Four employees, including one executive,
of a Tokyo-based publisher were arrested Tuesday for allegedly selling a DVD-copying guidebook bundled with software
able to remove DVDs' copy protection.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Yoshiaki Kaizuka, 43, an
executive of Chiyoda Ward publisher Sansai Books Inc., and three other
company employees on suspicion of
violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, and sent papers on the firm
to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. According to a senior police
official, these are the nation's first arrests over the distribution of
software to remove copy protection.
The four were allegedly involved in selling a guidebook, describing
how to copy DVDs, that came with a CD-ROM containing copy protection removal
software on the publisher's online shopping site to one man in Saitama
Prefecture and another man in Tokyo sometime from February to April. Police
said a photo of the guidebook's cover was posted on the firm's website.
Among the 18,500 copies of the book that were printed last December,
about 4,000 have been sold, according to the MPD. The guidebook is priced at
1,050 yen.
Two warnings were issued to Sansai Books by three industry
organizations, including the Japan Video Software Association, protesting the sale of the guidebook,
but the publisher continued to offer the product.
(Jul. 18, 2012) The Yomiuri Shimbun
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VOCABULARY
1.
Executive
- a manager in an organization or company who helps make important
decisions
2.
Allegedly
- used when reporting something that people say is true, although it has
not been proved
3.
Suspicion
- a feeling you have that someone is probably guilty of doing something
wrong or dishonest
4.
Protesting
- to say
that you strongly disagree with or are angry about something because you think
it is wrong or unfair
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
How often do you buy CD, DVD?
2.
Do you produce copy of these?
3.
What can you say about piracy?
4.
Talk about piracy policy in your country.
5.
What should be the punishment for people involved
in violating copyrights?
