{"id":1883,"date":"2008-08-28T00:52:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-27T15:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=1883"},"modified":"2008-08-28T00:52:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-27T15:52:00","slug":"2-channels-nishimura-again-ducks-responsibility-for-bbss-excesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=1883","title":{"rendered":"2-Channel’s Nishimura again ducks responsibility for BBS’s excesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a><\/p>\n

Hello Blog. \u00a0Yet another interview with BBS 2-Channel’s Nishimura, where he claims that what goes on at 2-Channel is not his responsibility.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Love the section below where he says, <\/em>“Unless there is a court order, we will not delete any messages.”<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0That’s a lie. \u00a0<\/em>He’s had a court order since January 2006<\/em><\/a> to delete the posts on me judged by a court to be libelous. \u00a0<\/em>More than two and a half years later, they’re still there…!<\/em><\/a> \u00a0And with copy-pastes the number just keeps rising.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t think this guy realizes that sooner or later, there’s going to be <\/em>legislation passed that will ultimately deprive the Internet of the privacy<\/em><\/a> he allows his BBS to so wantonly abuse. \u00a0<\/em>More on 2ch on my blog here<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0Debito in San Francisco<\/em><\/p>\n

\"2channel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n

Hiroyuki Nishimura
\nFILE PHOTO<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2channel founder says don’t blame him for criminals’ posts<\/span><\/h1>\n

Courtesy Japan Today, undated, but downloaded August 27, 2008<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.japantoday.com\/category\/shukan-post\/view\/2channel-founder-says-dont-blame-him-for-criminals-posts<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past few years 2 Channel (2ch) has become the largest online forum in Japan, registering up to 200 million hits a day. Launched by college student Hiroyuki Nishimura in 1999, the site is often at the center of controversy and was criticized in June after it was used by the suspect in the Akihabara stabbing rampage to announce his plans.<\/p>\n

\n

Freelance journalist Tetsuya Shibui interviews Nishimura for Shukan Post.<\/p>\n

The suspect in the Akihabara rampage has told police he killed people because his messages were ignored on 2ch.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

That case has nothing to do with us. I don\u2019t believe he killed people just because he was ignored online. He says he doesn\u2019t have friends. But it\u2019s not surprising people like him don\u2019t have friends. But that alone cannot be a reason for murder. It\u2019s too simple to think the Internet causes such crimes.<\/p>\n

Many crime announcements have been made on 2ch since the Akihabara case. Do you have any plans to change the site?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not at all. 2Ch has clear rules of use that allow people to request deletion of messages and a system to report inappropriate messages.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s irresponsible for you to make your users take all the responsibility?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think so. I always cooperate with police when I think some messages clearly indicate a crime may be involved and when police request disclosure of posters\u2019 information such as IP addresses, we oblige.<\/p>\n

2ch also carries information on how to commit crimes, does it not?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, no, no. Many people misunderstand 2ch. It has links to other websites which might contain information like how to make a bomb, but that\u2019s a matter for other websites to address, not 2ch.<\/p>\n

However, 2ch recently carried detailed information on the spate of hydrogen sulfide gas suicides.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes, 2ch did carry that kind of information. But that\u2019s copy and paste information copied from other websites. It\u2019s the mainstream media which is spreading information that 2ch has that kind of information. Those who were not interested in such information have suddenly become interested in 2ch through newspaper coverage. Why don\u2019t those media criticize themselves?<\/p>\n

Are you saying you have no responsibility because other websites have the same information.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, let me ask you a question. Is there any evidence that the Internet has led to an increase in crimes? I\u2019ve never seen any such evidence. The Internet is just a tool and all tools have side effects. Look at cars. Do you blame car makers when accidents are caused by speeding? I have my own logic to justify what I\u2019m doing. People can submit information freely on the Internet. Anti-Internet people are just afraid of the unknown potential of the Internet which has a short history.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, one reason for the fear is not the \u201cunknown,\u201d as you cal it, but the anonymity of the information. Why don\u2019t make your users post messages using their real names?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

I disagree. Even Social Network Services which have greater transparency have trouble and contain inappropriate information. It totally depends on users when dealing with inappropriate information. Those who cannot make judgments by themselves or don\u2019t like 2ch should not use it.<\/p>\n

What do you think about the information filter for minors<\/strong><\/p>\n

I support information filtering measures for kids because they are not capable of making proper judgments on information they get from the Internet. If I had a kid, I would give him\/her a mobile phone without an Internet connection function. I think the issue has to be debated nationwide.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been ignoring lawsuits against you for defamation for years, and you don\u2019t pay compensation that courts have ordered you to make.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s correct. I\u2019ve received more than 100 lawsuits so far. It\u2019s time consuming, but recently, I\u2019ve been working on about 30 legal cases. I\u2019m seeing how it goes. The reason why I don\u2019t pay compensation is that I think I am not responsible for what others post. If I were posting death threats or whatever, then I must pay. But I\u2019m just a manager of 2ch. I don\u2019t feel guilty at all.<\/p>\n

Why don\u2019t you make a system to check inappropriate messages?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult even for legal professionals to distinguish between legal and illegal content. If we were to delete messages, 2ch would cease to be a forum where people can freely post. Unless there is a court order, we will not delete any messages.<\/p>\n

Have you ever thought of closing 2ch?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Never. That\u2019s because we currently monopolize this sort of business in Japan.<\/p>\n

Your income is reported to be around 100 million yen acquired from online ads and book sales.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s about right.<\/p>\n

What do your parents think of your business and all the flak?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My father is an ex-tax officer. But we have never talked about our businesses to each other. When I go home sometimes, he just says to me: \u201cGo ahead with what you\u2019re doing.\u201d (Translated by Taro Fujimoto)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet another interview with BBS 2-Channel’s Nishimura, where he claims that what goes on at 2-Channel is not his responsibility.<\/p>\n

Love the section below where he says, “Unless there is a court order, we will not delete any messages.” That’s a lie. He’s had a court order since January 2006 to delete the posts on me judged by a court to be libelous. More than two and a half years later, they’re still there…!<\/p>\n

I don’t think this guy realizes that sooner or later, there’s going to be legislation passed that will ultimately deprive the Internet of the privacy he allows his BBS to so wantonly abuse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,37,26,21,15,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bad-business-practices","category-injustice","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-21","category-lawsuits","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}