Kakao Entertainment announced on the 7th that its illegal distribution response team (P.CoK) successfully closed four major illegal global webtoon and web novel distribution sites as a result of its enforcement efforts in the first quarter of this year.
The most notable achievement was the closure of 'Mangaku', one of the largest illegal webtoon sites in Southeast Asia, which had monthly visits reaching 18 million. This illegal site had been distributing hundreds of K-webtoons for about 17 years since 2008. As it was impossible to enforce without identifying the operator, they had consistently ignored numerous warnings and requests from copyright holders. However, after Kakao Entertainment succeeded in identifying the operator through its own technology and directly sent warning communications, the 17-year history of illegal distribution came to an end within a week. The operator voluntarily closed the site by declaring a halt to activities on the website and community.
In this way, Kakao Entertainment led to the voluntary closure of the illegal webtoon site 'R' in the Anglophone region, which had approximately 1.2 million monthly visits, and 'Norte Rose Scan', a Brazilian illegal webtoon site that had been operating for over two years with around 340,000 users, using operator identification technology. The operator of 'Norte Rose Scan' stated in a notice that, "The website was closed due to an email sent from Kakao Entertainment."
There are also cases of successful site closures through direct requests to global platforms. The illegal web novel site 'Bluebells in Bloom', which was run as a WordPress blog in the Anglophone region, was deleted after Kakao Entertainment filed a report and copyright protection request with WordPress.
A Kakao Entertainment official noted, "Kakao Entertainment has a comprehensive response system across a wide range of channels, including websites, private communities, and social media, targeting the whole world. The total number of illegal sites closed by the illegal distribution response team has reached 25, and the pace of enforcement is increasingly accelerating." They also stated, "As illegal distribution occurs globally, we plan to actively collaborate with relevant organizations and investigative agencies to promote joint legal action."