Business Defamation and Similar Issues

I would like to ask you about a crime in Korea that translates 
as "bothering a company's business". I don't think we have an equivalent
crime in the USA so I would like to find out more about it.

Regards,
--E




E, I'm not sure exactly which translation you read.  (Could you give me the Korean or the source where you found it?)  There are at least a few possible crimes, and those crimes would likely be at least legal violations (that is, something you could sue for, if not a crime) in the US. 

First, there is “intentional interference with contractual/business relations.”  This is when a party (we'll call A) knows B has a contract with or does business with C, and A intentionally tries to make B break the contract or otherwise sabotage the B-C relationship.  This sounds very broad but in reality the standard of proof (amount of evidence that needs to be shown) is fairly high and the torts are considered “weak.”

Second, there is “trade libel.”  Libel is a form of defamation that is written.  (Slander is the spoken form and harder to prove, though possible.)  If I know you have a hamburger stand, and I start writing emails and blog posts about how your hamburger is made from diseased cows (false) and it costs you business, I have defamed your business.

Both of these are legal violations in the US, though they are not crimes.  In Korea, many legal violations are crimes, but this is due to the fact that the police are supposed to play a different role; that is, they act as mediators between the victim and the offender, and if the offender is made whole, no criminal charges are pressed.  (Basically the idea is to help the victim get compensated without the need for a lawsuit.)   You can read more about both of those at the Korean's blog (written by a Korean who is an American attorney) regarding "blood money."


[Guest post by Darren Bean, California attorney.]

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