A. The Defendant is a value-added telecommunications business operator under the Telecommunications Business Act and an information and communications service provider under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc. (hereinafter “Information and Communications Network Act”), who operates the Internet portal site “the following”. The Plaintiffs are members who consented to the terms and conditions of service and personal information handling policies of the Defendant, and join the Internet

B. On March 2010, the Plaintiffs requested the Defendant to provide the Plaintiffs’ personal information to a third party according to the request for communication data under the Telecommunications Business Act or the execution of a warrant of search and seizure of e-mail under the Criminal Procedure Act, but the Defendant rejected the request on the ground that “the data requested by the Plaintiff contains any e-mail, and thus cannot be provided according to the duty of confidentiality under the Protection of Communications Secrets Act.”

[Ground of recognition] Facts without dispute, Gap evidence 1-1 to 4, purport of the whole pleadings

2. The definitions of terms used in this Act shall be as follows:

6. The term "personal information" means the information pertaining to an individual who is alive, which contains the code, letter, voice, sound, image, etc. that makes it possible to identify a specific individual by his/her name, resident registration number, etc. (including the relevant information, if it is impracticable to identify a specific individual by itself, but it can be easily combined with other information);

Article 5 (Relationship to other Acts) Except as otherwise expressly provided for in other Acts, this Act shall apply to the promotion of use of information and communications networks and the protection of information, etc.

Article 30 (Rights, etc. of Users) (2) A user may request a provider of information and communications services or similar to allow him/her to peruse or provide any of the following matters with respect to him/her, and if any error is found therein: