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40 People Arrested for Illegal Uploads of Anime and Dramas this past week

40 People Arrested for Illegal Uploads of Anime and Dramas this past week

For the sixth time for this type of crime, between From February 17 to 19, police across Japan arrested internet users who have been illegally sharing anime, manga, music and television dramas.

From press a release published on February 20, 38 of Japan’s 47 Prefectural Police Departments searched 133 locations and arrested 40 people on suspicion of copyright infringement, their largest raid ever. All suspects males of this crime were all males in the 21 to 65 age range. Share, known for its security leaks and flaws in anonymity features, was the most-used software, followed by other software clients like Perfect Dark, Cabos and BitTorrent.

YTV reports that cases so far include uploads for Yo-Kai Watch, Detective Conan, XXX Holic, Studio Ghibli film The Wind Rises, and the Mobile Suit Gundam UC Soundtrack.

Japan’s Copyright Law explicitly prohibits unauthorized uploads, and the criminal act can result in up to a 10-year jail sentence or fine up to 10 million yen. However, it does allows people to download for private use. The Japanese government has been pushing for a ban on unauthorized downloads as well for years, despite receiving thousands of messages of opposition.

Posted by 10 months ago

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    • sumomona

      a moment of silence for all uploaders making my procrastination possible

    • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

      And this is why Cool Japan will never be a thing. The thing is though, people will always find a way.

      • shonya

        I hope you’re right, it’s getting ridiculous…

    • DestroyX

      The Japanese government wants to export their pop culture, yet they stop it from reaching the international folk and put those who are providing the content in jail for like 10 years.. 10 YEARS.. Are they fucking serious?
      Anyway the folks that upload the vids, they are true martyrs..

      • Derek

        I love hpw Arama promotes Piracy. Japan follows a they pay they say policy.

        • Guest

          More like Arama supports free trade tbh. Japan follows a “we want to have our cake and eat it too” policy: they want to be able to keep their xenophobic, isolationist attitudes while still squeezing money out of international marketplaces. Except, those things don’t go together at all.

          For a lot of these programs, piracy IS the only way of getting access to them (variety programs, anyone?) For others, piracy is the only *reasonable* way of getting access to them (looking at you, concert DVDs that run at a minimum 20% markup for international pricing before shipping). An intelligent person would look at this problem and realize the solution is better accessibility and more support for international purchases. (Piracy for anime went down when Crunchyroll became a thing, for instant.) Japan looks at it and decides to put a bandaid on a bullet wound.

          tl;dr Japan is being fucking stupid and piracy will continue until they stop being stupid.

          • Set

            Nope. You’re the one being fucking stupid.

            Piracy is theft. All the ‘reasoning’ in the world by you and countless others over the years on the internet regarding piracy, cannot change or justify this fact. Piracy is stealing, end of story.

            You want something, then fucking pay for it.

            • alliz

              I do pay for all the things I enjoy, so be it manga, merchandise or music cds from Japan.

              But I wouldn’t pay a damn cent if I haven’t seen what I’m going to pay. I wouldn’t pay for an anime DVD/manga that I haven’t seen/read before and I certainly wouldn’t pay for music that I don’t know of.

              Piracy isn’t the problem per se, because it allows us, foreigners, to have a previous taste and makes us buy stuff in order to support the industry that promotes and creates those things first hand.

              • ProllyWild

                i get this defense of “i dont want to buy what i dont know” but that is literally how every other industry works. you dont walk into a diner and say “im not gonna order anything here until ive had a chance to try it first and then determine if i want to pay for it, or just keep it in my belly for free.” we see movies based on small preview, not from seeing the whole thing and then deciding to pay for it later. there is nothing different about consumption of japanese media compared to how we are usually meant to consume any other product. you buy based on reputation, previews and just taking a chance. for some reason since piracy became an option, people now feel they’re entitled to treating payment as an option. the idea that piracy supports the industry is false because without a doubt, most people consume more via piracy, than they do via conventional methods of buying product.

                • Seekaii

                  Like I said before I won’t buy anything I haven’t watched. I’m not going to buy an album without knowing how it sounds, I won’t buy a DVD without previously seeing the movie, I don’t have money to blow on things that *may* be good. I need to know it’s good before I invest. Your food analogy isn’t a good one because you can take back a meal you don’t like. Piracy can help because if they really, really like it they’ll more than likely have the decency to buy it later if they want to support someone.

