Forum - View topic

Viz Media Comments on Digital Piracy After Manga Uploader Arrests

So would the TPP be able to shut down illegal scanlation or streaming sites? If the answers is yes then your post is irrelevant to me because I already knew everything I needed with respect to the topic of this thread which deals with piracy.

To be fair, and while I think most of dark13's argument is absolutely ludicrous, I find it equally ridiculous to tell someone "Stop watching illegal rips of legal streams on illegal sites, use this illegal method to watch the legal sites instead" :/

No, it will not. You seem to be under the impression that the various publishers are helpless to do anything to the various sites directly, and if the TPP would just criminalize what they're doing, sites like Mangapanda would just vanish with a poof.

That's not how it works. Viz, Shueisha, and all the other various anime/manga companies have always had the option to go after such sites with lawsuits. One of the first aggregator sites closed it's doors due legal threats. Others made some series unavailable in the parts of the world that Viz operates in an attempt to reduce the legal threats.

The only reason the publishers haven't gone after such sites more is that it simply isn't worth the time and effort. The TPP won't make the time and effort go away, it'll just increase the amount they can do to those they do decide to go after, while expanding definitions to let them crack down on a lot of harmless stuff fans do.

Article 18.13: Cooperation Activities and Initiatives
The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate on the subject matter covered by this Chapter, such as through appropriate coordination, training and exchange of information between the respective intellectual property offices of the Parties, or other institutions, as determined by each Party. Cooperation may cover areas such as:
(a) developments in domestic and international intellectual property policy;
(b) intellectual property administration and registration systems;
(c) education and awareness relating to intellectual property;
(d) intellectual property issues relevant to:
(i) small and medium-sized enterprises;
(ii) science, technology and innovation activities; and
(iii) the generation, transfer and dissemination of technology;
(e) policies involving the use of intellectual property for research, innovation and economic growth;
(f) implementation of multilateral intellectual property agreements, such as those concluded or administered under the auspices of WIPO; and
(g) technical assistance for developing countries.

3. Each Party shall ensure that its procedures concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights are fair and equitable. These procedures shall not be unnecessarily complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays.

2. Each Party shall treat wilful importation or exportation of counterfeit trademark goods or pirated copyright goods on a commercial scale as unlawful activities subject to criminal penalties.

Also I was convinced by Donald Trump's rhetoric that the Japanese are trying to take advantage of the US through the TPP but after looking a bit more into it, I'm not as convinced.

Ok nevermind, this is now the funniest thing in the thread (the first part about believing anything Trump says)

Lol I was just laughing like crazy because this guy's logic is basically: "Everyone can piss off! I'll watch free streaming because hey I can and paying my internet bill entitles to me to all free entertainment. But I'm not going to VPN to legal sites; that's where I cross the line I mean guy's gotta have morals somewhere right?" lmao

It's literally like someone defending downloading jpop & anime soundtracks but when someone suggests they buy Japanese itunes cards and get cheap downloads they THEN get on the moral high horse because you'd hae to make a japanese itunes acct with a fake address.

IDK if VPNS are legal, I mean hey at least Hulu/Netflix are getting their money right? Idk if someone wants to cuff me for watching BBC shows using Hola I guess I better prepare myself for lady prison. Can't be that bad I've seen Orange is the New Black.

Just because TPP exists doesn't mean sites like Mangapanda are going to disappear. It might go down, but there will always be others, and others will appear. It's not like piracy and bootlegs have been illegal before. Besides the provisions you mention are mainly aimed at commercial scales... For example, just because RHS went down, doesn't mean the exact same series weren't picked by another almost immediately. I'm myself following the latest Hayate and Nisekoi chapters.

As long as restrictions hamper global availability of legal services, even TPP will have only a marginal effect when it comes to piracy.