October 18, 2012

3 Arrested in Japan for Uploading Games via WinMX

Fukuoka Police arrested three individuals on Tuesday on suspicion of uploading game software illegally onto the peer-to-peer file sharing program WinMX.

Those arrested include 41-year-old office worker Takao Ishii of Ebisu, Shibuya; 32-year-old part-time worker YĆ«suke Suzuki of Iwata, Shizuoka; and 25-year-old Hijiyama, Hiroshima resident Nozomi Hattori.

Each suspect allegedly used personal computers to share 19 to 22 copyrighted games (including WarioWare: Touched!, Another Code: Two Memories, F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Mega Man Battle Network, and Mr. Driller 2) from July to August. According to the authorities, all three admitted to the charges and had been distributing games on WinMX for the past seven to 10 years.