Forget Fines, Japan Threatens Prison for Illegal Downloaders

Downloading pirated material in Japan can now earn you two years in prison and a fine of two million yen ($25,600) for each purloined file, with uploaders facing 10 years in the Big House and a fine five times as large.

The laws – some of the toughest ever enacted against illegal downloaders – were passed in June after strong lobbying from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). Downloading has been illegal in Japan for the last two years, but as a civil offense with no sanctions, not a criminal matter with jail time.

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