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Illegal Downloading Now a Crime In Japan With Increased Penalties
eldavojohn writes "Although downloading songs without paying for them in Japan used to be a civil offense starting in 2010, it is now a crime with new penalties of up to two years in prison or fines of up to two million yen ($25,700). The lobbying group behind this push for more extreme penalties is none other than the RIAJ (the Japanese RIAA). The BBC notes this applies to both music and video downloads which may put anime studios in a particularly uncomfortable position."
More like they don't have the balls to steal hardware.
It is not worth wrecking the lives of the people involved just to boost sales of your crappy open source music.
No, he is absolutely correct. First, this legislation doesn't wreck anyone's life. Possibly some Japanese people might have legal problems after breaking their laws; that is after all what is supposed to happen. "Lives wrecked" is probably an exaggeration.
But the original poster's argument is correct. He has a model that works when people act within the boundaries of the law, and fails if they don't. He is producing music in a less profession way, probably therefore with some lower quality, but he gets a competitive advantage by being cheaper (free). If people illegally download music without paying that should be paid for, then he loses his competitive advantage. And that's what laws are for: To protect against negative effects caused by people breaking the law.