Tokyo steps up the war against web piracy

The Japanese government posted on the net fake TV dramas in order to fight the piracy. It released on two popular file sharing networks series of files made to look like popular TV drama videos. When opened the files alert users of popular file sharing networks Winny and Share to stop handling pirated media on the web. The message is that both uploading and downloading copyright protected media is illegal in Japan.

The initiative belongs to the Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and is supposed to trace the future behavior of the users who download the fake TV shows. It is yet unclear if any users caught in the act will be prosecuted.

The ministry has partnered in the project with several associations active in the copyright field, according to Asiajin blog. Among them are the Association of Copyright for Computer Software, Recording Industry Association of Japan and the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan.

According to the Japanese press, about 150,000 people in the country are using the networks Winny and Share every day.