Copyright Law

Japanese Cops Arrest 10 File-Sharers

By soulxtc

Accused of using “Share” P2P application to illegally share copyrighted material, and for the first time a person is accused of illegally sharing Nintendo Wii games

Police in Hokkaido, Akita, Tokyo, Saitama, Mie, Kyoto, Hyogo, Tokushima, Okuyama and Saga, Japan have arrested (GOOGLE TRANSLATION) a total of 10 people for using the Share P2P application to illegally share copyrighted material online.

Share is a closed-source P2P application developed in Japan as a successor to the Winny P2P application after its author was arrested back in 2004 for developing a program that helped users commit copyright infringement.

Some of the pirated items include movies like “Death Note” and “Death Note: The Last Name,” as well as games including “Dragon Quest IX,” “Wii Music” and “Wii Sports Resort.”

According to the Anti-Counterfeiting Association which made the announcement, it is the first time a person has been accused of using file-sharing software to illegally share Nintendo Wii games.

The arrested include:

1. 40-year-old male company employee from Sapporo (Ranma ½ television series)

2. 23-year-old unemployed male from Toride (Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito)

3. 47-year-old male company employee from Nagano (8 musical tracks from Victor Entertainment, SME Records, Sony Music Records, Avex Entertainment)

4. 23-year-old male company contract employee from Sayama (music from Ai Otsuka and Kobukuro, Back to the Future Part III, Death Note, Death Note: The Last Name, others)

5. 37-year-old male local government employee from Tsu (Mobile Suit Gundam 00)

6. 44-year-old male company employee from J?y? (Lorelei)

7. 37-year-old self-employed male from Yokohama (Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort)

8. 57-year-old unemployed male from Komatsushima (unspecified television anime)

9. 40-year-old unemployed male from Okayama (Dragon Ball Kai, Fresh Precure!, Fullmetal Alchemist)

10. 30-year-old male game center employee from Chikugo (unspecified anime)

The sad thing is that for all the money and effort wasted on the investigation and law enforcement by the ACA, Japanese police, and soon the country’s court system there will be no measurable decline in illegal file-sharing in that country. All that will happen is 10 mainly UNEMPLOYED individuals will have their lives ruined further ruined financially.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on December 02, 2009 (boomark / email).