The Supreme Court of Japan has acquitted on Thursday 39-year-old peer-to-peer file-sharing software developer Isamu Kaneko of copyright violation charges, overturning the conviction ruling by the lower court.
In an interview outside the courtroom, Kaneko said that it was “a very fair judgment” by the Osaka High Court, adding that the ruling would be a huge impact in the way that software development works all over the world.
“The ruling not only vindicated me but it will also give good impact in the software development in the world,” he added.
Kaneko’s case was the first Japanese court ruling over the creation and proliferation of P2P file-sharing software in the country.
Kaneko was the developer of the popular “Winny” P2P file-sharing software, which enables users to freely share PC and other consoles’ popular games, as well as, movies over the Internet.
The software has made Kaneko a cyberspace icon and hero to gaming fans all over Japan.
It will be recalled that the Kyoto District Court had convicted Kaneko on December 2006 for allegedly creating a file-sharing program that would hamper technological development in the country.
The 39-year-old pleaded “not guilty” to the copyright infringement lawsuit.
In its ruling, the Kyoto court cited that Kaneko was fully aware of the consequences of developing such P2P software, stressing that it would be widely used in various illegal purposed.
The court has also ordered the software developer to pay $24, 000 or 1.5 million yen. The one-year jail term being pushed by the prosecutors was scrapped.
On the other hand, High Court Judge Masazo Ogura said that the lower court’s ruling was under the basis of “If,” adding that Kaneko, despite being aware of the illegal activities that the software can create, has no direct responsibility of the users’ actions.
Ogura, instead, said that users should be more responsible in their actions when they are using file-sharing software and do not commit such violations.