Infidelity Site gets Screwed and Sues South Korea! (Now THAT takes a set…)

September 3rd, 2014. By LucyC

Legislating morality has never been an easy task, but South Korea may just have it handled. There’s no need for debate, apparently, as AshleyMadison.com is finding out. The dating website, designed to facilitate social contact between married people looking for a little extra-curricular—was blocked this spring—shortly after it launched—by the government of South Korea, which claims it incited immorality. And in the best North American tradition, Ashley Madison is suing the government of South Korea, alleging false accusations of illegal activity. Adultery is illegal in South Korea. Wait a minute—isn’t it also illegal just about everywhere else on the planet?

In a statement of claim filed in Canadian federal court at the end of August, AshleyMadison.com denies the accusations, describing itself as “a social networking website facilitating communication between like-minded adults.” Umm, that description would also fit for axe murders, pedophiles, ornithologists and cooking enthusiasts, would it not? Guess the folks at Ashley Madison adhere to the “go big or go home” school of brand positioning… Regardless, a quick look at some of the company’s online info would seem to indicated that maybe they DO promote adultery, eh? Or is there some other definition of “infidelity”? (see image)

So, in the lawsuit, Ashley Madison accuses the South Korean government of engaging in “uncompetitive acts” by unfairly banning the website while allowing local businesses to operate similar ones. Ah ha! There’s the rub.

The lawsuit claims the effects of the South Korean government to shut down the site has had a trickle down effect to the Canadian market, where the company is based. The Toronto-based company claims the shut-down has limited the social media site’s success among Korean-Canadians and other Asian-Canadians and reducing overall competition in the social media market. And I’ll bet it’s a pretty big market at that.

“There’s no adultery that happens on Ashley Madison, it’s just a publication,” the company’s CEO and founder, Noel Biderman, told The Canadian Press. “We write very little, our users write everything. So therefore Facebook would have to be shut down, any place where somebody wrote about, or any phone call anybody made—holding all those devices, all those platforms responsible, that’s where you have to start that conversation. You can’t selectively pick us to try to make an example out of us,” he said. Ahh, but they can. And they have.

Hmm. Note to Mr. Biderman: I don’t think the <h1> headers on the corporate site (above) are user-generated content…

The site itself, which uses the slogan “Life is short. Have an affair,” launched there on April 1, the claim states, and it has already expanded to more than 30 countries. (Damn, wish I’d thought this one up…) According to the lawsuit, the South Korean site drew nearly 50,000 members in the first two weeks post-launch. Ka-Ching!

Shortly thereafter, Korea Communications Standards Commission, a government agency also named in the lawsuit, blocked the site, alleging that it “contained illegal information.”

Ashley Madison claims they were never told what exactly the commission’s concerns were, and that its appeal of the decision was dismissed within days “without further explanation.” How very parental.

Ashley Madison says the website “neither contains illegal information, nor does it aid or abet any illegal activity.” Well, lawyers would argue that that’s debatable.

Instead, the lawsuit claims South Korea is trying to give its own companies a leg up (no pun intended) when it comes to breaking into the Canadian market. So is this really about who gets to profit off this “illegal activity? “ Likely answer: yes.

“The defendants’ anti-competitive practices in South Korea have a direct impact in Canada on communications and social networking businesses and websites competing for the Korean-Canadian and Asian-Canadian market for such websites,” the lawsuit states.

“Given the global reach of the internet, a social networking service that meets with success among any particular group of people in one country has or will have a significant competitive advantage among people of that same group or related groups in other countries.”

So far, the action has been met with a stoney silence from the South Koreans. None of the claims have been proven in court and Korean authorities have yet to file a statement of defense. (Really?)

Notably, Ashley Madison has also been banned in Singapore—but it never launched in that country. Biderman said the situation in South Korea is different because the site had already been operating for weeks when it was shut down. Something certainly seems a little 50 shades of greyish….

The company is seeking an unspecified amount for loss of revenue and lost profits, as well as general damages for uncompetitive conduct.  It also wants the court to order South Korea to stop blocking the website.

The lawsuit was filed through Ashley Madison’s parent company, Avid Life Media, and is suggesting the trial be held in Vancouver. Fwiw, Avid Life Media is parent to a collective of dating sites for those who might not otherwise find success via the more mainstream dating sites. “Those”would refer to larger women, cougars and those seeking sugar daddies (to be blunt).

Tags: AshleyMadison.com

This was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.