Japanese ISPs To Cut Net Access For File Sharers

modemac writes "Four major Japanese telecom organizations, which represent 'about 1,000 major and smaller' domestic ISPs, have agreed to forcibly cut the Internet connection of filesharers. They're specifically targeting users of the 'Winny' program, trading copied gaming software and music. The article states that a new set of ISP guidelines will be drawn up on how to cut off users who 'leak illegally copied material onto the Net.'"

Comments

Re:Lets hope this really happens

[kklein]

Um, yeah. You haven't lived here in Japan have you? People don't push back. They let companies plow them over and say nothing. There are no consumer rights in Japan. If they really do this and I lose my net access, that's it. I just lost my net access.

I'm already really throttled. I DL US TV slower now that I have FTTH than I did on ADSL. I have 83Mbit, but it only seems to work when I downloading something from a website or something.

This is going to do nothing to subscription rates. People get the fast service because it isn't much more expensive than the slow, and because the guys from SMAP are in the commercials. It has nothing to do with the speed, because, honestly, most Japanese people can barely even type.

This is not a good development for me...

For the unenlightened..

[icyisamu]

The main target for this act is to stop a file sharing program / network called Winny. Winny is one of the top File sharing program / network in Japan.

Many Japanese anime fansub groups get their original copy of the show via this network. I am sure there are tons of other stuff being shared on Winny, judging from the fact that they have a Software Download board where copyrighted materials are shared.

The creator is facing similar claims to that of the Bittorrent creator, where he has created a tool that can be used to share files with the advantage of being anonymous.

Interesting bits from the article

[jonaskoelker]

For those of you who don't RTFA (yeah, that's you!), here are some interesting points:

The Internet provider organizations have, however, judged it possible to disconnect specific users [...] if they are identified as particularly flagrant transgressors in cooperation with copyright-related organizations. We all know how inexact the RIAA and MPAA members are in determining infringers. Why should we expect the Japanese to be different?

the measure would become the first countermeasure against Winny-using rights-violators Notice the slant? They label Winny users as rights-violators. "Those people are rights-violators. They are bad people. If someone violated your rights, you would want something done about it, right?"

most of the files exchanged using the software [are] believed to be illegal copies. Notice the word most. Not all. The ISPs will have to distinguish between legal and illegal to make a correct decision. Whether they'll do that or not, time will tell. Perhaps we can use history as a guess?

Also, aside question: how can a copy be illegal? I get that it can be illegal to create and to posses, but how can the copy itself be illegal? If it's made on a USB stick and then thrown out (ownership of the copy has ceased), the copy by virtue of not having changed is still illegal. Who do you sue, the USB stick?

(I figure they mean illegally possessed copies, but imprecise language like this bugs me a bit.)

Two years ago, a major Internet provider tried to introduce a measure to disconnect users from the Internet whenever the company detected the use of Winny or other file-sharing software.

However, the provider abandoned the idea after receiving a warning from the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry that such an approach was regarded as Internet snooping and might violate the right to privacy in communications.

According to the new agreement, copyright organizations would notify providers of Internet protocol addresses used by those who repeatedly make copies illegally, using special detection software. I can't imagine how "special detection software" might reliable determine whether copyright infringement is going on without looking at the transmitted data. Isn't it then obvious that the copyright organizations are doing "Internet snooping and might violate the right to privacy in communications"?