OSAKA (Kyodo) A former University of Tokyo researcher pleaded not guilty Monday in the Osaka High Court to abetting copyright violations by developing and publicizing the Winny file-sharing software program.
Isamu Kaneko, 38, and prosecutors have both appealed a ¥1.5 million fine given him by the Kyoto District Court in December 2006.
The district court found Kaneko, who publicized the software on his Web site in May 2002, guilty of assisting two Winny users who illegally made movies and other files available for download through peer-to-peer online file exchanges in September 2003 in violation of copyrights.
The case marks the first time in Japan that a software developer has been charged and convicted over unlawful acts by the software's users.
Kaneko's counsel said that cutting-edge technologies always involve the possibility of being abused and questioned if engineers should be punished when their technologies are misused.
People who developed automobiles are not punished for speeding violations, the counsel argued.
Prosecutors are appealing because the district court rejected their demand for a one-year prison term for Kaneko. They claim he developed the program with the intent to destroy the copyright system and encouraged unlawful copying of protected content.
In rejecting a custodial sentence, the court said Kaneko, who was arrested in May 2004, did not intend to bring about copyright violations.
The two Winny users in the case were found guilty of violating the copyright law.
Winny software enables the transfer of files over the Internet and has been involved in several information leaks, including defense secrets.
