They authorized portals to freely reproduce and distribute the postings put up by users, while leaving portals free of any responsibilities when it comes to possible copyright violations. Portals were allowed to transmit to their affiliated companies personal information of users without obtaining their consent, while allowing themselves to send advertisements to the mobile phones of users. They also freed themselves from any responsibility should the IDs and passwords of their users be leaked by accident or if users suffered losses or disadvantages involving cyber money or through changes or cancellations in service. What’s worse, they required users to file for compensation only at the Seoul Central District Court and within three months of incurring the damage.

Korea’s 35 million Internet users are the main source of income for the country’s top six Internet portals. They have been making money from the writings and information posted by their users, yet they were not merely negligent of the rights and privacy of their users, they actively tried to avoid responsibility should problems arise. Internet portals have effectively resorted to fraud, taking advantage of the fact that users generally do not read the fine print when agreeing to the offered terms.

Until now, Internet portals have been virtually above the law. Korea’s law on information and communication makes it possible to require Internet portals to delete or hide posted information that violate an individual’s privacy, but there are no punitive measures. Because they are not Internet newspapers, these portals have been beyond the jurisdiction of press arbitration procedures. It is because of these legal loopholes that portals are becoming the playgrounds of social agitators in cyberspace.