The damage caused by pirate sites that post Japanese manga and other content on the Internet without permission has been rapidly increasing, with the number of hits to the top 10 sites in November reaching a record high of approximately 540 million in one month, and it has been revealed that the amount of “free reading” of these works, converted into paper books, was also the highest ever at approximately 150 billion yen. The report was compiled by ABJ, an anti-piracy organization made up of publishers, telecommunications companies, and others. The total number of visits to the top 10 websites with the highest number of visitors from within Japan was approximately 400 million in December 2021, the worst ever at the time. The number of views fell sharply as several large websites were forced to close, hovering around 100 million per month at the beginning of this year, but it has risen sharply since around July. The reason for this sudden increase is believed to be that pirate sites have begun to frequently change the domains that serve as their Internet addresses in a short period of time, a practice known as “domain hopping.” Users have quickly moved to the new sites with the new domains, causing the top 10 sites to grow enormously. Currently, around 1,200 pirate sites have been identified, and most of their operators are believed to be based overseas, such as in Vietnam, so progress has been slow in cracking down on them. Atsushi Ito, head of the ABJ’s public relations department (advisor to Shueisha’s editorial general affairs department), said, “Unfortunately, the reality is that we have not been able to contain the growth. “If authorities in each country were to arrest operators of these huge websites, it would have a deterrent effect, and we will continue to make efforts to appeal to those involved.” 2024/12/26 15:00 Yomiuri Shimbun Online.
That’s so true. Both the people who upload and the people who watch should be severely punished. I can’t help but wonder if they have some kind of vested interest.
Nowadays, the official site releases the first episode, the latest episode, and episodes from a week ago for free, so I read them for free on the official site and then buy and read the ones I like. I don’t have to look for pirate sites anymore…
That’s because major publishers are adamantly refusing to offer subscriptions. Major manga publishers like Jump, for example, would offer unlimited access to all manga, including past works! If they charged 500 yen a month, they could shut down pirate sites in no time.
I remember reading Jump magazine while standing there a long time ago. They’re going to regulate young people’s internet use. I bet they’re going to link it to this.
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