On the 15th, Representative Jung Joon-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea proposed an amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act that would elevate the penalties for operating illegal private game servers to the level of intellectual property infringement, while also introducing punitive damages and an emergency blocking system.

The amendment explicitly defines the operation of illegal private servers as "the act of producing, distributing, providing, or facilitating games that are substantially identical or similar to those provided by authorized game operators, without proper authorization." Unlike current law, which regulates private servers broadly under prohibitions against the distribution of illegal game materials, this bill clearly defines the scope of punishable conduct.

The level of punishment will be raised to match that of intellectual property infringement crimes, such as patent or design right violations. Additionally, the bill introduces punitive damages to help game companies recover actual losses and to eliminate the economic incentives for operating private servers.

A new emergency blocking system will also be established, allowing for the refusal, suspension, or restriction of services without a formal review process if there is a risk of clear and irreparable harm from the distribution of illegal game materials. This mandate extends to information and communications service providers that host temporary servers in Korea, thereby increasing the effectiveness of crackdowns on overseas-based private servers.

In his proposal, Rep. Jung stated, "Illegal private servers are illicit operations that infringe on creators' rights and profit from the unauthorized theft of game content and technology, leading to cumulative damage across the gaming industry. Because current laws impose weak penalties, these illegal activities persist, necessitating swift blocking and stronger punishment."

At the same time, the amendment classifies the operation of private servers as a crime punishable only upon the victim's complaint (specifically, an offense where prosecution is barred if the victim expresses a desire against punishment). This ensures that if the victimized game company does not wish for the operator to be punished, criminal charges cannot be pursued.

The inclusion of this provision is interpreted as a response to the so-called 'GTA San Andreas' private server case. In 2024, the Supreme Court upheld a ₩5 million fine for an individual, 'A', who operated a private server for Rockstar Games' 'GTA San Andreas' and accepted donations.

While the first trial sentenced the defendant to 18 months in prison suspended for three years, the second trial reduced the sentence to a fine, ruling that providing a program to enable multiplayer in a game that only supported single-player and lacked official servers did not constitute a violation of the Game Industry Promotion Act. The court also considered the fact that Rockstar Games had implicitly permitted such activities, such as by acquiring the company that created the private server software.

Following that case, then-lawmaker Lee Sang-heon of the 21st National Assembly proposed a supplementary bill to narrow the scope of punishment to those operating servers as a 'business' and to add a clause requiring a victim's complaint for prosecution. The intent was to avoid over-legislation that would indiscriminately punish private servers for discontinued games or cases like 'Minecraft,' where game companies officially permit private servers.

Rep. Jung Joon-ho's amendment adopts the 'offense against the victim's will' approach rather than a 'complaint-based offense,' allowing investigations and indictments to proceed while enabling the operator to avoid criminal punishment if the rights holder does not seek it.

Government-level responses are also underway. The Office for Government Policy Coordination included measures to 'eradicate illegal game private servers' in the first set of tasks for its 'National Normalization Project' announced last May, and it has decided to review the introduction of punitive damages, administrative fines, and an emergency blocking system. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, approximately 2.3 million people use illegal private servers annually,

The resulting annual damage to the industry is estimated at ₩360 billion. Over the past five years, more than 170k illegal private servers have been detected. With the revised Copyright Act that took effect on May 11, a path has already been opened for the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to order the emergency blocking of access to illegal private server sites.