Japanese police Arrest Man for Uploading Movies onto Nico Nico Video
- 24May 2011
On May 23, 2011 officers from the Computer Crimes Control Center of the Metropolitan Police Department and Koji-machi Police Station arrested a 35-year old man living in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture for uploading unauthorized movie files on to Nico Nico Video, the most popular user-generated content (UGC) site in Japan, after YouTube.
The suspect, who went by the user name "Bell", was first spotted by investigators from the Japan and International Motion Picture Copyright Association (JIMCA) in the summer of 2010. Together with officers from the Computer Crimes Control Center, Community Safety Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department, investigations were conducted as the suspect continued to post unauthorized content on the site. On December 9, 2010 the police managed to track down the identity and address of the suspect.
During his arrest, the suspect admitted that he had uploaded over 40 titles, which included Japanese and international films. The police are currently carrying out further investigations into the extent of his activities. Under the Japanese Copyright Law the penalties for such criminal activity are fines of up to 10 million yen and/or up to jail term of 10 years.
"We commend the officers from Metropolitan Police Department for tracking down this suspect and their commitment to clamp down on such criminal activity," said Mike Ellis, President and Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, for the Motion Picture Association (MPA). "Such efforts are crucial toward thwarting online content theft in Japan, and represent important steps toward protecting the rights and livelihood of the film community in this country. "
pageTopMan arrested for releasing movie files using file-sharing software "Share"
- 10May 2011
On April 26, police officers from Cyber-crime Control Office, Chiba Prefectural Police Headquarters and Chiba Chuo Police Station arrested a 43-year old man living in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, for suspicion of violation of the Rights of public transmission, Copyright Law.
With police, the man was the first uploader of a popular movie file on the internet without authorization and made the file available to the public. The title was "Unstoppable" of the 20th Century Fox with starling Denzel Washington and co-starling Chris Pine. Also, he uploaded many other movie files on the internet without authorizations and police has been now investigating him.
Recently, the number of arrestees for infringement of the copyright law by abusing file-sharing software or for illegal distribution of copied goods has been increasing, particularly those in their 40s or 50s.
Company owner arrested for releasing movie file using file-sharing software "Winny"
- 09May 2011
On April 4, Cyber-crime Control Office, Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters and Higashi-nada Police Station arrested a 53 company owner for suspicion of violation of the Rights of public transmission, Copyright Law.
With police, the man made many movie files available for the public on the internet using file-sharing software “Winny.” He released the illegal file of “The Social Network” of Sony on the internet around two weeks earlier before the releasing it in Japan. The Cyber-crime Control Office has recently beefed up the measures against illegal activities on the internet and identified the illegal uploading during the patrol. Police raided his residence on April 4 and arrested him on the same day, and seized many DVD-Rs, PC and others as well. On April 22, the court sentenced him a fine of 300,000 yen.
The case was the first raid by the Cyber-crime Control Office, Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters that set up on April 1 for handling cyber crimes abusing the internet.