                  • ProllyWild

                    I wouldn’t say its 100% impossible to return CDs you don’t like. I will say my example is less fitting for japan since there is a cd rental market. Nonetheless singles used to be the method for confirming if the album had a few sings you liked and then faith in the artist was that extra push to convince ones self to buy the album.

                    If the general idea is “I don’t have enough money to waste on bad albums” especially if applied to artists and creators the person is already a fan of, then no, I don’t believe illegal downloading makes them more likely to support artists because they probably have more illegal goods than they could afford to actually pay for. It’s very rare that anyone only downloads just one album, until they buy it or choose to delete it out of dissatisfaction. Many people have large collections.

                    I’m not really trying to say people are wrong for pirating from a moral perspective I’m just saying it’s counterproductive. In that release window of about 3-6 months after a cd or dvd is released, studios, labels, and stores try to determine the market value of these artists and creators. If the number of pre-orders and overall sales are low, the stores make note to order less units next time. Studios (movie) and labels decide that budgets need to be cut and reallocated to creators who are more likely to sell better. So if a person illegally downloads 5 albums from an artist and pays for 1 legit, the business side of the industry only thinks this artist sold one album. This makes creators less likely to be kept sufficiently funded to maintain quality and more likely to be dropped.

                    Anyways pirate away if that’s the system you prefer. I’m just saying we have to then take responsibility for our small part in the declining quality of this scene,

                    • Seekaii

                      You can’t return CD’s unless you never opened it (aka you never listened to it). You can resell it on eBay or something but no one is going to pay full price for a CD that’s been cracked open. The whole singles idea doesn’t work because they pick the best songs off the album to release as a single meaning the whole album could be not worth listening to.

                      To avoid all of this they could release it all on legal outlets where they have to buy rights and make money from ads and free streaming. Literally that simple. While I see where you come from but I don’t agree. You are coming off as you’re on a high horse and that we’re all terrible people for disagreeing with you. To assume I pirate is a foul. I don’t anymore so your rude comment was unneeded.

                      • ProllyWild

                        it was not a comment directed at you as much as “you” in the general sense of all people who want to pirate. I’m not claiming any moral stance on it, I’m simply talking about the business aspect of it. Some people can’t afford as many cds as they want. I get it. Japan’s media cost a lot, I get that. I’m simply stating the facts of how the business works when people pirate. We’re all apart of a musical ecosystem . What we choose to do or not do will have an impact on the rest. Ideally streaming media (legal) would work, but as of now that system still supports independent musicians more than it does major artists. The royalties from streaming don’t cover the writers, publishers or even production costs to a profitable extent.

                        nothing moral about this. Its just business.

                    • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

                      The thing is though is that this needs to be said more to Japanese people than to us because they’re the vast majority of the people consuming the content. We are but a tiny fraction of the market, a fraction that they would like to see grow but they’re not giving us anything legally so that it can grow. Japanese people can rent cds before buying them, hear songs on the radio, see performances on tv… but we have none of that unless we do it illegally. And even if we do buy the content, it’s not counted towards charts or anything like that if it is shipped overseas.

                      • ProllyWild

                        More reason to buy through yesasia, cdjapan, Amazon japan or rakuten. Their sales should count toward chart rankings as they are oricon partner shops.

                      • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

                        Actually Oricon revised things last year and said that anything that ships outside of Japan doesn’t count towards Oricon: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/guide/help/product/oricon http://www.yesasia.com/global/customer-support/0-0-0-hti.2341-en/question-answer.html

                        The only way to make your purchases count is if you have someone buy them in Japan and then send them to you.

                        And music shows?

                      • ProllyWild

                        That’s unfortunate. I would still recommend people buy when possible as back order numbers still matter to the labels when promoting and forecasting budget for artists in their next releases.

                        As for music shows, not much opening there. Feel free to pirate it but it will still be considered a violation of copyright. So beware…? Ideally eventually one of the networks could start streaming the performances of artists who give permission, but in that field there won’t ever be a complete solution other than just living in Japan.

                      • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

                        It seems as if the problem is the Johnny’s acts. Johnny’s-free music shows would be a gift from God.

                        There isn’t really anything to beware about because Japanese law only applies to uploaders, not downloaders.

                      • yanderenightmares

                        Lol, that’s how it seems as well. If they’re on a show (and they mostly will be) it seems there’s no way we’ll be able to see it uploaded legally.

              • Set

                Again with the pathetic ‘but actually no piracy isn’t that bad’ excuses. It is stealing, no if no buts. You want it, then pay for it.

                ‘Oh, but I wouldn’t pay a damn cent if I haven’t seen seen what I’m going to pay’.

                You kids and your entitled ways. Okay, you just keep on stealing then. It’s like walking past the grocer and taking an orange just because you were hungry. ‘Oh but I was just hungry’.

                • Grooby

                  It’s not the same at all. For example you hear music all the time on the radio, you didn’t pay for it, it’s being broadcast to everyone for free. You hear a song you really like, you go buy the album or download it on itunes because you like the way it sounds. No one buys content unless they know they like it. :/

            • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

              How can you pay for a tv show that isn’t broadcast overseas or released on DVD?

              • ProllyWild

                its misleading to say there isnt a legal way to access those things. first of all, just because its out there to be accessed does not mean that we have right to access it by any means we see fit. I can’t watch HBO from abroad but that doesnt mean my only means are to pirate. Many shows are available on DVD via amazon japan and ship internationally.

                for variety shows, there is a misconception about why those shows get pulled and its very rarely about profits and more about permissions to broadcast the various people who appear on those shows outside of the pre-determined limited capacity. thats also why variety shows very rarely go to DVD. tv stations trying to get videos of their shows pulled from youtube and the like is more of a matter of legal responsibility for what happens to the media they created. doing nothing damages their relationships with the people who signed contracts regarding their appearances on the show. there is no simple answer to getting access to those shows, but pirating does not help the creators of the shows at all.

                anyways for those of you willing to truly put your money where your mouth is about buying these things if you had access to them, I’d recommend amazon japan and rakuten. they both have english language support and can ship a number of products internationally. if thats not sufficient then it really just comes down to a lot of people wanting shit for free. thats not good for anyone.

                • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

                  All I want is music shows. Put the music shows streaming on YouTube like Korea does and the problem is solved. This could easily be done but the powers that be in Japan don’t want to do it even though they somehow want to reach out to us. Cool Japan’s revival is definitely linked to Hallyu’s rise but Japan doesn’t want to do any of the things Korea is doing that made Hallyu rise and that is why Cool Japan isn’t going to work. They can’t expect people to get into something when they upload 90 second videos and no performances.

                  • ProllyWild

                    i think the first mistake is assuming that Cool Japan is directly linked to the entities that are keeping you from freely accessing music and variety shows. Cool Japan being a government backed initiative, is more like a tourism push than an industry wide push to have japanese media consumed abroad.

                    my stance has nothing to do with moral high horses, but rather practicality. Japan’s problem with its media is based on how the management groups, labels, sponsors and stations independently operate, and how they choose to work with each other. Oricon/Amazon and the likes cant even get permission to put up the cd art of johnny’s related artists, so why would anyone think that managmenet group would be ok with saying “yeah, go ahead and stream our boys all over the internet!”? If those little contractual issues could all be resolved by simply changing a law, that would be great, but its not an issue of laws its an issue of agreements. For the sake of business continuing, the government has to do what it can to protect those agreements. So it enforces anti-piracy laws so as to encourage businesses to keep creating.

                    The choice to punish the uploaders vs punshing the downloaders is likely just the easiest way to cut the problem off at its source. One uploader can distribute product out to thousands if not millions of people. Taking legal action against millions is impractical. Taking legal action against distributers is the same enforcement you would expect for any other industry be it drugs or prostitution. If you only catch the people buying into the illegal products (or in this case not buying), then the problem continues forever.

                    • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

                      Part of that tourism push is by getting people interested in the media, just like with Hallyu. South Korea’s tourism industry has had a significant boost due to them exporting their media.

                      They don’t want to show Johnny’s on the internet, that’s fine seeing as how I don’t listen to Johnny’s.

                      • ProllyWild

                        well hopefully more artists and management groups will find value in making product more available. for now i won’t blame that on cool japan.

                      • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

                        The thing is though is that the acts I like who are going these things aren’t the ones that are going to be pushed by Cool Japan.

              • Set

                These uploaders were done for uploading anime. Ripping and fansubbing shows overseas as they aired in Japan was very common for a number of years (and unfortunately still is), but now 90% of these shows per season are streamed, subtitled and simulcasted on Crunchyroll, Funimation etc – for dirt cheap.

                No excuses for not paying a couple of bucks.

                • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

                  If there was something like this for music shows, I’d pay for it.

                  • yanderenightmares

                    I don’t see why they can’t post the shows on YouTube. I know they know it exists.

                • Seekaii

                  Ummmm… no some anime I like isn’t on crunchyroll so I almost have to watch it illegally. I won’t pay for anything I haven’t seen because I’ll be pissed I wasted money on some shit someone told me was good.

                  • Set

                    Did you read what I wrote? Obviously not. I said 90% of shows are streamed, which obviously means not every single anime that is aired in Japan is concurrently licensed and then streamed on Crunchyroll/Funimation.

                    How dare they not cater to your specific individual taste by not licensing that extra 10%! But hey as you’ve so strongly pointed out, you have more than enough justification to just go ahead and watch it illegally, because they haven’t done what you wanted them to. They’re the one’s forcing you to make that choice, it’s their fault you have to do that!

                    What an absolute joke of crass entitlement you have.

                    • Seekaii

                      Someone is unreasonably salty.

                      • Set

                        You just keep on shining on champ.

                      • Seekaii

                        #crasssenseofentitlement

                      • Set

                        #walkonhomeboy

                • yanderenightmares

                  Also Hulu. They have a great deal of anime, maybe a week behind but I’m not anal.

            • Lemming

              You’re either disingenuous or stupid.
              Piracy is not theft. Each download does not equal a sale. When someone pirates something, no one has lost any objects, such as when someone steals a wallet.
              If you don’t understand what copyright is, don’t comment.

              • Set

                Neither. Unauthorised reproduction or use of copyrighted materials as has been discussed, equates to reproducing/using without paying. If you don’t understand that not paying for something you should pay for is illegal, then don’t comment.

                • Lemming

                  If you don’t understand it’s not stealing, but COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, then I don’t think anyone can help you.
                  I didn’t say I do or don’t agree with piracy, stop putting words in my mouth.
                  It might be easier for you to think of it like you do, but really all you equate to is a bullhorn blasting off into the ether that is the internet.

                  • Set

                    If you cannot understand written english in which said point was clarified, then I don’t think anyone can help you.

                    It might be easier for you to nit pick vagaries, even after clarification, but really all you equate to, is but a whisper, certainly not a bang. Walk on home boy.

            • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

              OK, then explain to me this. How did South Korea is gaining all that profit from K-pop and K-drama despite piracy being rampart:

              http://beyondhallyu.com/k-pop/bh-discuss-hallyu-possible-without-piracy/

              That’s the reason why South Korea is gaining more global recognition.

              • Set

                Don’t delude yourself Koreaboo.

                70% of K-pop’s profits come from Japanese consumers. That’s right – the niche k-pop market in Japan basically funds your beloved k-pop, which is worth a pittance ($125 million market, compared to a $3 billion market). Meanwhile your beloved k-pop groups are handing the majority of their earnings in Japan to the Japanese record companies and labels haha!

                The reason k-pop has made itself so ‘available’ online like youtube etc is because the government pays these entertainment companies.

                Literally, the more views they get, equals more government money they get – their entire entertainment industry is subsidised by their government because their government and country is so goddamn desperate to be ‘recognised’ by the world.

                Pathetic.

                • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                  Bullshit, K-pop not only relied on Japanese market but Chinese market too (and yet China is not even on the top 10 music market), but they still gain much profit from China like Japan:

                  http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/83505/20140313/japan-america-china-k-pop-s-modified-route.htm

                  http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/87102/20140408/hallyu-riding-wave-china-k-pop-risk-factors-watch-out.htm

                  As a matter of fact, they take all global market seriously:

                  To be honest with you, South Korea has outdone what Cool Japan couldn’t do. I’m not the only anime fans that criticized Japan for not marketing their product beyond anime and manga, there’s more anime fans that said Japan is not learning from South Korea. And because of that, now it’s been acknowledged South Korea outcool Japan:

                  http://business.financialpost.com/2014/08/02/how-korea-became-the-worlds-coolest-brand/

                  http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=121047

                  http://unitedkpop.com/2014/08/the-economist-dubs-korea-asias-foremost-trendsetter/

                  While Cool Japan can’t get their act together:

                  http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/1208/Is-Japan-losing-its-cool

                  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/can-japan-recapture-its-cool-a-countrys-government-backed-multimillion-dollar-bet/article16902150/?page=all

                  Japan’s marketing is also a big issue since South Korea has an advantage:

                  http://blog.btrax.com/en/2013/12/12/why-japanese-companies-struggle-with-marketing/

                  Also Japan fucking lied about the piracy claim, read this article:

                  http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-30/anime-production-companies-manga-publishers-crack-down-on-piracy/.77121

                  Basically according to the article Japan’s Ministry of Economy said that anime/manga industry lost about $19.6 billion dollars in the US. $19.6 billion dollars!!! OK, here’s the problem: the article implied anime and manga (which are both niche market in the US) are worth more money then Hollywood because Hollywood made $10.7 billion dollars, and that’s not a typo or a mistranslation. So basically a lot of anime fans are calling out bullshit at the Japanese government claim as I like to quote this person:

                  http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=4317048#4317048

                  Since when the hell did anime/manga market in the US is worth more then Hollywood? You better get off the weeaboo train because Japan just lied on their piracy claim.

                  That’s why I question Japan’s piracy claim because if they lost that much money, then how did K-pop and K-drama which are both heavily pirated on the same level as anime/manga are still earning profit worldwide. How is South Korea’s K-pop and K-dramas are gaining money when piracy is rampart?

                  • Set

                    What the flying fuck are you on about Koreaboo? You replied to ME about piracy, I reply to you in kind to tell you the money facts, and now that you’re sad about that truth, you try to change the topic by bringing up Cool Japan and how it’s not as cool as Hallyu?! You just keep on trying to make yourself feel better! This is about profits and money, but your deluded Koreaboo brain keeps going on about ‘global recognition’ – save it for another day champ.

                    Japan has been strict on piracy to maintain profits, it’s simple. They have the second largest music market, and to keep it that way, they punish pirates!

                    The facts are, K-pop gets most of it’s profit from Japanese consumers – that’s where the money is and is why they all clamour all over themselves to get a piece of that pie. 70% of your k-pop is funded by Japan – now go and keep on deluding yourself otherwise. Sayonara fool and don’t even think about changing topic again to rope me into your Korea evangelising ways.

                    • Derek

                      Ah MDO7. He goes everywhere to talk about how superior Korea is. That said the internal press for Japan can afford to have a better outlook on Japan.

                      The fact you are mostly on the defensive doesnt help.

                      • Set

                        No I’m not. I’m talking money, which is what this discussion’s about and what he replied to me with, and then when he realised just how wrong he was, he changed the topic to ‘global recognition’ to make himself feel better. What a lunatic.

                    • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                      Yeah well you can go fuck yourself you weeaboo. I bet you’ll forgive ISIS if they killed a Korean.

                      • Set

                        You can’t handle the truth and thus you accuse me of being an ISIS supporter – truly the most delusional of statements I’ve ever heard from a k-pop fan, you k-pop fans are all dumb fucks. Jump off a bridge.

                    • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                      Then how do you explain USA being #1 in music market and yet they still export and sell their music to other part of the world. Why doesn’t Japan being #2 just doesn’t export their music to outside of Asia like South Korea is doing?

                      Are you that fucking stupid? I wouldn’t be surprised if ISIS killed a Korean you would forgive them. I mean ISIS before what it is now beheaded a Korean back in 2004:

                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Sun-il

                      • Set

                        You are goddamn insane Koreaboo – you can’t deal with the facts that Japan provides the majority of the cash for your beloved k-pop (it’s actually 80% of the money, not 70%: http://aramatheydidnt.livejournal.com/3794420.html) and so you accuse me of supporting ISIS? You’re a fucking lunatic.

                        You truly represent the absolute delusion and insanity that characterises all k-pop fans. Go shoot yourself Koreaboo.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        You got a broken link BTW. Also do I really care if Japan give K-pop majority of it’s cash? Even if Japan suddenly K-pop artists from entering the Japanese market. They’ll still get money from China, and the whole Southeast Asian market. K-pop artists still get their money from other part of the world. So How come I don’t see J-pop artists going to Latin America and Australia and the Middle East when K-pop does that? Also K-pop still get money from the US.

                      • Set

                        Link, fixed. If Japanese consumers stop consuming k-pop, k-pop is dead. 80% is a large number. Run along now you fucking insane Koreaboo.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Yeah that’s from 2012 and probably pre-date Gangnam Style. Now because K-pop has gone global, they’ll get more money.

                        “If Japanese consumers stop consuming k-pop, k-pop is dead. 80% is a large number.”

                        I doubt that, do you know how big K-pop is in Latin America:

                        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/k-pop-latin-america_n_3366546.html

                        http://world.time.com/2013/08/01/forget-politics-lets-dance-why-k-pop-is-a-latin-american-smash/

                        http://www.npr.org/2013/12/15/251021326/meet-latin-america-s-teenage-korean-pop-fanatics

                        And Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe. If Japan decided to ban K-pop, then Latin America, Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe will make up for it. Oh and the Euro is worth more then the weaken Yen. Now why don’t you shut up you fucking Weeaboo. Are you racist against Korean, may I ask.

                      • Set

                        I told you in an earlier comment, I will not be roped into a discussion with you, you Koreaboos just love to evangelise wherever you can. Facts are facts, k-pop survives thanks to Japan, and you can’t change that.

                        NOW RUN ALONG NOW you KOREABOO lunatic who accuses people of being ISIS supporters when he is proven wrong. Discussion over.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Alright answer me this question: What do you do if Japan’s next tax hike really hurt Japan’s music sale like I mention above;

                        https://disqus.com/home/discussion/aramajapan/40_people_arrested_for_illegal_uploads_of_anime_and_dramas_this_past_week/#comment-1879890719

                      • Set

                        No – you insult me, and then try to continue a discussion. DISCUSSION OVER, go away.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        How did I insult you, you’re the one that said piracy is bad. If piracy is bad then why did the producers of Game of throne said they didn’t mind piracy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones#Piracy

                        So are the producers of Game of thrones idiots for allowing piracy going rampart??

                      • Set

                        After I have proven you wrong – you cry about it and call me an ISIS supporter.

                        As I said, you are goddamn insane, and typical of delusional k-pop fans – you’re all fucking bonkers. DISCUSSION OVER

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        What’s going to happen when Japan’s next tax hike go into effect:

                        http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-japan-economy-abe-idUSKBN0LV09U20150227

                        The tax hike hurt everything and I have to assume CD sales was hurt by the tax hike too. If people in Japan can’t buy CDs (or multiple copies of CD) because of the tax hike along with CDs being over-priced, how will the Japanese music be able to profit with that tax hike. I mean Japan’s music sale was already hurt by low sales:

                        http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-09-30/1-year-after-japan-stricter-download-law-music-sales-stagnate

                        http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/retail/5937605/digital-physical-music-revenue-decline-again-in-japan

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        And this is where I would want Japan to export their music if their CDs can’t be sold in Japan due to overpriced and the tax hike that’ll come with it.

                      • Set

                        You insult me, and then try to continue a discussion. DISCUSSION OVER, go away.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Then I’m going to harass you until you answer my question.

                      • Set

                        After I have proven you wrong – you cry about it and call me an ISIS supporter.

                        As I said, you are goddamn insane, and typical of delusional k-pop fans – you’re all fucking bonkers. DISCUSSION IS OVER

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        No you’re the one wrong and I will continue to harass you until you listen to me.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Oh BTW, being a weeaboo doesn’t make you any better.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Hey Game of Throne producers said piracy is OK, so that means piracy ain’t bad. Oh and Japan lied when they said piracy is bad when it turns out that Piracy helped K-pop and will help Taiwanese pop culture expand.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Oh BTW, US artists are not arrogant compared to your Japanese counterpart. If you’re from the US, then what your obsession with Japan and piracy. What if I told you piracy did help a lot. If it wasn’t piracy, anime wouldn’t have gotten big. It’s been acknowledged:

                        https://torrentfreak.com/internet-piracy-boosts-anime-sales-study-concludes-110203/

                      • Set

                        After I have proven you wrong – you cry about it and call me an ISIS supporter.

                        As I said, you are goddamn insane, and typical of delusional k-pop fans – you’re all fucking bonkers. DISCUSSION IS NOW OVER. BYE

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Keep going, I can keep this up all day and all night long. I won’t stop.

                      • Set

                        Damn right, you just on proving how fucking mental you k-pop fans are.

                        Go and get some mental help fuckwit.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        “Go and get some mental help fuckwit”

                        Same to you, you weeaboo!!!

                      • Set

                        Get a life, and get mental help. Sayonara you nutjob.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        “Get a life, and get mental help. Sayonara you nutjob.”

                        Yeah you and your mom need one too.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Keep putting that in, I’ll still bother you now and then.

