The fine is of course disproportionate due to the Japanese system where value must be put upon everything and everyone. Because of this value concept a schoolteacher or coach can get a suspended sentence for hitting a killing a bad student or a poor athlete. The reason they get the light sentence is because the victim was seen as worthless for contributing to society. On the otherhand, a crappy song by SMAP worth potentially millions of yen will net you a hefty fine and decades in jail because SMAP are a valuable commodity to their recording company.
(translation) PRC Government says to Apple "Roundeye, your IP belong to us!"
And the really funny thing in all this is Apple will complain to the US Gov't about this and the response will be for the DOJ to turn around and slap Kim Dotcom around again.
In Japan we know that the US is a paper tiger. How do we know this? Look at the Senkaku Islands issue. China would never have come into Japan's backyard if they didn't know that the US can't protect our mutual interests in the region.
No, but Tsutaya has jacked their prices. A rather dumb move IMO but they're feeling the pinch in lost sales so are jacking rental fees and shutting down poor performing shops.
the indie music scene is floundering, it's hard to practice, record or find a venue to play in if you are an indie musician. The big companies like Jonnies, Broccoli and Sony are killing off the live house scene and independent studios.
The Governor of Tokyo Blinkyhara (Ishihara) has a long term vendetta going on with any business which plays live music or promotes dancing to mixed or sampled music. Hopefully this will change now that he's resigned in favour of national politics and the possibility of an actual conflict with China.
Re: Re: You'd have nothing to whine about IF YOU READ ALL:
That's one of the reasons for the low sales. The price of a CD has jumped up into the ¥5,000 bracket and the prices at the iTunes Apple store are 3-5x what they are in the US. A lot of people here will watch/download the DVD or listen to the CD on youtube before making a purchase.
And you're spot on as regards the quality of the music. I doubt any American or European performer would work for the wages a Japanese musician makes. And that's reflected in the quality of the music they put out.
Well being Japan the first thing you would do would be to bow very deeply and mutter repeatedly "Sumimasen" and "Moshokegosaimasen" and repeat this until your voice is hoarse and your forehead is a massive bruise.
If this doesn't work and your shareholders are still mailing you bullets, you will take the next step which is to jump off a high building or step in front of the Chuo Line Express.
Your successor will then quietly pay off the police to start making mass arrests. After 21 days of no sleep, little food and water and being subjected to other nastiness there will be lots of confessions and your company will make up the shortfall.
Right now, in Japan, this is the closest thing to a mass boycott you will ever see.
So, in the closing statement I hope the owner of Digital River stood up and gave the final closing speech when the verdict came down.
"Your Honor and Respected Members of the Court. I'd like to thank you for your judgement, unfortunately Digital River is unable to pay one red cent of this judgement, we will not be paying our legal representatives or any other legal fees or obligations incurred because of this judgement. We are immediately declaring bankruptcy under Chapter 11 Title 11 of the law, all employees of the company are forthwith made redundant, we apologize to our customers and creditors.
Then I expect the company's spokesman/president or whoever to turn to the representatives from Nexchange and tell them "Inform your clients they'll get their money when Hell freezes over!" and then turn to the judge and ask him "Your Honor, you've just destroyed a company. Are you happy? Are you proud of yourself?"
If even a few companies did this the courts would get the message and there would be fewer patent trolls doing this shit.
This does open up a major can of worms. What would stop the Russian Federation from sending in a company of Spetsnaz and a few of the Special Prosecutors from their Ministry of Justice on the sly to "arrest" and "extradite" US businessmen accused of committing crimes in Russia?
Could you see the shitstorm that would ensue as a official spokesperson from the Russian Federation goes live on CNN as the raid is being carried out at the company HQ and the board, Chairman, CEO and his executive staff are being shown being arrested by the Russians and having the Russians stating that they are using the same precedents as created by the DOJ in their prosecution of Megaupload.
The convenience part is the only thing you got right. If you think I'm waiting 5 years to see Game of Thrones Season 1 legally in Japan then you must be crazy! And if you think I'm going to spend ¥5,000 for a CD at a brick and mortar store in Shibuya you need to be locked up with all the other price gouging lunatics.
Was recently in Shanghai, I took an LCC from Haneda and it only cost me $70. While I was in Shanghai I did the usual stuff, shopping, checking in with friends and family (cousin's company sent him to manage their factories in China). Noticed the hotel I was staying at had all the latest movies Spiderman, latest Batman–it's not even out yet but they had it as well as other movies. I noticed too that the Bamboo Firewall doesn't stop TPB or other DLing sites and nobody is worried that the Chinese Internet Police will shut down these sites.
Very possibly, the Chinese are the biggest shoppers in the world. Put them in a store with an armload of cash and they'll go wild but, if they can't find a genuine Prada bag they'll quickly snatch up a fake and when it comes to they'll eagerly buy stuff but if they can't get Spiderman, Batman, True Lies or Game of Thrones because the studios won't release it in the PRC, they'll gladly steal it and their excuse is
"The big companies don't give me what I want then I take it!" We're just relearning to do this in the West and the big media companies are soon going to learn that, like the Chinese, we want to see or listen to what we want to, when we want to at a price that we want to pay. If they don't then like the Chinese I'm not adverse to taking it.
