Japanese Supreme Court Says Developer Of File Sharing Software Not Guilty Of Infringement Done By Users

from the that-took-years dept

More than five years ago, we wrote about a Japanese court finding the developer of the popular (in Japan) Winny file sharing program guilty of infringement done with the software. We noted how absurd this seemed, and thankfully three years later a higher court overturned the lower court's ruling. Fast forward another two years and (finally!), the country's Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal and noted that the software's designer shouldn't be liable for the software, which has non-infringing uses. It does appear that the court left open the possibility of an "inducement"-like standard, whereby he could have been guilty if he designed the software for the purpose of infringing copyrights, but it appears that wasn't the intention at all.

Either way, that's many years of this guy's life tied up in the judicial system. Already, editorials in Japan are calling the situation "absurd," and noting:

The police and public prosecutors should realize the negative psychological effect that their actions must have had on people trying to develop new computer technology.

Indeed. If you're dragging the developers of new technologies to court for more than five years just because some users of the software may break the law, you're creating a massive chilling effect on developers. Who's going to develop anything that might be used to infringe -- even if it has mainly productive non-infringing uses -- if it may lead to such a horrible and drawn out process?

Filed Under: file sharing, japan, liability, secondary liability, winny

Japanese Prosecutors Still Want To Blame Developer Of File Sharing Program For Copyright Infringement By Users

from the too-bad dept

We were happy earlier this month to learn that the Osaka High Court had overturned a lower court ruling, against the creator of the popular Japanese file sharing service, Winny. The lower court had found the guy guilty of copyright infringement, despite having just developed the software, not having used it to infringe on copyrights. The higher court got it right, recognizing that just because the software could be used for copyright infringement does not mean that the developer is automatically guilty of copyright infringement. Unfortunately, Japanese prosecutors didn't recognize the common sense and basic logic of such a ruling and are now appealing the case to the Supreme Court in Japan. Hopefully, the Supreme Court agrees with the Osaka high court, but either way, this seems like a massive waste of time and resources.

Filed Under: copyright, japan, liability, winny

Japanese High Court Realizes That Developer Of File Sharing Software Shouldn't Be Liable For Infringement

from the good-news dept

Back in 2006, we were disappointed by a Japanese court decision that found the developer of the popular (in Japan) file sharing software Winny, guilty of copyright infringement. The issue, like in so many other cases around the world, was whether or not, by just creating the software, he had "induced" infringement. But by blaming the developer of software for how others use it, the courts put a significant chill on innovation. It suddenly creates massive liability for any developer. The case was appealed, and the good news (via Slashdot) is that Japan's High Court has overturned the lower court's decision, saying:

"Merely being aware of the possibility that the software could be abused does not constitute a crime of aiding violations of the law, and the court cannot accept that the defendant supplied the software solely to be used for copyright violations."

Nice to see common sense win every once in a while.

Filed Under: copyright, japan, liability, winny

Japanese ISPs The Latest To Bow To Pressure From The Entertainment Industry

from the but-how-will-nuclear-secrets-be-leaked-now? dept

It's no secret that the entertainment industry's anti-piracy strategy over the past year or so has focused increasingly on putting legal or peer pressure on ISPs to handle the problem, and there have been quite a few "success" stories (though, the long-term impact may be a lot less successful). The latest is that a bunch of Japanese ISPs have agreed to cut off the users of the incredibly popular "Winny" file sharing application (found via Slashdot) if the entertainment industry alerts them to the IP addresses of excessively heavy users. The ISPs will try to send warning messages to the account holders, but then will cut them off (either temporarily or permanently) if they don't change their usage. It's not clear how carefully the ISPs will review the information sent to them by the industry, or what form any "appeals" process might take. This is unlikely to be particularly effective, but Winny has long been a target in Japan. The creator of the software was found guilty of violating copyright laws even though there are plenty of legitimate uses of the software. Still, however, the press likes to focus on the more sensational data leaks that happened via Winny, including Japan's nuclear secrets.

Filed Under: blocks, copyright, entertainment industry, file sharing, isps, japan, jasrac, winny