Japan to censor cellphones
p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- “Japan is not like other countries, and again we have a proof of that,” Daimaou wrote in Akihabara News a few days ago, going on:
“While the rest of the world uses their PCs to download illegal material like music, young Japanese, computer illiterate (most teenagers use a phone instead of a computer and can’t even start average word processing software on a regular PC or Mac), use their phone as a unique DAP, TV and computer device for their everyday life
“And of course, the first thing teens or young adults want is music, a lot of music and as cheap as possible. So as you may have guessed, in Japan there are a lot of mobile websites that allow Japanese to download free music …”
Not if Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music, and their local version of the RIAA, can help it.
“Every mobile phone in Japan may be installed with software to block illegally copied music if the world’s first such system is approved by talks that start in Tokyo next week,” says the Financial Times.
“The talks between the Recording Industry Association of Japan , mobile phone companies and music download sites aim to agree on new anti-piracy measures by the end of the year, according to several participants. A system could be in place by 2011,” it says.
“Building anti-piracy software into the main device on which young Japanese people listen to music could make Japan the first country in the world to find an effective answer to illegal downloads.”
The answer to ‘illegal’ downloads is, of course, for the Big 4 to offer ‘product’ at reasonable wholesale prices, fully open their catalogues, accept the fact they’re now operating in the digital 21st century instead of the physical 1970s —- and stop demonising the people who keep them in business, accusing them of being criminals and thieves.
That’ll happen, but not for a while and until then, the Big 4 and their various **AAs will continue to try to control every aspect aspect of music distribution, just as they used to before the net made them obsolete.
How would Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music and their RIAJ filter Japanese cellphones?
Whenever a user tried to play a song, censorware implanted in their mobile, “would ask a security server whether it is covered by copyright,” explains the FT.
“If so, and the phone did not have a code to indicate it was bought legally, the song would not play.”
Says Daimaou in the Akihabara News »»»
Now few things comes to my mind First Japanese people paying WAY to much for music downloads, the confirmed average is about 300 Yen per song (â¬2.25) on a typical mobile download music server. For example, Koda Kumi’s latest album is sold 200 Yen per track on iTunes (â¬1.5 – about $C2.38)), and you can even get Jimi Hendrix All Along the Watchtower for 150 Yen (â¬1.13 – about $c1.80)
Seriously, I understand why people are willing to take the risk and download songs for free, official channels are ripping them off!
Secondly, the Japanese mobile phone industry is the worst thing I’ve seen in my life. You have NO control whatsoever over your phone. You can’t unlock it, even if you fully paid for it, and now, like Amazon Kindle, they have the power to control what you listen to on your phone … If you download a song from a legal channel …Fine, but let`s imagine that you downloaded a song from an Indy group … What happens?
“I’m fed-up with the bullshit I read reading every day, whether it’s in the USA, Europe, or here in Japan,” says Daimaou, adding:
“I really hope things change soon and people start to react ”
They are reacting, Daimaou.
You won’t find any statistics in the lamescream media on what effect the growing boycott of Big 4 ‘product’ is having on their bottom lines, but you can be 100% sure it’s dramatic.
Stay tuned.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Akihabara News – Japanese Mobile Operators to Stop Illegal Music Downloads, September 8, 2009
Financial Times – Japan aims to cut off music piracy, September 12, 2009
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September 15th, 2009 at 8:56 am
boycott theses idiots
September 15th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Great idea, until new phones sales dry up and the phone companies wonder where their profit is going…..
September 15th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
“young Japanese, computer illiterate (most teenagers use a phone instead of a computer and canât even start average word processing software on a regular PC or Mac)”
I am surprised by that since a cell phone is a lot harder to use than a PC or a Mac. This is because of the small keyboard (often just a phone dial key), because of the small screen plus the low computing power and because these things are full of DRM that you have to constantly disable. Cell phones are OK as “phones” but as “computers” they are a pain in the neck.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Fuckers, more DRM shit into OUR stuff! boycott!
September 16th, 2009 at 1:16 am
So I have a store bought CD and have ripped it onto my phone. Am I a criminal in Japan? It would seem so.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Japan is really close to the number 1 country in piracy (China), so i guess it’ll take them about a month to crack any software to protect copyright.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
i don`t think that “Japan is really close to the number 1 country in piracy (China http://www.agoodseller.com), so i guess itâll take them about a month to crack any software to protect copyright”