Comments on: Global smackdown against cyber piracy now includes Japan

Japanese ISPs agree to cut off connections of users found illegally copying gaming software and music files.

[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.