                      • Set

                        Because you are fucking mental – like all k-pop, please go seek mental help. Sayonara.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Discussion is not over, when I say it’s not over!!! It’s not over for me. Come on, talk to me. Don’t ignore me.

                      • Set

                        Damn right, you just on proving how fucking crazy you k-pop fans are.

                        Go and get some mental help fuckwit. Sayonara.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        “Damn right, you just on proving how fucking crazy you k-pop fans are.

                        Go and get some mental help fuckwit. Sayonara.”

                        Yeah and you just prove that you’re weeaboo, Sayonara and Aneyong to you too.

                      • Set

                        Go and look after your mental health. Sayonara

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        “Go and look after your mental health. Sayonara”

                        right back at ya.

                      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

                        Oh BTW, do you go around shouting “gook” and “chink”, and attack anyone using the word “Jap”?

                      • ohthename

                        “Japan doesn’t need to export their music”
                        so they should don’t care if gaijins download some of it…?

                        and so much hate omg

        • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

          How? To be completely honest, I think every kind of entertainment fandom promotes piracy in some way, whether it be music leaks or pirated broadcasts. Hell, even gifs are technically piracy.

        • DestroyX

          Until Japan provides an accessible and legal means to obtain their media, we will all unfortunately have to pirate the material because there is no other way to access.

      • starlightshimmers

        We all need to accept the fact that the Japan suffers from the Galapagos syndrome. I’ve learned to live with it and I’m content as a Japanophile (that is a valid term for those who love to study Japanese culture and society).

      • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

        Yeah, I will never understand Japan. I mean South Korea is outcooling them (yes, it’s been acknowledge South Korea has outcool Japan). This is unfortunate.

    • Grooby

      This isn’t gonna stop people from illegally sharing anime/manga. No matter how many people you arrest. Why not try and make content legally available online, like Crunchyroll? Make some money w/ online ads? Idk anything seems more reasonable than mass arrests. Makes me sad. :/

      • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

        Exactly! When the Dailymotion guy I got all the music shows I post here was arrested, I just found people uploading the same content elsewhere.

      • ProllyWild

        because no one entity has the power to do that across the board. If any of you have seen SNL on Hulu, you’ll notice from time to time that the musical performances are cut from the broadcasts on hulu. this being likely because the artist did not give permission for their appearance in streaming rebroadcasting via hulu.

        well japan is no different. the many things you consume have numbers of sponsors, performers and creators with different requirements for how their product be consumed. just because you want it doesnt mean you have a right to it, and if you dont pay you risk losing it more. just because you pirate it and call yourself a fan doesnt mean that it directly benefits the business you’re pirating from.

        in the case of artists, pirating is the worst thing you can do. without proof of legit sales, artists are less likely to get a budget to continue to create music down the line. eventually, as is very common in this generation of music, artists are quickly dropped. your favorite anime and mange are the same. without proof of sales they become harder to produce and distribute. so no matter how good you think pirating is, in the end it is always bad. no matter how easy everyone thinks it is to just open up the borders and make everything available worldwide, its not.

    • keenö

      This is honestly so heartbreaking.

    • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

      OMG did they take down PSCK? I’m glad I didn’t get a membership like I was thinking of doing the other day…

    • http://vivid-rain.tokyo/ Thomas

      help i hope they don’t deport me from Japan for torrenting lol

      • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

        Just get a VPN.

        • http://vivid-rain.tokyo/ Thomas

          I actually got one but it randomly stops working at times (Cyberghost)

          • http://sayonarababy.tumblr.com/ Ronald

            Get BTGuard. I’ve never had any problems with it.

            • http://vivid-rain.tokyo/ Thomas

              thanks that sounds pretty cool judging from their website!

    • Guest

      wow its scared me…

    • Gabrielle Willis

      For every one downloader and uploader busted, 2 more will rise.

      This was a waste of time and a dead effort: Taking such actions against illegal uploads for forms of media isn’t going to stop it from happening. What these people need to realize is the message behind all this. Ever care to ask “Why?” this keeps happening?- There’s a clear answer:

      THE. WORLD. LIKES. YOUR. STUFF. As long you Japan keeps reeling out the goods, people will want a piece of the Nihon pie, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get a good, hefty serving.

      If they call his a victory it’s a pretty hollow one. It’s only a matter of time…

      • Light11520

        WE SHALL RISE!!!!!!!!!!

