The Kyoto District Court on Thursday ruled Riyo Takahashi, the founder of video-sharing service FC2, guilty of hosting obscene videos on the platform.
Takahashi, 51, was sentenced to three years in prison — suspended for five years — and fined ¥2.5 million ($17,000).
Presiding Judge Hiroshi Kawakami said that Takahashi allowed a large number of such videos to remain on the platform and had even used some of them as a means of generating profits.
"The degree of damage caused to our country's sound sexual order is significant," Kawakami said.
The defense has indicated its intention to appeal the verdict while acknowledging the facts of the case.
According to the ruling, Takahashi allowed obscene videos to be stored in the platform's server computer in June 2013, which enabled large segments of the public to watch them until December that year.
In connection with the case, the guilty verdicts for two individuals who were managing and operating FC2, including Takahashi's younger brother, have become final.
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