Japan Toughest on Tackling Digital Piracy, Red Points Says

Japan is the strictest nation for law enforcement of copyright infringement, threatening throttled speeds, a 2 million yen fine (roughly $18,000) and up to two years in prison for downloading pirated content, and up to 10 years for uploading, blogged anti-piracy tech firm Red Points CEO Laura Urquizu Monday. She said Germany has strict laws on torrenting, and the U.K. and the U.S. use a "medium-strict" approach to monitoring peer-to-peer networks and using pressure on ISPs to block sites. Netherlands, at the lax end, is changing, with anti-piracy group BREIN becoming more aggressive in court, she said. Nations like Canada, Brazil and India have "ultra-lax copyright laws and/or enforcement." Enough circumvention techniques allowing pirating to continue no matter how strict copyright law and enforcement may be where pirates live, she said.