pet’s excrement in the subway.

The photograph was posted on the Web and netizens relentlessly attacked the girl, turning the event into a kind of nation-wide cyber lynching.

She might not be able to lead a normal life because some netizens revealed her name, age and school, usually without using their real names.

The incident, which revealed that ordinary citizens as well as public figures can fall victim to cyber attacks, rang alarm bells for many people who have experienced attacks and groundless criticism on the Internet.

Effect of Real-Name System

Because of the public opionion climate, the MIC is adamant in embarking on the real-name policy.

``The current social malaise caused by online anonymity must be corrected as soon as possible. We are checking where real names should be used,’’ Rha said.

``The real-name formula will make people posting messages more careful. As long as someone knows who they are, it will be tough for them to carry out something problematic. Also, the police will be able to find violators easily.’’

Experts are split on the sensitive issue. Proponents like Myung Jae-jin, a professor at Chungnam National University, argues the real-name system is an answer.

``The online culture tainted by anonymity is invading the offline culture. Cyber terror has already overboard and it should be tamed with the real-name system,’’ Myung said.

He added that first of all posters should identify themselves at least on sites run by public agencies, the government and schools as well as those run by influential Web portals and the media.

Critics, including Konkuk University law professor Han Sang-hie, counter that advocates of the new system misunderstand the cause of the problem and ignore freedom of expression.

``The root cause of cyber violence is not the anonymity on the Internet, but the fact that netizens are not communicating. Plus, the real-name scheme may be unconstitutional because it restricts people’s privacy and their right to speak without revealing their identities,’’ he said.

Heo Jin-ho, head of the Korea Internet Corporation Association, concurs.

``The real-name system will not work because there are too many loopholes. Technically, it is impossible to enforce the format,’’ Heo claimed.

Heo claims that shrewd Internet users can sidestep the real-name regulations by using other people’s personal information or by capitalizing on sites run by overseas servers, which the police cannot crack down on.

Too Many Holes to Plug

Seok Jong-hoon, senior vice president at Daum Communications, which runs the nation’s most-visited Web portal www.daum.net, says the real name-based system has not turned out to be effective.

The real-name system is already in place on most of the country’s main Web portals as they allow only subscribers to post or upload their messages.

Because people can sign up for the portals, excluding Daum, after providing personal information such as their names, resident registration numbers and phone numbers, anonymous posters who use nicknames or pseudonyms are excluded.

However, Seok notes that the measures will not prevent some rogue Web surfers from filling bulletin boards with slander and foul language.

``Instead of launching the real-name formula, we need to beef up ethics education and make the rogue Internet users recognize they are doing something wrong. I learned most of them are not aware of this,’’ he said.

Civil rights activist Kim Young-hong of the Citizens’ Action Network said the real-name policy might cause unwanted consequences, such as identity theft.

``A real criminal who uploads illegal stuff will be sure not to use his or her real name and residency number. Also, companies might start illegally selling such information,’’ he said.

``Acquiring another person’s name and residency number would be not a big deal for criminals who typically use stolen identities to obtain cell phones and bank accounts.’’

He contended violators are too elusive to catch with the real-name system and that the decision of whether or not to accept the real-name formula should be up to companies instead of the central government.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr