Global smackdown against cyber piracy now includes Japan

Add Japan to the ranks of countries cracking down on illegal file sharing over the Internet. The Yomiuri Shimbun is reporting that the country's four Internet providers agreed to disconnect Internet connections "of users found to repeatedly use Winny and other file-sharing programs to illegally copy gaming software and music."

The four organizations include the Telecom Service Association and the Telecommunications Carriers Association. About 1,000 major and smaller domestic providers belong to the four associations, which means the measure would become the first countermeasure against Winny-using rights-violators used by the whole provider industry.

They organizations plan to launch a consultative panel, possibly in April, together with copyright organizations including the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers and the Association of Copyright for Computer Software. They will then begin making guidelines for disconnecting users from the Internet who leak illegally copied material onto the Net.

The number of users of file-sharing software such as Winny in the country is estimated to be about 1.75 million, with most of the files exchanged using the software believed to be illegal copies.

A brief six-hour survey by a copyright organization monitoring the Internet found about 3.55 million examples of illegally copied gaming software, worth about 9.5 billion yen at regular software prices, and 610,000 examples of illegally copied music files, worth 440 million yen, that could be freely downloaded into personal computers using such software, the sources said. In other words, this survey alone, uncovered damages amounting to 10 billion yen.

Two years ago, a major Internet provider tried to introduce a measure to disconnect users from the Internet whenever the company detected the use of Winny or other file-sharing software.

Can't say that this comes as a shock. The reaction against illegal file sharing, which began in the United States, has spread to Europe, and now, Asia. Chalk it up to a super-effective lobbying effort by well-organized copyright interests representing software companies, music labels, and the film industry.

Will this hold up in court? I don't know much about Japanese civil law so if anyone out there has more information, I'd love to hear more. On the surface--and admittedly, I don't have more facts other than the initial wire report--this sounds like a classic overreaction. But that's been the main theme in the conflict between the establishment and new technology threatening to undermine its business model.

[Goodbye Helicopter]

Very little will likely come of it except in the most egregious of cases. Customer service is king in Japan and privacy is a major issue among Japanese citizens. Remember this, Japanese citizens' privacy rights are much stronger than in most countries. They do not have national or regional ID cards of any kind, nor are they required to carry any identification of any kind.

The companies may talk big, but in most cases they'll bow to consumer privacy faster, especially when it becomes a political issue.

On top of this, bandwidth for broadband is much better in Japan. Cable and DSL speeds are much higher than in the USA and even fiber to the home is affordable in the 100 - 150 dollar range!!

[sorry-but]

Recently they did add national IDs, in midsts of much protest.

Also home fiber is actually much cheaper... More like 40 to 50 dollars, but you have to live within the fiber optic service area.

Companies do bow to customers, but I am not sure if those using p2p software are willing to group together to cause any court drama, and the companies also have a good excuse not to listen to them since: a) they are, allegedly, copyright violators, and b) the ISPs are not the one proposing the ban, the Associations are, hence they can claim they are not responsible.

[csven]

"Chalk it up to a super-effective lobbying"

I'm not so sure. With the U.S. economy almost certainly in recession and the dollar falling, such activities pose a potential difficulty to any Asian or European country's effort to buoy their own media industries and perhaps take advantage of their current comparative advantage. However, if there's no money to be made, there won't be as much content from anyone.

And the current circumstances aren't just of interest to those people wanting to build up industries and make some money, but to those who tire of what some call "America's cultural imperialism". Funny thing is that "free culture" at this particular time effectively equates to an extraordinary amount of American cultural influence. Go to the Pirate Bay site, check out the download listings for movies, and take note that some fine(sic) American trash is being served up to the world in exchange for ad revenue... all in the name of "free culture", of course. Too funny.

[namabiru4me]

Privacy is a huge concern for Japanese, however it has yet to be proven that it will beat out big business in the download fight.
IMHO one of the influences on getting this law is the lack of understanding by the law makers, only knowing about the popular P2P tool named "winney" that has been linked to leakage of confidential items that had either personal information or military information on it.

On the privacy side, from talks with Japanese friends I hear that if you have a female companion in the passenger seat and get your picture taken by a speed camera, the ticket will not be sent to you. Why? Privacy. If that female is not your wife and the police send you a ticket, they could be violating your privacy.

[mikele11111]

Every time one of these groups say piracy costs $xxxx I laugh my butt off. The assumption by these trade associations and their so called "studies" that each of these instances translates into a lost sale is beyond preposterous. It's part of why they have little if any credibility fighting a legitimate issue.