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Japan's Lower House Approves Bill to Penalize Downloaders, Outlaw Ripping
posted on by Ko Ransom
Japan's House of Representatives approved a bill covering a variety of issues regarding the usage of documents and digital content on Friday. The bill included sections outlawing the "ripping" of content, for personal use, that involves the bypassing of digital copy protection such as the CSS system on DVDs.
A committee then added a section that imposes a penalty to the already illegal act of knowingly downloading copyrighted material without permission, and the revised bill was again approved by the House of Representatives. If made into law, those charged with illegal downloading will now face up to two years of prison or fines of up to 2 million yen (about US$25,400).
The bill has to also pass the House of Councillors in order to be made into law.
Sources: Internet Watch, CNET Japan, ITMedia News via Yaraon!
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