Japanese courts convict programmer for enabling copyright infringement
December 17, 2006 – 9:24 pmA Japanese district court has convicted a programmer of “enabling copyright infringement” merely for developing and releasing free peer-to-peer software.
Isamu Kaneko, the 36-year programmer, developed Winny, P2P software that helps preserve the online anonymity of its users. He didn’t charge for the software or profit from it (ala Grokster), but he still faces a fine of 1.5m Yen–about $13,000.
This ruling has shocked the Japanese programming industry. One programmer, Yoshiaki Sano, echoed the concerns of many of Kaneko’s colleagues:
If somebody uses software for malicious purposes and the developer is accused, it makes it impossible to produce software freely.
Kaneko is appealing his case.
The Grokster ruling has brought a substantial reduction in the freedom to tinker, but the Kaneko case makes Grokster look like the Magna Carta of programmers’ rights. Kaneko merely developed and released a program that can be used for infringement. If he’s to be fined for that, why permit CD burners? Why allow FTP? P2P is just a newer vehicle for moving bits.
If the current ruling stands, let’s just hope our courts don’t start turning Japanese.