Japan probes website attacks amid Anonymous claims
News On Japan via phys.org -- Jun 27
Japan was probing attacks on government websites Wednesday after hacker collective Anonymous lashed out at beefed-up laws on illegal downloads and warned of more to come.
A site purporting to speak for the group said newly enacted laws that could mean jail for anyone downloading copyrighted music and movies "will result in scores of unnecessary prison sentences to numerous innocent citizens".
The finance ministry's website came under attack on Tuesday, with a number of webpages defaced, ministry official Takanari Horino told AFP, and websites of the supreme court and intellectual property high court were also down for a short time overnight, he said.
With crackdowns on violators of child prostitution and pornography statutes having increased in recent years, Nikkan Gendai (May 17) wonders how a manager of an online operation that primarily sold lolicon (“Lolita complex”) films was able to evade detection for an extended period prior to his arrest earlier this month. (Tokyo Reporter)
This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. (Japan Times )
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced that it intends to draw up a set of unified rules for the use of baby strollers on buses and trains. (Japan Today )
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a broker of Thai females for violating immigration laws by employing the women as masseuses. (Tokyo Reporter )
The parents of a nightclub worker killed in an arson fire three years ago filed a suit in the Nagoya District Court on Monday seeking damages against top members of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group. (Tokyo Reporter )
Kyodo News said Monday that it has dismissed Satoshi Kondo, 51, deputy chief of its general administration bureau and former personnel affairs division chief, for meeting individually with a female student searching for a job and doing an inappropriate act.
(Jiji Press )
Saitama and Okayama prefectural police last week arrested the manager of an online porn DVD operation that specialized in films featuring children. (Tokyo Reporter)