Case Studies
[Personal Information] Understanding Personal Information Protection Regulations through GDPR Fine Cases
Recently, actual fine imposition cases have emerged after the GDPR came into effect, and we will look into the GDPR, which Korean hospitals & clinics, organizations, and app service providers that process personal information of European residents should pay attention to, based on these fine imposition cases. The first GDPR fine imposition case is 400,000 euros (approximately 500 million won) imposed on B Hospital in Portugal. Portugal's Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados (hereinafter CNPD) imposed a fine on B Hospital for two reasons. The second GDPR fine imposition case is 20,000 euros imposed on K Company, one of the German chat applications (approximately 25 million won). Germany's Baden-Württemberg data protection authority imposed a fine of 20,000 euros for a personal information leak accident due to K Company’s hacking, and it is known that a lower fine was imposed considering that K Company promptly notified the authority of the hacking incident and showed a proactive willingness to improve subsequent measures. Please check the official blog of Law firm Veat ( GDPR Fine Cases and Personal Information Protection Regulations ) for more details. Thank you. Law firm Veat
[Consultation] Providing legal consultation regarding disputes between virtual currency purchasers, commissioned by Company A, a virtual currency issuer.
Law firm Veat (hereinafter Veat) received a request from A, an overseas cryptocurrency developer, and provided legal services to facilitate a smooth agreement regarding the disputes (hereinafter referred to as “this dispute”) that arose among the purchasers of A’s cryptocurrency. Veat 1) thoroughly reviewed whether the cause of this dispute lies in the cryptocurrency developed by A, and 2) although A has no legal responsibility for the resolution of this dispute, provided A with legal advice on measures to achieve a smooth resolution. As a result, Veat led to a smooth agreement between the parties and concluded this dispute so that A would not be involved in the dispute. In particular, Veat provided legal advice to A so that A, which is entering a growth trajectory, can quickly resolve disputes when similar situations arise in the future. Veat has extensive and diverse legal advisory experience as a lawyer advising/acting as counsel for renowned domestic and foreign cryptocurrency and blockchain companies. Veat strives to provide practical legal advice on various legal risks that may arise while a client operates its business, not only as a one-time legal advisory service but as a growth partner for the client. If you are operating a blockchain or cryptocurrency-related business and require legal review, please contact Veat. Thank you. Sincerely, Law firm Veat
[Criminal] A case where a dismissal order was achieved in a case sued for theft charges.
Law firm Veat
[Consultation] Legal consultation regarding copyright infringement related to virtual currency exchange homepage design.
Law firm Veat (hereinafter Veat) provided legal advice regarding design copyright infringement at the request of Company A, which operates a virtual currency exchange. Company A requested legal advice from Veat to obtain expert opinions on legal measures against Company B, as Company B is using the same UI (User Interface) of Company A’s website. Veat sent a certified mail to Company B stating that Company B’s operation of a virtual currency exchange and unauthorized copying of Company A’s website UI would likely cause general users to mistakenly believe that Company B’s website is the same as Company A’s website, and that this action constitutes copyright infringement and a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, resulting in damages to Company A. Veat provided legal advice on the legal measures Company A could take, both civilly and criminally, if Company B failed to comply with the requirements outlined in the certified mail and continued to use Company A’s website UI. Thank you. From Law firm Veat
[Consultation] Legal consultation regarding disputes related to video production contracts.
Law firm Veat provided legal consultation regarding the video production contract at the request of startup company A. Company A entered into a contract with B, a video production specialist company, for the purpose of producing a promotional video. However, B failed to comply with the production schedule specified in the video production contract, and made claims for additional production costs. Company A requested legal consultation to confirm a lawyer’s opinion with this law firm in order to resolve the issue. Therefore, this law firm reviewed the contract terms of the video production contract, the purpose of the project, and provided legal consultation as to whether B’s requests to A were inconsistent with the contract terms and what contractual rights A could exercise against B. Thank you. Law firm Veat.
