# Downloading films / tv shows?



## Raffish_Chapish (Jul 2, 2014)

Here in the UK I have got fairly used to downloading the odd film and tv show from PirateBay or some such torrent site and it is fairly commonplace to do so (there aren't any legal consequences). Is this the case in Japan?

Otherwise here you can sign up for something like Netflix that streams the tv to you...is there something like that there?

Basically I don't want to miss out on things like Game of Thrones and those other good HBO type series.

Thanks

RC


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## larabell (Sep 10, 2007)

Unlike many other countries, where only uploading is a crime, in Japan downloading copyrighted material of any sort can net you a significant fine and possibly jail time. I haven't heard of anyone being prosecuted under that law. You'd think the first couple of cases would be big news as the copyright holders would want to make examples of those cases. Still... I'm not sure I'd want to be the first to fall into that category.

Also, I've read about threats made by ISPs to disconnect anyone caught downloading copyrighted material. Again, I have yet to hear of anyone reporting that they were actually cut off for that reason.

As for alternatives, Hulu is available here. I'm not sure about Netflix. A large number of TV series are available for rental in larger video shops (though I don't know specifically about the HBO ones because I don't watch them myself). It also seems to be popular to hook up to a remote server through a VPN service (there are dozens out there so they should be easy enough to find). If you pick a server in your home country, you can just do the same as you've been doing all along. Once you bring up the VPN connection, your computer will behave like never left home. Since the connection is encrypted, it would be harder for your ISP and/or the Jcops to figure out what you're doing. But... because of that... I've heard some ISPs might disconnect you for using a VPN. Again... just threats... no reports of that actually happening as far as I know.

Also, if it's just HBO that you're interested in, it's available on cable. I'm not sure they run the exact same season or even the same stuff -- back when I used to watch TV a lot, Fox was running mostly the same stuff here as in the States but they were usually one or two seasons behind. Nakai should be on Jcom (used to be JCN, which used to be NCT -- the main office is near Nakano station). I'll also bet HBO is available on Sky Perfect (the big satellite provider here -- unless they changed their name, too).


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## Narue86 (Jul 7, 2013)

I'm not sure if this is true (a friend told me) but it seems that they would only "catch" you if you downloaded material copyrighted in Japan. If you download material from abroad (US TV series/ movies, European music, etc.) they wouldn't tell you anything. Again not sure how true this is, but I myself have been downloading foreign movies and series for months without any warnings (yet).

I also heard that they don't fine/ put you in jail right away but they give you a warning at the beginning asking you to stop downloading. Only if you continued they would disconnect your Internet services and proceed to further legal action. Again, this is not 100% accurate information, just rumors I heard from other expats.


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## larabell (Sep 10, 2007)

Yeah... all I've ever heard are rumors and no concrete reports of actions taken so it's hard to say what you should expect. I'd be hesitant to rely on just a few months with no action because the Jcops are notoriously slow on things like this. But it sounds right that they'd warn you first, maybe expecting an apology and a promise not to do it again. That sounds very Japanese.

And it's certainly possible that they either don't care about non-Japanese material or maybe the big content providers are too busy harassing uploaders in other countries to complain. But Japan is a signatory on most, if not all, of the international treaties on copyright so, technically, if something is copyrighted in some other country (like the US), it's copyrighted in all countries which follow the treaties.

Of course, if you do get caught, saying you heard it was OK on some forum isn't going to help much .


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