A big company such as Google were to tell the judge "We're NOT paying!" And then backed up the statement by going to the press and stating if they get hit by another frivolous patent they will move their company to a venue where these sort of things aren't allowed.
By current estimates Google is worth in excess of US$200 billion and if that money and the jobs it provides were to be suddenly removed from the US economy and moved north to Canada or west to Singapore what would that say to the world.
On the post: Japanese Law Enforcement Uses New Copyright Law To Arrest 27 File Sharers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Miss-the-obvious Mike strikes again.
On the post: Japanese Law Enforcement Uses New Copyright Law To Arrest 27 File Sharers
Re: Re:
On the post: Japanese Law Enforcement Uses New Copyright Law To Arrest 27 File Sharers
Re:
On the post: Draconian Downloading Law In Japan Goes Into Effect... Music Sales Drop
Re: Re: Poor sales
On the post: Apple Loses Copyright Case In China Over Infringing Copies Of China Encyclopedia
Re: ???
(translation) PRC Government says to Apple "Roundeye, your IP belong to us!"
And the really funny thing in all this is Apple will complain to the US Gov't about this and the response will be for the DOJ to turn around and slap Kim Dotcom around again.
In Japan we know that the US is a paper tiger. How do we know this? Look at the Senkaku Islands issue. China would never have come into Japan's backyard if they didn't know that the US can't protect our mutual interests in the region.
On the post: German Court Sees Through The DOJ Fairy Tale, Rejects Attempt To Seize Megaupload Assets
Re:
Or better yet do what the Japanese have been doing and stop buying the entertainment industries product.
On the post: Draconian Downloading Law In Japan Goes Into Effect... Music Sales Drop
Re:
On the post: Draconian Downloading Law In Japan Goes Into Effect... Music Sales Drop
Re: Re: Re: Independant artists
The Governor of Tokyo Blinkyhara (Ishihara) has a long term vendetta going on with any business which plays live music or promotes dancing to mixed or sampled music. Hopefully this will change now that he's resigned in favour of national politics and the possibility of an actual conflict with China.
On the post: Draconian Downloading Law In Japan Goes Into Effect... Music Sales Drop
Re: Re: You'd have nothing to whine about IF YOU READ ALL:
And you're spot on as regards the quality of the music. I doubt any American or European performer would work for the wages a Japanese musician makes. And that's reflected in the quality of the music they put out.
On the post: Draconian Downloading Law In Japan Goes Into Effect... Music Sales Drop
Poor sales
If this doesn't work and your shareholders are still mailing you bullets, you will take the next step which is to jump off a high building or step in front of the Chuo Line Express.
Your successor will then quietly pay off the police to start making mass arrests. After 21 days of no sleep, little food and water and being subjected to other nastiness there will be lots of confessions and your company will make up the shortfall.
Right now, in Japan, this is the closest thing to a mass boycott you will ever see.
On the post: Digital River Loses Patent Suit Despite Doing What Was In The Patent Two Years Before Patent Was Filed
"Your Honor and Respected Members of the Court. I'd like to thank you for your judgement, unfortunately Digital River is unable to pay one red cent of this judgement, we will not be paying our legal representatives or any other legal fees or obligations incurred because of this judgement. We are immediately declaring bankruptcy under Chapter 11 Title 11 of the law, all employees of the company are forthwith made redundant, we apologize to our customers and creditors.
Then I expect the company's spokesman/president or whoever to turn to the representatives from Nexchange and tell them "Inform your clients they'll get their money when Hell freezes over!" and then turn to the judge and ask him "Your Honor, you've just destroyed a company. Are you happy? Are you proud of yourself?"
If even a few companies did this the courts would get the message and there would be fewer patent trolls doing this shit.
On the post: DOJ Tries To Explain How It Can Get Around Requirement To Serve Megaupload In The US
Re: Re:
Could you see the shitstorm that would ensue as a official spokesperson from the Russian Federation goes live on CNN as the raid is being carried out at the company HQ and the board, Chairman, CEO and his executive staff are being shown being arrested by the Russians and having the Russians stating that they are using the same precedents as created by the DOJ in their prosecution of Megaupload.
On the post: MPAA Points To Its Roster Of Crappy Online Services And Asks What We're Complaining About
Re:
On the post: MPAA Points To Its Roster Of Crappy Online Services And Asks What We're Complaining About
Bloodbath
On the post: MPAA Points To Its Roster Of Crappy Online Services And Asks What We're Complaining About
The Chinese Solution
Very possibly, the Chinese are the biggest shoppers in the world. Put them in a store with an armload of cash and they'll go wild but, if they can't find a genuine Prada bag they'll quickly snatch up a fake and when it comes to they'll eagerly buy stuff but if they can't get Spiderman, Batman, True Lies or Game of Thrones because the studios won't release it in the PRC, they'll gladly steal it and their excuse is
"The big companies don't give me what I want then I take it!" We're just relearning to do this in the West and the big media companies are soon going to learn that, like the Chinese, we want to see or listen to what we want to, when we want to at a price that we want to pay. If they don't then like the Chinese I'm not adverse to taking it.
On the post: Google Sued For Patent Infringement For Mobile Chrome
What would happen if
By current estimates Google is worth in excess of US$200 billion and if that money and the jobs it provides were to be suddenly removed from the US economy and moved north to Canada or west to Singapore what would that say to the world.
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