AfterDawn: News

Japan will block Internet access for illegal file sharers

A report by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper has said that Japanese companies are planning to block Internet access to anyone who downloads unauthorized files via P2P or other methods.

The newspaper said that Japan's ISPs have been faced "with mounting complaints from the music, movie and video-game industries" and have agreed to take the drastic action. The ISPs will send e-mails to users who repeatedly download illegally and will then terminate their Internet connections if they do not cease and desist.



The ISPs will hold a panel next month with copyright holders to draft a set of guidelines. If this goes through, the actions will be the strictest measures ever taken to fight online piracy. The newspaper estimated that 1.75 million people in Japan use file-sharing software, mainly for unauthorized downloads.

A similar measure brought forth by a Japanese ISP two years ago was shot down when the government said it might violate the right to privacy.

We will keep you updated on any developments.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Mar 2008 18:49

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• 35 comments

• NexGen76

  I don't really see this taking off are these ISP's going to back this because of pressure & lose millions of dollars in business? I don't think they will & will shoot it down again.They should look for a happy medium & not over kill the issue they are facing.

  16.3.2008 19:06 #1

• tripplite

  although the states get out of hand at least are liberties aren't being suppressed, thats like saying you cant buy gun because 50% of gun owners will use it to commit a crime....i just can't explain it but it is a sad day for Japanese cyber rights...

  16.3.2008 19:14 #2

• ZippyDSM

  IMO they bite more than they can chew,that is if they bother too enforce it...... it could be lie the USoen day they pass a stupid law thats not enforced 10 years later they enforce it and we become a authoritarian state!

  16.3.2008 20:12 #3

• Ryu77

  Mecha sugoi ne? :-P
  
  This is really scary for P2P users in Japan. I really hope that never happens here in Australia.
  
  Note: I am being ultra picky here but... Quote: "A report by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper"... Shimbun & Newspaper mean the same thing. :-P Hehe.

  16.3.2008 20:38 #4

• vinny13

  Ha BS...
  
  Gotta suck for those guys...

  16.3.2008 20:57 #5

• Ragnarok8

  Block me and I go to another ISP...simple as that?

  16.3.2008 21:24 #6

• 21Q

  America is soon to follow.

  16.3.2008 21:36 #7

• vinny13

  "God Bless Canada" ;)

  16.3.2008 21:40 #8

• z3rofate

  im not sure exactly what USA will do but i dont thing we will lose youtube. they constantly take copyrighted stuff off daily.

  16.3.2008 21:46 #9

• craftyzan

  Incription. They need to incript their butts.

  16.3.2008 21:51 #10

• z3rofate

  yea that would be their best bet. alot of it is personal video tho.

  16.3.2008 21:52 #11

• jove

  uh oh! i can see it now! the goverment is pro DRM! its a conspiracy i tell you! conspiracy! what is this world coming too!!!!
  
  lol...ahem.

  16.3.2008 23:27 #12

• z3rofate

  yea i mean thats kinda scary. i think its a good thing tho. realize it or not. police investigations involving younger people usually get solved with pics on myspace, facebook and other social posting sites.

  16.3.2008 23:29 #13

• susieqbbb

  Ha Ha Ha Ha i find this funny.
  
  Ok even if they are able to keep track of the individuals they will just use a ip address gender bender and change there ip address to a untraceable address.
  
  This most likely would deal in riots as well. Because i have had exchange students from japan and the thing you need to understand is the main reason why people pirate in japan is because software is more expensive there then here in the u.s.a and video games that cost us 60.00 here in the u.s.a go for 80.00 to 90.00 in japan quite a price difference.
  
  So i would like to see them try to stop piracy it won't happen unless japan shuts down bittorrent.

  17.3.2008 02:26 #14

• ringwar

  NOT FUNNY! I live in Japan. And I get most of my TV shows from the net. Damn Dirty APES!!!!

  17.3.2008 03:47 #15

• xempler

  When ISPs start policing and monitoring what you can and cannot use the internet for then it's cause for alarm.

  17.3.2008 09:53 #16

• sandeep14

  Would using a proxy help keep a user's IP annonymous from an ISP if they were to download via blogs and file hosting websites?

  17.3.2008 11:13 #17

• spiesfan

  this continues to get more outrageous, how much farther do they think they can push people?

  17.3.2008 15:04 #18

• atomicxl

  Originally posted by tripplite: although the states get out of hand at least are liberties aren't being suppressed, thats like saying you cant buy gun because 50% of gun owners will use it to commit a crime....i just can't explain it but it is a sad day for Japanese cyber rights...No, its like saying if you buy a gun and shoot someone, we'll warn you a few times. Once you've shot a total of 4 people, we'll ban you from buying guns.
  
  If it passes, this will work. Its not only one ISP, but its a ruling on ALL ISPs in Japan. I don't those hyper nerds will be like, "fine, I'll just cancel my internet and finally step outside." LOL, yeah right. Once they go a week without a MMO they'll be back on the net.

