Google Disables Uploads and Comments for YouTube Korea

After a string of incidents involving cyber-bullying, Korea enacted a Cyber Defamation Law on April 1st that compels all sites with over 100,000 unique visitors a day to implement registration requiring Koreans' real names to be verified with a national ID number. Google, taking a stand for anonymity, has refused to modify YouTube Korea's registration process, choosing instead to simply prevent Koreans from uploading or commenting on YouTube. However, they were thoughtful enough to post instructions on their YouTube Korea page about how to circumvent Korean law by changing user preference settings to another country.

Google apparently considers itself above the law in the foreign countries it provides service to, actually encouraging their citizens to sidestep their own laws. Ironically, this outright refusal to honor the laws that other countries deem important is in Google's "commitment to openness" and "bias in favor of freedom of expression". In the end, Google's expression of opinion is the only one that seems to matter.

In the song I outline some events that led to the passage of the Cyber Defamation Law and examine the insensitivity of Google's decision.




The original news article can be found here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/162989/google_disables_uploads_comments_on_youtube_korea.html

These are the lyrics:

yo we all know people like talking smack
online but in Korea they got bullies on crack
"Oppa" is a word they use for big brother
but instead of the government it's every other sucker

if you even neglect to clean up your dog's poo
someone'll take your picture post it on the net and find you
asking around for your name and address
where you go to school and wherever you go next

they'll make you so well-known you'll have to drop out
pack up all your things, move into a new house
you think I'm making this up? it happened in '05
the victim was lucky she didn't turn to suicide

but for an actress like Choi Jin Sil
if everyone was trashing you then how would you feel?
and a month before that it was Ahn Jae Hwan
both movie celebrities now both of 'em gone

pushed to the limit by people on the internet
you can't makes arrests when no one's innocent
but you pass a law on Cyber Defamation
requiring online ID registration

and that's what happened but Google ain't having it
saving anonymity by straight up cancelling
every Korean's ability to contribute
videos and comments on NotYouTooTube

then they made a post on their very own website
"everything's fine guys, everybody just lie, alright?
change your preferences to a nation that's not yours.
just like you were forced to before in other wars."

YouTube imposes ideas on Korea
at the same time saying "don't post yours, either!"
that's some hypocritical political bull
and after 8 years of Bush I'm full

go ahead tell your friends join a petition
YT won't feature me so who's gon' listen?

The mp3 can be downloaded here:
GoogleDisablesUploadsandCommentsforYouTubeKorea11.mp3