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Prosecutor Asks for 1.5-Year Term for Anime File-Sharer (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
The prosecution has requested a one-year, six-month prison sentence at the Kyoto District Court on Friday for one of the Japanese defendants charged with the unauthorized distribution of anime with the Share file-sharing program. 41-year-old company employee Moriyoshi Inoha from Tokyo is the oldest of the three who were arrested on May 9 for uploading Gundam and other popular anime. The other two who were formally indicted on May 30 were 34-year-old company employee Kasuhiro Maki from Kawasaki City and 21-year-old university student Takahiro Ōtomo from Hiroshima Prefecture.
Although others have been indicted and sentenced for using other programs to share files without permission, these three were the first in Japan to have been arrested for allegedly using Share, a program that had promised high anonymity for its users. (Ever since security researchers found flaws in Share in 2006, other successor applications have been developed.) According to the prosecution, Inoha became well-known for distributing anime with the earlier Winny program since 2002. After the developer of Winny was arrested, Inoha allegedly switched to the Share program around 2004.
Japan's Copyright Law prohibits unauthorized uploaders but expressly allows people to download for private use. The Japanese government is pushing for a ban on unauthorized downloads as well, despite receiving thousands of messages from citizens opposing the ban.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun
Update: Corrected Kyoto District Court location.
Image © Sotsu Agency, Sunrise
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