Illegal Piracy

[Anchor Lead]

The police have round up a group of people who illegally copied domestic broadcast shows aired on over 100 channels and sent them overseas to Korean viewers. Now it's illegal to relay broadcast materials without a proper copyright contract. The perpetrators are found to have profited several billion won. Take a look

[Pkg]

This office in Ansan, Gyeonggido Province is filled with set top boxes and broadcast relay equipment. They can be used to copy domestic TV shows in real time and send them overseas.

[Soundbite] (Policeman) : "We came out for a search on a tip that TV shows were illegally copied in violation of the copyright law."

The police apprehended individuals who engaged in this illegal act of sending broadcast materials to overseas Korean residents. They used one set top box for each channel and operated a hundred of such equipment. Then using a device, broadcast signals were converted into a file format which was transferred abroad in real time. Police found that some 100 channels were illegally copied and leaked overseas without a copyright agreement. Some 20-thousand subscribers are known to exist in countries where the materials were sent including China, Japan and in Southeast Asia. It's believed the perpetrators collected monthly user fees of 20,000 to 30,000 won from the subscribers for a total of six billion won in illegal profits obtained over six years.

[Soundbite] Inspector Sin Hyeon-soo(Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency) : "There are more establishments of this kind out there. These unlawful acts have been going on behind closed doors."

Two senior level figures have been arrested on charges of violating the Copyright Act as the investigation widens.