  17.3.2008 16:17 #19

• tripplite

  Quote:No, its like saying if you buy a gun and shoot someone, we'll warn you a few times. Once you've shot a total of 4 people, we'll ban you from buying guns.
  
  If it passes, this will work. Its not only one ISP, but its a ruling on ALL ISPs in Japan. I don't those hyper nerds will be like, "fine, I'll just cancel my internet and finally step outside." LOL, yeah right. Once they go a week without a MMO they'll be back on the net.
  
  a pirate client is mostly used for steeling.....but is technically for file sharing non-copy righted files, or files that you have already legally purchased and have a copy of...and you know the rest
  
  a gun is technically supposed to be used to protect.....but is mostly used for killing....illegally........i dont have the word to express the rest...
  
  that was the connection i was and am still trying to make
  
  this will rise cyber crime to break the system+ create entirely new pirate rings+ increase the shipping of pirated materials into the country+ increase inside jobs from the ISP which were and still are to common.....this world...is rotting!!!.....
  
  (i'll give anyone a magic candy bar...if they can guess where that quote in bold came from!)
  ==============================================
  Quote:America is soon to follow.
  we will stand tall!
  -tripplite
  

  
  

  17.3.2008 18:20 #20

• DXR88

  Not a movie tripplite but i know that quote also came from the Death-Note Anime Series.

  18.3.2008 10:27 #21

• tripplite

  Quote:Not a movie tripplite but i know that quote also came from the Death-Note Anime Series.
  dam now i lose my candy....
  
  
  
  better luck next time (4 me) huh?
  
  -tripplite
  

  
  

  18.3.2008 18:37 #22

• DXR88

  Haha. SO i was right

  18.3.2008 20:56 #23

• craftyzan

  Someone's gonna figure out how to hide the file's identity from the snoopies. Where there's a will there's a way.

  19.3.2008 02:06 #24

• Amir89

  This can be so easily circumvented by changing your IP..
  
  But nevertheless, this is a sad development for Japan, the world's fastest Internet Connections have just been rendered MOOT.
  
  
  

  Current Specs:
  ASUS Leucite P5LP-LE Mobo, Intel D 945G @3.4Ghz, 2x2Mb L2 Cache, 1Gb DDR2 SD RAM @677Mhz, Seagate Barracuda 250Gb @7,200Rpm, GeForce7600GT 512MB GDDR2, ASUSTek Tiger Digital/Analog TV Tuner, Samsung SyncMaster941BW 19" LCD, LG H20L DVD±R/RW DL LightScribe, LG GSA-4167B DVD±R/RW DL, Logitech Z-5500 505Watt 5.1 Surround
  
  

  21.3.2008 02:16 #25

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Amir89: This can be so easily circumvented by changing your IP..
  
  But nevertheless, this is a sad development for Japan, the world's fastest Internet Connections have just been rendered MOOT.ya but the masses need a easy to use program to do this... still have yet to figure out how to do a porxy ><
  

  For all the console/game fanboys out their.
  http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
  Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!
  ---
  And for the format nazi's I bring you HHD DVVD BVD's!!
  

  21.3.2008 02:18 #26

• Ryu77

  Just to offer an experience that relates to this article very much...
  
  Not too long ago I recieved two e-mails from my ISP within close proximity of each other for illegal downloads. They were passed on from one of the media copyright protection bodies which I will not name to retain my animosity.
  
  However, these e-mails basically requested that I not do this again "cease and desist" or further action will be taken. Now, naturally I was really concerned. I thought I was going to get locked up! LOL! For days I researched these type of e-mails on the net and started to discover a very common theme with these e-mails. No matter who they were from (MPAA, RIAA, ESA etc.) they all had a very similar template.
  
  Upon further reflection and reading the e-mail more closely, I started to realise that my fears were unfounded... First of all, the "further action" they mentioned was simply cancelling my internet account. Exactly as this news article states. Is that a major problem? Not really! I would just find a new ISP and open a new account. Second of all, one of the e-mails stated a name of a media file that I know 100% that I didn't download as I already owned this piece of media... ?
  
  My point is that I think (I can not guarantee this) that these e-mails are automatically generated somehow (maybe some kind of trojan attached to the torrent) and sent to your host internet provider, quoting your "IP address" as that is all they can get from you. From there your Internet Provider passes on the e-mail to you as that is all that they can really do, thanks to a law called the "privacy act". I am not sure how far these copyright agencies need to go to actually obtain your personal details but I can only imagine it wouldn't be easy as our basic rights would be violated. It would be a costly exercise for them to do this as they would need to go down all the legal channels to obtain your details lawfully. If they ever did do this, it would be to prove a point and most certainly not to recover costs.
  

