Former Tokyo University associate researcher and developer of the Winny file-sharing software, Isamu Kanako, 39, was aquitted on infringment of Copyright Law charges by the Osaka High Court on Thursday last week.
In the Kyoto District Court ruling in December 2006, Kaneko was accused of encouraging users to violate Coptright Law by distributing his peer-to-peer file-sharing software and ordered to pay a 1.5 million yen fine. High Court Judge Masazo Ogura overturned this decision saying "The defendant did not clearly intend to violate the Copyright Law, therefore cannot be charged with abetment.
According to the first ruling, Kaneko put the latest version of the Winny file-sharing system online in September 2003, knowing it would facilitate copyright infringement. The ruling also said he helped two men from Matsuyama and Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, respectively, distribute 28 copyrighted games and movies using the software in the same month. The two men were convicted of violating the Copyright Law.
Yoshiaki Tsuchitani, a lawyer of the Osaka Bar Association who is familiar with copyright issues in the United States, said such rulings are rare in Europe and the United States, adding, "It would discourage software developers who might fear being charged."
Japan plans to make the downloading of illegally copied music an offence but the full details have not yet been released.
Japan's ISPs have been in official cooperation with copyright owners since last year.....http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=1063.
I wonder how this kind of action will affect those of us living in Japan as stories of disconnection all over the world seem to be growing of late.
In the Kyoto District Court ruling in December 2006, Kaneko was accused of encouraging users to violate Coptright Law by distributing his peer-to-peer file-sharing software and ordered to pay a 1.5 million yen fine. High Court Judge Masazo Ogura overturned this decision saying "The defendant did not clearly intend to violate the Copyright Law, therefore cannot be charged with abetment.
According to the first ruling, Kaneko put the latest version of the Winny file-sharing system online in September 2003, knowing it would facilitate copyright infringement. The ruling also said he helped two men from Matsuyama and Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, respectively, distribute 28 copyrighted games and movies using the software in the same month. The two men were convicted of violating the Copyright Law.
Yoshiaki Tsuchitani, a lawyer of the Osaka Bar Association who is familiar with copyright issues in the United States, said such rulings are rare in Europe and the United States, adding, "It would discourage software developers who might fear being charged."
Japan plans to make the downloading of illegally copied music an offence but the full details have not yet been released.
Japan's ISPs have been in official cooperation with copyright owners since last year.....http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=1063.
I wonder how this kind of action will affect those of us living in Japan as stories of disconnection all over the world seem to be growing of late.