HYBE Cracks Down On Illegal Sale Of Artists’ Flight Information

They created a special task force to tackle the issue.

HYBE Labels has taken extremely strict steps against individuals who profited off of selling flight information of HYBE artists to outsiders.

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SEVENTEEN’s Jun mobbed at an airport | @moonzzakcat/Twitter

On June 18, the company posted a detailed notice, informing fans about their initiative to tackle this serious security issue. In their statement, HYBE noted that in recent times there have been increased activities of individuals obtaining artists’ seat information or taking pictures secretly while boarding the same plane as them. “Some even engaged in stalking behaviors,” they explained, “using this information to repeatedly approach and attempt to contact the artists.” Somehow, some fans have crossed a boundary even further, meddling with the artists’ bookings.

There have been frequent cases where some have gone far as arbitrarily changing artists’ seats and in-flight meals or canceling their flight reservations, causing disturbances to their schedules.

— HYBE

To address this rampant issue, HYBE formed a special task force last September and started identifying social media accounts that were illegally selling idols’ flight information online. According to their statement, the operators behind these accounts have been identified and reported to the authorities for violating the Personal Information Protection Act, among other charges.

Based on the submitted evidence, the investigative agencies conducted long-term domestic and overseas investigations. In May, they identified suspects, including those presumed to be foreigners, and conducted additional detailed investigations. The suspects are accused of profiting tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won from selling artists’ flight ticket information through social media channels over an extended period.

— HYBE

HYBE also made their intentions of pursuing legal action against the suspects till the end without any settlements or other favorable agreements. The company has also made relevant changes to idols’ travel procedures, working closely with airlines, travel agents, and other organizations to ensure that their artists’ privacy is not invaded.

Netizens welcomed this strict action against the suspects and praised HYBE for their zero-tolerance policy.

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| theqoo
  • “This was well done.”
  • “Good!”
  • “This is genuinely praiseworthy.”
  • “Wow… Well done, really… I commend them… This is the way to handle it. Really well done.”
  • “Really well handled.”
  • “Finally dealing with the crazies. FINALLY! They’re finally cracking down on the issue. Wow, what a relief…”
  • “Wow, well done.”
  • “Wow, making hundreds of millions from that is insane.”
Source: HYBE Corp and Theqoo
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