  
  
  "Dream... Believe... Achieve"

  21.3.2008 04:04 #27

• Mez

  Sony has had a great year and it only just begun! They were able to kill HD DVD and now bribed the politicials of Japan to preserve the Japanese way.
  
  ringwar& Ryu77, in the US, Comcast and Cox are policing their users now. I heard from a friend who still does some P2P and has Comcast. He uses a torrent then drasticlly reduces his upload and download speeds as well as fully encrypts his uploads and downloads. He also uses TOR to browse the torrent sites. I would at least cut the volume down and encrypt ASAP. They can most easily find you by your traffic load and torrent protocals. I think once you have been identified as a supernormal traffic user you are put on a list. Your traffic is randomly checked for P2P protocals. This happens robotically but they can tell you what you downloaded last week because the isp can read the P2P protocals. Once you are on the watch list, your days are numbered. Your IPSs will be collecting data for the watch list before they start doing anything else.

  26.3.2008 08:24 #28

• craftyzan

  What about sending a Tor IP address to the tracker? What does that do? Just curious.

  30.3.2008 07:37 #29

• DXR88

  Originally posted by Ryu77: Just to offer an experience that relates to this article very much...
  
  Not too long ago I recieved two e-mails from my ISP within close proximity of each other for illegal downloads. They were passed on from one of the media copyright protection bodies which I will not name to retain my animosity.
  
  However, these e-mails basically requested that I not do this again "cease and desist" or further action will be taken. Now, naturally I was really concerned. I thought I was going to get locked up! LOL! For days I researched these type of e-mails on the net and started to discover a very common theme with these e-mails. No matter who they were from (MPAA, RIAA, ESA etc.) they all had a very similar template.
  
  Upon further reflection and reading the e-mail more closely, I started to realise that my fears were unfounded... First of all, the "further action" they mentioned was simply cancelling my internet account. Exactly as this news article states. Is that a major problem? Not really! I would just find a new ISP and open a new account. Second of all, one of the e-mails stated a name of a media file that I know 100% that I didn't download as I already owned this piece of media... ?
  
  My point is that I think (I can not guarantee this) that these e-mails are automatically generated somehow (maybe some kind of trojan attached to the torrent) and sent to your host internet provider, quoting your "IP address" as that is all they can get from you. From there your Internet Provider passes on the e-mail to you as that is all that they can really do, thanks to a law called the "privacy act". I am not sure how far these copyright agencies need to go to actually obtain your personal details but I can only imagine it wouldn't be easy as our basic rights would be violated. It would be a costly exercise for them to do this as they would need to go down all the legal channels to obtain your details lawfully. If they ever did do this, it would be to prove a point and most certainly not to recover costs.
  If it indeed was a trojen or meerly a tracker attacker. you could metaphoricly speaking reverse engineer it get the information contained withen find out were the Ip tracker is coming from and ban it from reaching your network. or send it back to them with loads of Porno Pop ups attached to there automated reply.

  30.3.2008 14:59 #30

• jordo947

  BS! I just received a letter from my internet provider with an attached letter from the ESA sayin i downloaded halo... then knew the timestamp and everything. Optimum says if it happens repeatedly they will shut down my internet......
  gay!

  4.5.2008 19:43 #31

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by jordo947: BS! I just received a letter from my internet provider with an attached letter from the ESA sayin i downloaded halo... then knew the timestamp and everything. Optimum says if it happens repeatedly they will shut down my internet......
  gay!I would tell them my disc is scratched and I needed a backup :P

  4.5.2008 22:12 #32

• Mez

  craftyzan, You could DL the torrent with TOR but TOR is way too slow to DL anything of any size and that would really be abusing TOR. If you like, you could set your torrent for 2 KB DL and 1 KB upload. That would be much faster than TOR and would slip below the cyber radar.
  
  jordo947, I assume you have COX. You can try not DLing for a month or so and then start back up with full encryption. I would suggets Bit Comet. There are 3 settings for encryption off, ready and forced. You want the forced or on all the time setting. You will only send and accept encrypted packets. You might want to greatly reduce your UP and DL speeds. It is your volume that gets their attention. If you can greatly reduce your speeds they will bother someone else. If everything you do is encrypted they will not know what they are doing. I would also DL some legal stuff as well. Linux is particularly 'prickily' about ISPs interfearing with their business. If you get a second letter I would complain to them first before you complain to your ISP. By encrypting your flows, they can't tell what you are doing. That puts your ISP in a bind. It is illegal for ISPs to interfear with random torrent activity.

  5.5.2008 06:47 #33

• iluvendo

  Did'nt the Japanese government learn anything from WWII and totalitarianism ?
  

  If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck!
  "The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
  Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition

  6.5.2008 02:37 #34

• hoppy54

  they will never police it and its quite rich really! coming from a nation that have copied evreything. a political statement by the looks of it..

  6.5.2008 10:56 #35