Japan convicts virus writer with copyright law

JAPAN has had to use its copyright infringement laws to convict a hacker for writing and distributing a virus.

Masato Nakatsuji, 24, a graduate student at Osaka Electro-Communication University, used the Harada virus but coppers could not arrest him for that. This is because Japan lacks any laws against using such malware.

Coppers thought about charging him with criminal damage to property and obstructing business. They decided that copyright violation charges were the most likely to stick.

Since Nakatsuji embedded the virus into an image from a Japanese animation he was done for illegally copying the film.

Kyoto District Court did not contest the charge and he received a three year suspended sentence. µ

L'Inq
AP