p2pnet.net News:- Winny, a Japanese p2p application, caught the world’s eye last year because the first people Big Music managed to have arrested in Japan “on suspicion of violating copyright laws” were using it.

Another factor that helped Winny to quickly become a cause célèbre online was that it uses Freenet code.

With an anonymous file-sharing feature, Winny was developed primarily as a research tool and isn’t the kind of application which can be readily used by the average person.

Its creator, Isamu Kaneko, a well-known software engineer and a Tokyo University research associate, was arrested, last month, for “allowing his software program to assist other people in downloading and sharing copyrighted movies, music and game files,” as the Asahi Shimbun states it here.

It was the first case of its kind and now fellow software engineers have launched FreeKaneko.com, a web site aimed at raising funds for Kenko’s defence.

“We are conducting a publicity, and fund raising,” they say. “We need a lot of attention from the people of the world. You can help us by telling the issue to your family, friends, and co-workers.

“Creating file-sharing software is completely legal in Japan. Therefore, the police are justifying his arrest by alleging he ‘assisted‘ two people who illegally uploaded copyrighted materials using ‘Winny’. This kind of manipulation of the law is a very serious threat to our freedom and rights.”

So far, supporters have poured 10 million yen ($100,000) into the fund and the site has chalked up more than 1,000,000 visits.

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