I live in Eastern Japan.
I just received a package on 発信者情報開示 (disclosure of information) from a law company representing ISP.
There were two contents. A cover letter and a form that requested me to sign and return in two weeks (although they didn’t provide a return envelope)
() 発信者情報開示に同意しません。 ［理由］(注). I disagree to disclose (warning)
( )発信者情報開示に同意します。 ［備考］ I agree to disclose
The second was a small booklet that had evidence what I downloaded. Which was a single Japanese adult video downloaded earlier in the year, and what I think were all the IPs addresses linked to it (maybe those were people who were being uploaded to?).
There were three other posts about this in JapanLife made some time ago.. but they never got really far. and I think two of the past people actually signed and submitted it. I haven’t signed anything.
While I know a little Japanese, I think it’s better to get some one native if I end up going the legal route? and what kind of lawyer (in Japanese) should I find?
also would this lead to other disclosures for other things I downloaded?
16 comments
Crazy to me that this can happen. In Canada, downloading is legal it’s sharing files that is illegal. I don’t use Netflix etc… I find my stuff through other sources. Hope I don’t get that letter lol
Good luck
Do yourself a solid and force outgoing & incoming connections on your preferred client of choice.
Throw it in the trash. If something comes of it, play the gaijin card “I thought it was a scam. I don’t speak Japanese.”
That’s why you need to use a vpn when doing something like that, so your isp doesn’t know what are you doing in the internet.
Busted for downloading JAV, not even a major movie. That’s great. You know there’s various streaming sites where you can find that…
Otherwise, sounds to me like your wifi must have been open and someone was using it to download that pornography. Should promise them to password protect your wifi.
WOW IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR NETWORK IS NOT SECURED AND IT WASNT YOU WHO DOWNLOADED JAV BECAUSE YOU WOULD NEVER DO THAT BECAUSE YOU KNOW PIRACY IS WRONG. JUST IN CASE YOU SHOULD FACTORY RESET YOUR HARD DRIVE, NOT USE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION ONLINE AND PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY. ALSO IMMEDIATELY USE NORD VPN TO PROTECT YOUR BROWSING DATA.
*please take this non legal advice and continue browsing the internet. I recommend watching some YouTube videos about how to stay anonymous online, you are in a country that has some different views about using the internet. But seriously if you take anything away from this, use a motherfucking vpn immediately.
it’s legally pretty much impossible to prove that you specifically downloaded anything, it could have been anyone in your *unfortunately* unsecured wifi or whatever. That’s all I can tell you.
that’s why I use a cheap seedbox. who the f knows when they are seriously going to enforce piracy
Remember this simple arithmetic:
Insert (VPN)+(torrentclient)= safety and “free”dom.
Eg: Mullvlad+qBittorrent= Answer
I don’t understand why you download instead of just watching online
Genuine question: why do you people torrent porn in 2023?
I had once a letter from my ISP informing me that “somebody” had downloaded some copyrighted videos….
After that I got a VPN and since then, I haven’t been contacted again.
I have no advice to give you, but please please please post an update on what happens to you.
There are so many threads about this with a range of different advice, but nobody ever posts an update about what actually happened, no matter which course of action they chose.
I torrent a lot of stuff and would like to know what I should do if this happnes to me.
Can you tell us what studio it was from? Like a major Japanese studio?
This is what I have read on the Japanese internet, which was 5chan, so take it with a pinch of salt. If it is only one downloaded/uploaded video, ignore it. I think the general consensus is that the companies can not be bothered to chase after somebody for one downloaded/uploaded video.
I think that the people that do this are in it for the long haul knowing that it is pretty hard for a publisher/production company to procure high damages in a court of law, therefore it is not worth their while.
Basically wait it out. In the unlikely event that their lawyers contact you and sue for damages then lawyer up. Of course you could get a lawyer to handle this for you on your behalf, but it could get expensive and they may want to settle for you.
I guess it comes down to how much you like to gamble. Do you want to call their bluff and see what happens?
I am curious to know how long it took them to send you this “Disclosure of Information” letter after you download/uploaded said content? Was it a month? 3 months? 6 months?
My understanding of it is that your ISP will disclose your information to the company who filed the infringement complaint with them, regardless of whether you agree to or not. It’s basically a legally required formality required before the disclosure.
I also know that there are some law firms who work on success basis for IP claims, and I see no reason that when your information is disclosed by the ISP, they’d send you a settlement letter.
Whether they’d pursue it further is unclear. But I personally wouldn’t be comfortable ignoring such a letter.
If I were in your shoes I’d be looking for a lawyer who specializes in this sort of thing. Maybe you can get a free or cheap initial consultation. At least you’ll have some idea of what is out there.
Otherwise you might end up scrambling when you receive a letter demanding a settlement in five days on a Friday evening.
I use my phone to torrent. iSPs don’t seem to track it.