Cause of Bato Manga Piracy Site Shutdown ‘Revealed’ – Korea’s Kakao Entertainment/P.CoK Takes Credit

Torrent Freak reports that Kakao Entertainment, the major Korean content platform operator with hits like the Solo Leveling webtoon, has taken credit for manga piracy site Bato[.]to’s shutdown. Specifically, it was the anti-piracy arm of Kakao Entertainment, P.CoK (Protecting the Content of Kakao Entertainment), that has taken credit, telling Torrent Freak that it has tracked the founder and core developer to their country of residence and initiated legal proceedings against them:

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“We adopted a strategy that categorizes individuals involved in the operation into multiple tiers and applies tailored countermeasures to each group. Legal proceedings are currently underway in the country of residence of the founder and core developer,” a P.CoK representative said. It added, “We have identified the majority of individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in the operation—such as sub-developers, moderators, and community administrators—and have sequentially issued Cease and Desist (C&D) letters to them.“

This would explain why the Discord and subreddit have now sought to distance themselves from discussion of pirated content, with a subreddit mod stating recently, “Kakao has indicated they are actively monitoring social media and may pursue legal action if pirated content is shared. Please do not share links or unverified claims.” It also provides links to legal publishers, in line with other moderators and sites that have been hit by Kakao Cease and Desists.

Kakao similarly took credit for the shutdowns of Comick and Reaper Scans, taunting the former on X (formerly Twitter) and publishing an interview with a translator from the latter.

Source: Torrent Freak
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