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Japanese Government Enlists Pirate Hunter to Track Down Illegal Streams, Downloads

The Japanese government is known for taking piracy seriously, whether its file-sharing, selling bootleg merchandise, or hacking mobile games. When it comes to illegal streaming content, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry employs automated methods to seek out copyrighted videos. YouTube has a similar algorithm, but pirates continue to adapt to circumvent having the content taken down.

Starting next week, the Ministry will hire a specialist whose job will be to find unlicensed, copyrighted videos on streaming and download sites and evaluate possible damage to the rights holder. The specialist will look for both anime and live-action videos.

The anime and manga industry has employed a variety of methods to try to combat piracy. Besides arresting offenders, the "Manga Anime Guardians" (MAG) search engine for manga and anime titles was developed to redirect fans to legal avenues to view titles.

Thanks to Rukiia for the news tip

[Via Casey Baseel at Rocket News 24]