No, the RIAA haven’t taken their unique brand of ’sue them and see’ justice to a whole new level, nor have the ‘big four’ started to resort to Mafia-style ‘justice’ in their pursuit of righteousness. The death sentences were handed out in North Korea to young people found to be copying and distributing South Korean material. Hearings were apparently heard outside the place of arrest — for the public to enjoy — then the perpetrators were executed shortly afterwards.

While we may like to think of the RIAA’s attempts to curtail copyright infringement as draconian, we can only thank our lucky stars that their corporate reach and political clout do not enable them to partake in this kind of behaviour. The free world has a lot to be greatful for.

South Korean shows and music are popular in North Korea where Kim Jong II’s strict restrictions do not allow uncensored foreign media of any kind to be viewed by the residents there. “It is not an overstatement to say that the Kim Jong Il regime is waging war on the South Korean TV drama,” one reporter stated.

North Korea’s state organized foreign money-printing operations suggest that the regime is not so much concerned with copyright infringements of others, but more on restriction of the information flow into the country.

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