사이버명예훼손죄에 있어서 비방의 목적과 공익 관련성

Defamatory intention and public concern in the crime of "libel in cyber space" in Korea

&nbsp;&nbsp;Due to its capability for instantaneous global communication, the Internet has provided a new frontier for free expression. The Internet offers anyone who wants to express an opinion about anything can make their thoughts available to a world-wide audience far more easily than has ever been possible before.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;However, invasions of personal privacy and honour through internet are an extremely frequent occurrence. The right to freedom of expression sometimes conflicts with the right to privacy. It is therefore necessary to find a way of balancing the exercise of two fundamental rights and to draw up of guidelines.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Since proof of the writer&quot;s defamatory intentions is hard to provide, the fact that the information is not a matter of &quot;public concern&quot; is generally accepted as proof of defamation in Korean Supreme Court. It would be hopeful for Korean Supreme Court to pursue flexible balancing in adjudicatingparticular cases and the categorization for legal certainty simultaneously. An effort must also be made to clarify the interface, where the right to privacy begins and the freedom of expression and information ends and vice versa, so that these two liberties border on each other seamlessly.