    • Seekaii

      No one is safe. Japan coming for your uploaders

    • Seekaii

      Whether or not piracy is wrong is up to debate, but that being said 10 years in prison or a 10,000,000 fine max is a little extreme. Why not just make them take a class on why piracy is wrong and pay a 100,000 yen fine? Jesus.

    • yamakita

      Japan doesn’t want you to learn about its culture without its filters.

    • Johanna D. Robles

      That’s a pity, If only the content were more accessible, I would not have to download it from “shady” sites… That is even though there are some content that you can buy on amazon, rakuten, etc, what it is good to me i they don’t have subtitles in English? I mean I can understand a little Japanese but I will not learn in time to understand everything, Good movies like Rurouni Kenshin or J-Dramas like “Gunshi Kanbee” are lost outside Japan just because they are not accessible from overseas unless someone upload them and put subtitles, the same happens with anime or tokusatsu shows. It is even more painful for music shows, there was sometimes that I had acces to NHK but then they pulled it off, It would be nice if at least they have a website like “The Ellen DeGeneres show” where you can see at least highlights of the show, I was able to watch at least one of the songs performed by MIYAVI when he was in that show, and Japan is still in the past….

    • yanderenightmares

      10 years is too much. I’m sorry, put them in for ten days if you must, but ten years. I pray for these men and for japanese tv stations to grow the fuck up.

    • https://twitter.com/mikedo2007 mikedo2007

      Not really surprised, this is becoming more and more frequent. I keep seeing news like this on ANN whenever they have the opportunity.

    • bakaneko

      wow, that gonna be hard.. i mean, i don’t mind not being able to download songs or concert dvds and stuff, coz i can buy the cds/dvds but not being able to see your favourite artists performing on telly or talk shows sucks big time… nowadays, fans wanted to feel more connected to their fave artist so we like to be able to see them on talk shows and learned more about them.. but since it’s hard to even get japanese channels even on cable in country, and youtube is no help either, i’ve been feeling disconnected with my fandom… so much so that i even had to turn to AKB48 (coz they’re widely available on youtube).. but since my fave members left (or will leave soon), i’ve lost interest even in AKB48 lately and changed directions to kpop (even tho i’ve been tried my best to not be involved for many years when my friends were all into kpop and stuff).. but one thing i’ve noticed about kpop is, it’s easily available on youtube.. even the tv network will upload clips on youtube, and some even subbed those clips (english)… it is accessible everywhere… also loads of korean channels are available on cable in my country, so like it or not, i can watch more korean shows than japanese shows.. so my point is, even someone like me who were not into kpop in the first place, will be sucked into kpop because it is everywhere.. you will be brainwashed into watching and supporting their artists.. and that interest slowly turns into me throwing my money at them.. and since their cds/dvds are much cheaper than their japanese counterpart, i usually buy 4-5 of their stuff at the same time, while usually for jpop stuff, i only buy 1-2 items at one time only because of the price.. and you know what, in the end i actually end up spending more money on kpop than jpop… i’m talking from my experience, so other ppl may not understand this, but i think there are at least a few jpop fans out there that had been sucked into kpop like me because of the same reason i listed in my comment.. anyways, sorry for the long comment.. not very good at explaining myself…

    • Idiots

      The campaign is a joke.

    • Sky Wheeler

      Well personally I thought it wouldn’t be such a problem if manga’s were more accessible in the US. When choosing between well scanlated, free mangas that actually come in on time and well translated mangas that are not free and are often way behind time, who wouldn’t chose the first choice? Well I guess the point is that manga and anime are not as easily gotten if not for scanlation groups.

    • arashilover

      let me get this straight, they arrest pedos for 16 months and they arrest uploaders for 10 years? WTF JAPAN?!

    • MASLIH Lobna

      So you’re telling me pedophilia is okay, but sharing a damn comic is a jail offence?! Fucking Japanese corporations and their profit seeking, blind ass backwards mentality, and all the government pig owned by them.

    • ukbeast

      Funimation keeps grabbing those licenses, looks like I have to import as they block my country and vpns don’t work. Any anime that get licensed here in the UK is either delayed http://www.uk-anime.net/newsitem/Mirai_Nikki:_Future_Diary_Collection_1_delayed_to_December_28th.html or the wrong region http://www.uk-anime.net/newsitem/Amended_Naruto_Shippuden_Box_Set_21_stock_now_in_retail.html