[Consumerwide_Hayoung, Chang Reporter / Yohan, Bok Reporter] There is an area where value-consumption, which has a big concern for personal belief and morality, takes a major place. It's so called, "Cultural consumption", which area doesn't seem to have much ethics in copyright. The name of a website covered the front page of a newspaper in 2023, which site is probably familiar to some, and others first heard of. It is NunuTV. This illegal streaming site, which did not protect the copyright of videos, was shut down in April.

According to the company that facilitates this website, the uncontrollable traffic was the major reason for it closing down. In other words, quite a number of people were enjoying this 'free' service without even a second of hesitation about the copyright issue. Followed by industry, there has been a 5 trillion won loss caused by NunuTV.

After Netflix entered the domestic market, many Korean consumers seemed familiarised with subscription payment. Along with this, tons of illegal data, which simply ignored copyrights, have disappeared from the market. At this point, many thought that the illegal downloading era, in which mp3 downloads felt common, was about to fade, and we moved to a new era with subscription payment. As soon as the illegal streaming site entered the market, the copyright ethics, which seemed already rooted in the industry, were completely taken out, however.

This is not an episode limited to videos, but also web-toons and web-fictions, pretty much any media form. Those illegal websites are born and die somewhere in the web space. Weird advertisements accompanied on every corner of the site are free of charge. Even if the manufacturer and provider both try hard, it is probably inevitable massive production of illegal digital copies. Is there any way that consumers can be involved to alter the tide?

Surely everyone knows that illegal copyrights are not a subject for consumption. The action is up to 'will'. I see that rejecting illegal copyright and streaming is one of the best ways for value-consumption which will bring a just wage system for everyone who is involved in the producing process while advancing comparability of domestic content, ultimately. In addition, the contents provider needs to build a system that consumers won't get tired of the octopus-stretch style of subscription system. The subscription needs to be facilitated in a way that is so easy that potential customers in the market won't leak to the black market.