High Profile Share Users Arrested
3 high profile users of [Share], a P2P program has been arrested by yesterday by the Kyoto Prefectural Police’s High-Tech Crime Task Force on suspicion of using Share to distribute anime and other content on the Internet without the copyright holders’ permission.
The three guys arrested were apparently 92JeyRfcya, YS2YSUOe1cLtf, and YnXmHqtxqS, who are popular anime encoders that shares anime.
They are reported being charged with sharing anime like Macross, Gundam and Code Geass.
The earlier Winny peer-to-peer file-sharing software was developed in 2002 by a then anonymous computer engineering student. After two users were arrested for sharing copyrighted material using Winny in 2003, the developer was identified as Isamu Kaneko of the University of Tokyo and also arrested. He was convicted and sentenced with a 1.5-million-yen (about US$12,000) fine.
Source: Kyoto Shimbun and 2ch
Looks like the Japanese government are really stepping up on illegal sharing of anime. But does that mean the industry will be saved or will there be a serious backlash?
Unless the government and the anime studios do something that can really change the anime industry in a positive way, I will see more 92JeyRfcya, YS2YSUOe1cLtf, and YnXmHqtxqS kind of people arising. I mean, the anime is not any longer a japan exclusive thing, it is a global trend. The Gonzo strategy of sharing anime and broadcasting it the very same day was a bold and smart move, but I think they should do more than just that in order to stop the “illegal” sharing of anime. There are a lot of people hungry for anime out there and those guys were doing a favor. I am not saying that this is healthy for anime studios, but this is a red flag that they must do an extra effort to make anime accesible for everyone outside Japan.
How did they expect for someone to pay such huge sum of money..? Even though there might be someone else to replace them, it’s really sad to lose high-caliber share users like that. Internet will never be the same anymore.
It’s sad to see people like them get arrested, but we all know that legally, they are in the wrong.
Like Danny Choo(?) once mentioned, anime studios get most of their money from DVD sales, etc, and not from the advertisements and sponsors. Sharing anime on the internet exposes more people to the series, and, thus, possibly increasing DVD sales.
Of course, I’m writing this from the view of a foreigner who “shares” anime, and I’m sure the studios and Japanese have their reasons.
english subbed dvds only covers popular series. we need people to share anime on the internet & fansubbers so that international fans could check out those series.
Good to see the crack downs start up agian !
I buy almost all of the anime I have here in my home (hundreds of dvd’s) YES its expensive,as is ANY hobby.
No one ever said it would be cheap.You try working hard for years on something like Stranja,pouring your heart and soul and money and sweat and blood and tears into it,only to see the ‘community’ stab you in the back and give it away for free.More and more great series are not being licensed because the distrib’s know that more and more people will just download it,promsiing to themsleves to buy it later,but most wont.The proof of this is in the fact that DVD sales are dropping like a rock,year after year,as more and more people get clued into the torrents and megaupload,etc…as well as have the ability to get cheap high speed internet.
Thatt many subbers are now offering HD res files is a insult on more then a few levels to the artists,and the companies making this beautiful art possible.
These companies are in business,they are not a charity,they employ many,but every year that number drops.
I hope to see more of this type of crackdown go on.Its out and out theft,PERIOD,and needs to see more intervention from the law.
I feel pity for those arrested, as they only wanted to share their favourites with others who don’t have access to them…
I can understand that the anime industry feels the need to stop illegal sharing; but then again, these shows air on TV, where they can legally be recorded by anyone, thus the sharing should not do too much about the Japanese Market, should it?
Furthermore, most fansubbers stop subbing and distributing a series that has been licensed in their respective country, to support their home market.
But how should people get interested in a show when there is now way to peek into it first?
I tend to use this strategy with manga as well – reading into scanlated material and then switching to buying the books (which I really liked) when/if they are published either in Germany or in the US or Britain.
The problem with Anime DVDs in Germany is that it takes forever for interesting series to be published, and when they are, the DVDs are usually…well, not worth their money. I’d much rather pay a certain fee to be able to watch them online – like the fee you pay over here to be able to watch TV. In the original language, with subtitles (hate german dub -_-).
(Let’s be frank – I only buy normal DVDs when they have really good extras AND I like the film (as in having seen it in cinema), otherwise I’ll just rent them for a few days to watch the movie once – why should it be different with Anime DVDs?)
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