Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
3.3
Court Decisions Regarding the Cloud Computing Services
Table 1 displays information on some court cases relating to cloud computing
services in Japan. The legality of personal locker or “placeshifting” services as a type
of cloud computing services centers mainly on whether a service provider falls within
the definition of a principal committing copyright infringement. In Japan, indirect
infringement of copyright does not only entitle copyright owners to injunctive
remedies, but also to monetary remedies of damages. Most courts have applied an
overall consideration standard such as the Karaoke theory or its variation to this issue.
Because courts apply an overall consideration standard, it is therefore difficult to find
the critical factor that would make a personal locker or “placeshifting” service legal
or illegal.
Table 1.
Court cases relating to the cloud computing services in Japan
Date
Case
Court
Nov. 15, 2005
Rokuga Net
INTELL. HIGH Ct.
May 25, 2007
MYUTA
Tokyo D. Ct.
Sep. 8, 2010
TV Break (formerly, “Pandora TV)
INTELL. HIGH Ct.
Jan. 31, 2012
Maneki TV
INTELL. HIGH Ct.
Jan. 31, 2012
Rokuraku-II
INTELL. HIGH Ct.
3.4
The Rokuga Net
The Rokuga Net was a service that enabled its customers who lived abroad to view
Japanese television programs. The provider placed a personal computer together with
television tuner having the function of receiving and recording television programs at
the disposal of each user. Each user operated his or her own TV-personal computer
from home through the Internet to reserve recordings of programs and transmitted the
recorded files from his or her own personal computer to the provider's server and then
downloaded the transmitted files to his or her own TV-personal computer from
anywhere. The Intellectual Property High Court, taking into consideration the actions
of copying television programs as a whole, concluded that the Rokuga Net service
was the principal committing infringement of the “reproduction right” [5].
3.5
MYUTA
MYUTA was a service that enabled its customers to connect to the Internet from a
personal computer and a mobile phone. The service allowed a user to upload music
recorded on their own computer such as from their CDs and store it on the provider's
servers under his or her own personal and restricted account, and then to download
music to his or her mobile phone for listening. The music could only be downloaded
to the user's mobile phone and was not available publicly or to any other users. The
provider claimed that essentially the parties that copy/send the music are the users
themselves and that they do not send the music to unspecified parties in order not to
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