The only thing I really know about manga is that there’s lots of it. But now there’s a fair bit less of it online, at least that’s available for, erm, ‘free’, in less than legal terms, on bato.to. But this and many related sites, such as xbato.com, are now dead, thanks to a Chinese criminal investigation aided by the Japanese Content Overseas Distribution Organisation (CODA) (via NHK).
Bato was apparently the world’s largest manga piracy website that hosted thousands of comics illegally, translating them and distributing them without permission from the rights holders.
At this stage, it seems like the operation of the site is being pegged on a man living in Guangxi, China, who is under investigation and has, according to CODA, “admitted to operating all of the related sites and is expected to be formally indicted in due course.” Investigations are still ongoing, though, with more accomplices potentially being on the hook.
CODA says that the case started “following requests from Japanese publishers—Kadokawa Corporation, Kodansha Ltd, Shueisha Inc, Shogakukan Inc, and Square Enix Ltd.” Yep, you read that right, Square Enix makes manga, too. You learn something new every day—or maybe I just live under a rock, who knows. (My colleague looks at me disapprovingly for not knowing that.)
According to CODA, the site was a “user-submitted” piracy site, ie, users uploaded copies of comics, and the site merely hosted it. Apparently, “by operating numerous sites in parallel and dispersing traffic, the operator was able to evade enforcement measures such as crackdowns and site blocking in various countries, allowing large-scale infringement to continue globally over an extended period.”
I’m not sure what the exact charges will be or the possible sentences, but for now, he has been released on bail. It might just be because I work in a rights-laden industry (journalism, involving writing), covering rights-laden artwork (games), but I don’t have much of a soft spot for those hosting large piracy sites.
Though that’s a mire I should probably avoid delving into, lest I rekindle the flame wars of yore.
