man gets 2 years and a $96000 fine for DS piracy

[Iceglow]

Ok so this article (http://www.destructoid.com/man-gets-two-years-and-fined-96-000-for-ds-piracy-142449.phtml) details a dude who got caught making and running a website where he sold illegal copies of DS games. A whole lot of discussion is going on about whether the jail time was deserved as well as the $96000 in fines personally I think that he should get more jail time, in high fraud (which is unfortunately what copyright infrigement and piracy consist of) you can technically get 5 years prison per file thats pretty ridiculous it's true but 2 years is nothing really for the level of his piracy. I'm not a saint when it comes to piracy but I'm not out there trying to make a quick buck out of ripping off the makers of over 1000 DS games. If japanese prison is similar to English prison he will work off around $7 a day from his $96k fine which means in 2 years of prison (provided he actually does the full 2 years) he will have worked off $5,110 or there about in the mean time he will have no rent to pay, no food bills to pay and can learn how to be a more productive member of society I think therefore the 2 years in prison is justified. What are your opinions on this?

[SomethingBig]

You make it sound like prison's an awesome vacation away from responsibilities. If prisons in Japan are anything like American prisons, then the punishment isn't the manual labor, but having to with the other inmates.

[Iceglow]

You make it sound like prison's an awesome vacation away from responsibilities. If prisons in Japan are anything like American prisons, then the punishment isn't the manual labor, but having to with the other inmates.

LOL ok yeah I made it sound pretty much a vacation for him at first glance if you look at the correctional side of the Prison sentence I have outlined the best things about it for you to see. However if we consider the other inmates of the prison he's going to have some serious issues if he's lucky he might get put in solitary or high risk protection at prison but most likely he'll have to learn to live with the gen population. He'll have a tough time of it for sure in prison but if he keeps his head down and behaves he'll also get released earlier which means he'll probably only do 6 months of that prison sentence.

[Dreddz]

He got the punishment he deserved. Although the bad side of me is a little disappointed he got caught. Thats one less option available for us gamers.

[Madame Adequate]

Protip: Don't create a Web site offering over 1,000 DS games for illegal download unless you're really sure you won't get caught. Yoshiaki Asagiri wasn't so careful, and now a Kyoto District court has brought a most swift and brutal retribution down upon him and cast his loathsome corpse into the lake.

Is how it should read :(

Anyway yeah this is positively lenient compared to the sorts of punishments the RIAA and MPAA try to get. It's a punishment that's actually vaguely within the realms of "fitting the crime" rather than one which matches or exceeds a rape sentence or the like.

[The Space Pope]

Reminds me of this (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090731/entertainment/us_tec_music_downloading) story.

People say he got what he deserved and maybe so but I bet nearly all of you would change your tune if someone in a position of authority got a look at any of your hard drives.


He got the punishment he deserved. Although the bad side of me is a little disappointed he got caught. Thats one less option available for us gamers.
Well there are ROM sites, based out of certain certain countries such as Israel, where ROMs are perfectly legal. Of course it doesn't make them legal in whatever country you access the sites from.

[SomethingBig]

Eh, not really. If you download things, you should know and accept that what you're doing is illegal and that their will be major consequences, should you get caught. The only difference is that you have to be really, really stupid and/or downloading a million files at an insane speed to get caught.

That said, the MPAA is run by jerkoffs. A few weeks ago, a woman downloaded a music album and was charged a couple hundred grand for it.

[McLovin']

Silly noobie pirateers getting caught.

[The Space Pope]

Eh, not really.
I dunno man, maybe not you but I'm sure there's a fair share of people (not limited to just here) who're saying he got what was coming to him, yet those same people would turn around and say "but it was only a few songs!" or whatever if the shoe was on the other foot.

Again I'm not arguing whether the punishment in this specific case was fair or not, because that'd quickly descend into a debate on morality



If you download things, you should know and accept that what you're doing is illegal and that their will be major consequences, should you get caught. The only difference is that you have to be really, really stupid and/or downloading a million files at an insane speed to get caught. Yeah, direct downloading = bad idea. I mean at least crypt the links ffs. Even torrenting is getting risky due to tracking and fake torrents that're monitored by media companies to see who'll bite.


That said, the MPAA is run by jerkoffs. A few weeks ago, a woman downloaded a music album and was charged a couple hundred grand for it.I could see if they charged her the price of the album plus a small fine, but anything beynd that, especailly if it's a first offense, is going too far to prove a point that largely falls on deaf ears imo.

[SomethingBig]

I could see if they charged her the price of the album plus a small fine, but anything beynd that, especailly if it's a first offense, is going too far to prove a point that largely falls on deaf ears imo.

I could see charging double or possibly even three times the original price being fair, so as to deter future pirating, but I agree that what the MPAA currently fines is absolutely insane. I think it's a couple thousand for every song downloaded. When even musicians think they're complete douchebags, there's obviously something wrong.

[The Space Pope]

^ agreed.

I would think that, in a more logistically sound world, the artist(s) in question would have at least some say in the matter.

[Darkswordofchaos]

the music execs are just trying to get a last buck before the internet drives major record labels into obscurity

also im sure that japanese prisons are no were near as bad as american ones. The cops over their dont even cary guns, how bad can their criminals be

[Crimson]

Funnily the 4 days I spent in jail last year before I was bailed out was quite relaxing.

[Darkswordofchaos]

what were you in jail for?

I've never had to stay longer than one night once and the day once before that

[Crimson]

what were you in jail for?

I've never had to stay longer than one night once and the day once before that

PROTIP: If you ever end up drunk at a nightclub, dont break a guy's nose even if he disses you, because it only gets worse from there.

[Darkswordofchaos]

HA good times

[Raistlin]

Funnily the 4 days I spent in jail last year before I was bailed out was quite relaxing.

Jail is not the same as prison. You would not be having as much fun in the latter.

[Darkswordofchaos]

Funnily the 4 days I spent in jail last year before I was bailed out was quite relaxing.

Jail is not the same as prison. You would not be having as much fun in the latter.

nope lots of big guys that want to rape you, every race hates every other race, and shanks

[Madame Adequate]

I could see if they charged her the price of the album plus a small fine, but anything beynd that, especailly if it's a first offense, is going too far to prove a point that largely falls on deaf ears imo.

I could see charging double or possibly even three times the original price being fair, so as to deter future pirating, but I agree that what the MPAA currently fines is absolutely insane. I think it's a couple thousand for every song downloaded. When even musicians think they're complete douchebags, there's obviously something wrong.

IAWTC

[Raistlin]

Yeah, the RIAA is completely out of touch with not only reality, but with everyone else in it as well. They have a long ways to go before people will start taking them seriously. Random IP searches that end with ridiculous charges are more like examples of self-parody than legitimate business practice. They seem to be under the delusion that if they scream a lot and ruin a few people's lives that all of a sudden people will stop downloading music.

[The Space Pope]

nope lots of big guys that want to rape you, every race hates every other race, and shanks
Not every prison is like that OZ show, y'know.

As far as the race hating goes, that's true and untrue at the same time. New fish are usually persuaded to join gangs of their color because others manipulate the would-be recruit into thinking that everyone who doesn't look like him is out to get him. And many are threatened to join a gang against their will (such as Latin Kings being forced to join the Mexican Mafia), or out of fear and wants protection.

Getting back to the "everyone who's not your race is out to get you" propaganda, it can turn into truth over time, and it gets ugly. Rumors eventually turn into truth in prison, sadly enough.

[Crimson]

I never said at any point that jail was as bad as prison, im fully aware it isnt, it's just some people totally blow things out of proportion even at that level.