Japan and File sharing

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Zone36

New Member
Jun 9, 2009
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Recently I saw some news about Japan changing some of it's laws concerning copyright and file sharing, but I can't really figure out what is happening exactly.

This effects anyone who likes dramas, anime, games, manga etc.

Could someone point me towards more specific articles on the matter?

:sick:
 
redrooster

redrooster

赤いオンドリ - 私はオタクです！
Staff member
Super Moderator
Sep 25, 2007
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thread moved, I think Japan Discussion is a better section for this...
 
G

guy

(；Θ_Θ)ゝ”
Feb 11, 2007
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I haven't heard of any significant changes to copyright law, just that authorities are going to start enforcing them more actively.

Just last week 11 people were arrested across Japan for piracy. The copyrighted materials include: Ranma (tv series), Dragon Quest (DS game), a Korean tv drama, various music, Death Note (manga), Wii Music/Sports Resort, movies, and various tv anime shows.
Code: 
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/net/security/goshinjyutsu/20091204-OYT8T00979.htm

The arrests were made based on tracking file sharing through the ShareEX P2P app, although this is not the first arrest of its kind (for Share or its predecessor, Winny).

However, so far there is no precedence concerning anyone outside of Japan using ShareEX (or any other P2P app distributing Japanese copyrighted content), and since much of the said content is not easily accessible outside of Japan, a certain amount of piracy is inevitable, so authorities will most likely be lassaiz-faire (which is why sites like TokyoTosho and JPopSuki have thus far been able to operate rather freely). It should go without saying that high-profile content (extremely popular, expensive, or new releases) runs greater risk than low-profile content.

If there are going to be any big changes, I would look towards the big players first (independent sites lik AO, TT, JPS receiving cease-and-desist letters), and a move on trying to shut down Share and Winny.

The article (linked above) does say that starting Jan 1, 2010, "copyright infringement through downloading will be considered illegal", as a revision (amendment?) to the existing law which stipulates that downloading of copyrighted material without having a license (for the content) is illegal. Personally I don't see how the minor revision in the wording will make it any more effective in actually stopping piracy.



For anyone who wants to stay on the safe side, you can switch to PerfectDark (the eventual replacement of Share), which is significantly more secure and (at least technically) makes it nearly impossible for authorities to track people down.
 
aquamarine

aquamarine

I Know Better Than You
Mar 19, 2007
4,556
127
Bit Torrent is also under 'watch' so be careful.
 
G

guy

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Feb 11, 2007
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Syobon said:
perfectdark was cracked a long time ago:
http://forensic.netagent.co.jp/pd_chosa.html
Click to expand...
I wouldn't exactly call that "cracked"; it's just a forensic company trying to sell information they collected using a simple crawler, namely to companies that are worried about their copyrighted material being pirated.

Moreover the report discloses that their crawler is only able to capture the information of current file uploaders (in addition to basic file information that is already accessible to all PD users) -- not even original file uploaders can be tracked. Aside from that, it has no evidence of being able to track down individual downloaders, and even admits that the anonymity of PD is so high that existing forensic methods (that have been used for Winny and Share) are ineffective.

As this is still an independent forensics firm, this "report" currently has little bearing on the security of the PD network. Until a forensic method is developed to be able to accurately track down downloaders (which it currently cannot, unless there is other info proving otherwise) -- and that method is used by law enforcement to actually make arrests (which has been the case for Winny and Share, but not for PD) -- the PD network is still by in far the most secure Japanese-based P2P networks.
 
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Syobon

(´･ω･`)
Dec 22, 2009
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Please correct me if I'm wrong, but current file uploader is all "they" need to caught the "guy". :lols:
 
G

guy

(；Θ_Θ)ゝ”
Feb 11, 2007
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Yes, but if you are only using PD to download files, you are still effectively in the clear because of PD's incredibly high anonymity.

Moreover, NetAgent reports only being able to capture "file name, size, keywords, cache availability, and upload date" (eg: the exact same info already available in PD). It doesn't take very much effort for an uploader to simply mis-name the file or password-protect it (and share the correct information via a different, secure channel) in order to make NetAgent's crawler data completely useless.

And NetAgent is still just a 3rd-party forensics firm trying to sell its data, not actually doing anything with it; if the data is useless -- which it still largely is, unless NetAgent is able to compile a database of each file's hash cross-referenced with a list of known-copyrighted material (which is both extremely time consuming and easily circumventable) -- then it seems unlikely that any copyright holder or law enforcement will actually do anything with it.

Anyway this is all just theoretical talk. We won't know for sure until someone actually gets arrested for using PD -- and since (ttbomk) no one has, it's still the most secure P2P network available.
 
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scarletsnow

New Member
Oct 7, 2007
177
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Perfectdark is closed source so it's not that easy to prove it's more secure than for example: I2Phex, ANts P2P. Freenet, GNUnet, StealthNet, Marabunta.
 
G

guy

(；Θ_Θ)ゝ”
Feb 11, 2007
2,079
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scarletsnow said:
Perfectdark is closed source so it's not that easy to prove it's more secure than for example: I2Phex, ANts P2P. Freenet, GNUnet, StealthNet, Marabunta.
Click to expand...
Of course, but at the same rate, just because a network and/or its protocol is opensource doesn't automatically make it more secure than others. It might help its users more quickly identify security holes and fix them, but it could also make it easier for someone to exploit those holes. :dunno:

Nevertheless, PD is for the time being still considered the most secure P2P network among popular networks in Japan, although Share continues to outrank it in popularity for its very good performance.
 
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scarletsnow

New Member
Oct 7, 2007
177
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The problem with closed-source software is that it can be extremely insecure and it is more likely you might not find out a long time after an adversary has. Open-source also has less trust issues.

guy said:
... PD is for the time being still considered the most secure P2P network among popular networks in Japan ...
Click to expand...
This is indeed true. Even if the other protocols and implementations are more secure, they are much less popular in Japan and contain much less Japanese content; possibly more secure, but nothing to download.

I would like to see a open-source gui based on a popular client like Share or Perfectdark that can handle and gateway a whole range of different secure and anonymous protocols as plugins, kind of like apollon from sourceforge.net.
 
S

Syobon

(´･ω･`)
Dec 22, 2009
222
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Even with Share/Winny cracked, I still think Japanese p2p are far ahead from the rest of world, at least in security, bittorrent is ridiculous as you can see the ip/port of everyone downloading and uploading and what data is there, unfortunately my internet is really asymmetrical (8mb down 320kb up) I need to limit upload in Share with netlimiter to download anything...
 
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scarletsnow

New Member
Oct 7, 2007
177
3
It might have become time to torify perfect dark.
 
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