TOKYO - Four major Japanese Internet service provider organizations have agreed to work with copyright holders to track down copyright-infringing file sharers and disconnect them from the Internet.
In 2006, a Japanese ISP decided to plan measures to stop subscribers using file-sharing software by tracking their activities and disconnecting them from the Internet. Since the government said such monitoring might have privacy implications, the plan was not completed.
The four major ISP organizations in Japan - under pressure from the movie, music and software industries - are working on new measures and have agreed to take drastic action against online pirates.
Under the agreement, copyright holders would track down file sharers on the Internet using "special detection software" and notify ISPs of alleged infringers, according to a report in Yomiuri Shimbun.
ISPs would email warnings to those who were traced and interrupt the connections of those who continue file sharing. ISPs would terminate the accounts of subscribers who make persistent breaches.
The four major ISP organizations, including Telecom Service Association and the Telecommunications Carriers Association, are made up of about 1,000 ISPs, a large portion of the Japanese market.
Copyright holders and the ISPs will set up a panel in April to decide how the system should operate.
