Prosecutor Asks for 1.5-Year Term for Anime File-Sharer

**Gojyo** · 07-05-2008, 07:58 PM

Quote:

The prosecution has requested a one-year, six-month prison sentence at the Tokyo 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.

I know I posted an article about this about a month or so ago. Here is an update though. That seems like a pretty harsh sentence.

**Kaiizu** · 07-05-2008, 08:04 PM

1.5 years... these guys freak out too much. I mean how much did he even upload?

**Blaze7** · 07-05-2008, 08:40 PM

Wow, that's harsh. But I suppose though for the companies that sell anime they are losing profits. But I'm sure they make enough anyways.

**Halfheart** · 07-05-2008, 08:43 PM

That does seem overly harsh, but I guess it depends on how much anime he uploaded.

**Blaze7** · 07-05-2008, 08:47 PM

I believe in the previous thread about this it said a lot...
*goes to find the stats...

**hoboX10** · 07-06-2008, 06:05 AM

He was probably one of those people that uploaded tens of thousands of dollars in anime.

Like those stupid people that download like 500,000 songs.

**Ryuuk** · 07-06-2008, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoboX10

He was probably one of those people that uploaded tens of thousands of dollars in anime.

Like those stupid people that download like 500,000 songs.

Perhaps he was one of the people who uploaded tens of thousands of dollars in anime. A lot of the non-paying internet community benefited from it. Oh well. Things happen.

**Gojyo** · 07-09-2008, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Judge Hiroyuki Satō of the Kyoto District Court compared anime file-sharing to "distributing bread that was shoplifted from a supermarket" on Monday in the trial of one of three men accused of uploading anime with the Share program without authorization. The prosecution is requesting a one-year, six-month sentence for the 34-year-old company employee Kasuhiro Maki from Kawasaki City, and claimed that Maki was motivated by the desire to raise his reputation among online users. After the court adjourned, the defense counsel said, "The defendant was not stealing anything. Because of the malicious denotation [of the term 'stealing'], it is not an appropriate comparison."

While Maki admitted to the facts of the indictment during the trial, his counsel sought a suspended sentence. Under questioning, Maki said he began competing with others on how fast he can spread anime via the Share file-sharing program to gain recognition on bulletin-board sites. The Judge Satō then said that Maki's actions "were very similar to shoplifting large amounts of bread, and instead of eating it yourself, distributing it for free. You were only doing it for attention, instead of out of maliciousness."

Moriyoshi Inoha, another person arrested on the same day in May for distributing Gundam (pictured at right) and other anime without permission with Share, is also facing a one-year, six-month sentence in a separate trial at the Tokyo District Court. Although others have been indicted and sentenced for using other programs to share files without permission, Maki, Inoha, and Takahiro Ōtomo from Hiroshima Prefecture were the first in Japan to be 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.)

Here's another update on the story for those who might be interested.

**Dante** · 07-09-2008, 08:03 PM

When will they understand this... Sharing anime isnt stealing...

**Starstreaker** · 07-09-2008, 08:15 PM

talk about over-reacting for 20+minutes of entertainment eh?

**Beyond Birthday** · 07-09-2008, 08:19 PM

I find it really disturbing when a company is so bent on getting more money that they send people to jail for letting others view em for free. There's always gonna be a way to get some free anime and sending 3 people to jail over something so idiotic won't help anything.

**Darkwarzx** · 07-09-2008, 11:29 PM

I agree with exactly what Beyond said. Some companies are just money hungry and want everything they can get.

**randomuser83** · 07-10-2008, 09:30 PM

I dont think they understand that by getting people to watch it makes more people want to buy it. If they dont let people download the anime then that many more people will stop watching it thus hurting sales. 1.5 years is to harsh for something thats this trival.

**Benawolnow** · 07-15-2008, 03:17 AM

Wow O.o Japan is really tight about all of this. I think I remember this from somewhere but if you carry a video cam to like a naruto movie and try to bootleg the video you will be caught and killed? Or jailed for ever or something O.o