Identifying the anonymous operators of pirate sites and then locating them, wherever they are in the world, is rarely a straightforward matter.
Even when that is achieved, filing copyright lawsuits and then winning those cases could take years rather than months to complete.
Japan-based publishing giant Shueisha often utilizes courts in the United States to obtain information on mostly anonymous pirate site operators. These individuals can operate from almost anywhere in the world but what most have in common is some level of reliance on services offered by America companies. Whether that’s technical infrastructure or financial mechanisms, investigations regularly lead to the United States.
Ex Parte Application For Use in a Foreign Proceeding
Filed at a California court last week, Shueisha’s application seeks authorization to conduct discovery in the United States pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782. The company hopes to obtain evidence that will help it to identify the operators of several pirate sites so that it can file civil lawsuits for damages in Japan.
Shueisha’s application notes that around April 2024, its attorney investigated pirate sites that were offering links that allowed site visitors to illegally download its manga content. Somewhat typically the pirate sites were using the services of Cloudflare so, to move the investigation forward, Shueisha obtained a DMCA subpoena that compelled Cloudflare to hand over whatever information it held on their operators.
We reported the details of that subpoena in May this year; it covered around two dozen domains, several of which were generating tens of millions of visits every month.
Shueisha’s continuing investigation now appears to focus on a subset of the original list.
Cloudflare Produces Useful Information
According to the application, Cloudflare handed over a quantity of information in response to the subpoena, including that concerning the following piracy domains;
• mangakoma01.net • mangarawjp.asia • mangaraw.onl • mangarawjp.onl •
• spoilerplus.net • rawkuma.com • truyenqqvn.com • mangaspoiler.net •
“The material produced by Cloudflare shows that the anonymous operators of those websites…used the following email accounts that were associated with the pirate websites: (1) ‘xxxx@gmail.com’; (2) ‘xxxx@gmail.com’; (3)’xxx@googlegroups.com’; (4) ‘xxxx@gmail.com’; (5) ‘xxxxxxxx@gmail.com’; (6) ‘xxxxx@gmail.com’ and (7) ‘xxxxxxxxxxxxxxm@gmail.com,” the application reads.
The site operators also left a financial trail after using four PayPal accounts and several VISA cards to settle their bills at Cloudflare.
“The material also shows that Anonymous Individuals made VISA credit card payments to Cloudflare, using accounts ending with the following four digits: xxxx, expiring in 10/2027; xxxx, expiring in 1/2022; xxxx, expiring in 11/2022; xxxx, expiring in 2/2028,” Shueisha reports.
Lawsuits Planned in Japan
The material produced by Cloudflare also included four Google AdSense accounts associated with the pirate sites. That information is readily available from public sources and appears to link the operators to other domains.
One domain in particular not only reveals significant tracking of site visitors but indicates other avenues of inquiry for Shueisha should the existing lines run out of steam.
Shueisha notes that it will be able to present a prima facie civil case against each of the currently anonymous operators because their conduct violated Article 709 of the Civil Code.
“[E]ach civil lawsuit that will be filed upon discovering the true identities of the Anonymous Individuals will withstand a motion to dismiss in Japan,” the publisher submits.
Art 709 provides that “a person who intentionally or negligently infringes another’s rights or benefits to be protected by law shall be liable for the losses caused” (Art 709). Generally, the plaintiff has to prove (i) fault of the defendant (intentional tortfeasance gives rise to less case law and debate), (ii) infringement of plaintiff’s rights or benefits to be protected by law (i.e., the “unlawfulness or illegality” of the defendant’s behavior), (iii) a causal link, and (iv) losses.
“Applicant intends to file civil lawsuits in Japan against the Anonymous Individuals seeking damages for copyright infringement pursuant to Article 709 of the Civil Code of Japan, injunctive relief pursuant to Article 112(1) of the Copyright Act of Japan, and damages and injunctive relief pursuant to Articles 3(1) and 4 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act of Japan,” the publisher continues.
“Applicant therefore seeks Court authorization to conduct limited discovery by serving subpoenas upon Google, VISA, and PayPal, all of which are located in this district, to discover personal identifying information (‘PII’) that can be used to identify the true identities of the Anonymous Individuals.”
Shueisha says the discovery sought here is “narrowly tailored” and is not unduly intrusive or burdensome.
The company aims to obtain personal information such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and other information such as access logs (IP addresses, ports, timestamps), all of which is stored by Google, VISA and PayPal in the ordinary course of business.
| Domain | July 2024 | Aug 2024 | Sept 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mangakoma01.net | 32.59m | 39.63m | 19.63m |
| mangarawjp.asia | 3.95m | 3.37m | 2.90m |
| mangaraw.onl mangarawjp.onl |
31.24m | 43.22 | 62.51m |
| spoilerplus.net | 0.13m | 0.11m | 0.09m |
| rawkuma.com | 6.09m | 6.18m | 5.9m |
| truyenqqvn.com | 1.39m | 0.64m | 0.82m |
| mangaspoiler.net | 0.16m | 0.04m | 0.03m |
| Traffic estimates based on SimilarWeb data | |||
Shueisha’s application can be found here (pdf).
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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