[Consultation] Legal consultation regarding the legality of virtual currency of Company A, a virtual currency issuer. Law firm Veat
Law firm Veat received a request from A, a well-known overseas virtual currency issuer, and provided legal consultation related to blockchain and virtual currency. A is conducting B project, which ranks in the Top10 based on the 2018 global ICO fundraising amount. A requested a legal review to determine whether the virtual currency issued by A could be legally traded and distributed in Korea. In relation to this inquiry, Law firm Veat provided a legal opinion regarding whether A’s virtual currency violated domestic laws such as the “Act on Capital Markets and Financial Investment,” the “Electronic Financial Transactions Act,” and the “Act on Regulation of Similar Fundraising Activities,” and whether there was a possibility that A’s virtual currency would be considered securities. Law firm Veat has formed a virtual currency advisory team comprised of engineers and is conducting corporate consultation on ICO (Initial Coin Offering), Whitepaper legal review, and virtual currency exchange operation. In particular, An Il-woon, a lawyer providing blockchain-related consultation at Veat, majored in Computer Science at Yonsei University and has a development background at Naver, and has been appointed as a member of the IT & Blockchain Special Committee of the Korea Bar Association. Those who need the opinion of a legal expert on blockchain and virtual currency should inquire through the following path. Thank you. Law firm Veat
[Consulting] ICT Regulatory Sandbox Legal Consultation, Law firm Veat
Law firm Veat’s Song Do-young, Choi Seong-ho, Baek Seung-cheol, and Jo Eun-byeol provided legal consulting services regarding the regulatory exception application for verification of Joinso Auto Co., Ltd.’s car dismantling bid comparison service, which was submitted to the ‘ICT Regulatory Sandbox Consultation Center’. Joinso Auto started providing services in 2015 to provide car owners with information about car dismantling and offer more reasonable dismantling costs. In February 2016, when Joinso Auto was generating revenue and discussing investment, Article 57-2 of the ‘Automobile Management Act’ was newly added, suddenly making them an illegal business operator, leading to a sharp decline in revenue and facing criminal charges, among other difficulties. Nevertheless, they made efforts to continue operating the business without closing it down. The current Automobile Management Act Article 57-2 stipulates that “A person who is not an automobile dismantling and recycling business operator shall not collect or solicit or arrange for the collection of a car subject to dismantling for business purposes, nor arrange for the collection of such car with an automobile dismantling and recycling business operator.” This means that only those registered as automobile dismantling and recycling business operators can arrange for the collection, and violations are subject to criminal punishment. Law firm Veat’s lawyers, understanding the circumstances and the representative's situation, supported them by revising and supplementing the application, which lacked substantive content and supporting data, to complete and submit the regulatory sandbox application. They received experimental exception designation from the ‘Second ICT Regulatory Sandbox Deliberation Committee’ on March 6, 2019. As a result of this experimental exception designation, Joinso Auto received experimental exception designation to provide services for 2 years within a range not exceeding a maximum of 35,000 vehicles (approximately 2% of the annual total car dismantling processing volume in Korea, which is about 880,000 vehicles). Law firm Veat provides legal consultation services, including legislative consultation and legal advice related to ICT/industrial convergence/financial regulatory sandboxes. If you need help with application drafting and legal review regarding regulatory sandboxes, please contact Law firm Veat. Thank you. Sincerely, Law firm Veat
[Consultation] Legal consultation related to Southeast Asia business of education content platform Law firm Veat
Law firm Veat received a request from A, an education content platform operator, and drafted a license publishing agreement allowing A to provide its platform services in Southeast Asia. Based on extensive experience reviewing numerous publishing agreements, Law firm Veat meticulously examined potential issues that could arise from the publishing agreement. In this contract, we proactively reviewed potential problems such as issues related to the profit distribution structure and ownership of data generated during the service provision, and provided expert advice. This law firm strives to provide effective corporate consulting based on its abundant experience reviewing publishing agreements. If you require legal review related to license publishing agreements, please contact Law firm Veat. Thank you. Law firm Veat
[Consulting] Legal advice provided regarding app service terms of use and privacy policy.
Law firm Veat received a request from Company A, which provides a foreign language education application service, and provided legal advice on terms of service, application access permissions, privacy policies, and more. Company A requested legal advice from Law firm Veat to prepare for various legal dispute situations that could arise when terminating a contract related to payments for foreign language education content. Determining penalties and refund amounts is limited not only by the Act on Regulation of Terms of Contract but also by laws related to electronic commerce, so we provided expert legal opinions from a multifaceted perspective to prevent problems from arising as Company A provides the foreign language education application. In particular, since Company A's service is provided through the application, we provided legal advice related to application access permission consent and the like. Law firm Veat provides a variety of legal advisory services based on extensive experience advising startups, helping new startups manage and grow their businesses stably. If you need legal advice related to terms of service review, privacy policy review, application access permissions, and more, please contact Law firm Veat. Thank you. Sincerely, Law firm Veat
[Consultation] Legal consultation regarding the gambling nature of fantasy game services.
Law firm Veat received a request from game developer A to provide legal advice regarding the fantasy game newly planned for release by A, specifically concerning the standards for gambling-like game content. Fantasy Game (Fantasy Sports) is a game genre in which users create virtual teams based on the names and records of real-life athletes and conduct sports games. While more prevalent in foreign markets, it was officially introduced to Korea in 2016 and has since gained a considerable following. Law firm Veat thoroughly reviewed relevant laws and regulations, including the Penal Code, the Special Act on Regulation and Punishment of Gambling-like Acts (“Gambling Regulation Act”), and the Act on Promotion of Game Industry (“Game Industry Act”), as well as case examples of game ratings and precedents related to standards for gambling-like game content by the Game Management Committee, to provide comprehensive legal advice regarding the gambling-like game content standards for this game. Law firm Veat possesses extensive experience as legal advisors and consultants for numerous game companies, including expertise in gambling-like game content standards and game service terms and conditions reviews. If you require expert advice regarding game service provision beyond gambling-like game content standards, please contact Law firm Veat. Thank you. Law firm Veat