It would appear that the top dogs over in Japan finally are realizing that someone is cutting into their profits online. Why do I say that? Well, it's simple -- ANN issued the following translation of this page on Tuesday.
The Japanese government issued a formal statement of requests to the government of the United States on regulatory reform and market competition policy on October 18, and included a request for the United States to help stop the unauthorized reproduction and distribution of Japanese animation online. Specifically, the formal statement mentions the spread of Japanese animation and other materials on video-sharing sites and peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.
According to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the distribution of copyrighted materials in the United States has increasingly damaged the creative industries of Japan. Despite frequent requests to remove unauthorized material from sites with user-submitted videos, the ministry says the fundamental problem remains unresolved for the foreseeable future. The ministry also says that the high legal costs and complex procedures of copyright infringement cases against peer-to-peer file-sharing are issues.
Japanese copyright holders have been sending increasing numbers of requests to rem ...
