Man admits creating Web virus, spreading via copyright footage

A 24-year-old man on trial in the Kyoto District Court charged with violating the Copyright Law admitted Tuesday he created a computer virus and used copyrighted animation footage to spread it on the Internet.

Masato Nakatsuji, a graduate school student of Osaka Electro-Communication University, made the admission during the first hearing of his trial, where he is answering charges of infringing copyright and defaming an acquaintance by attaching his photo to the virus.

It is the first time in the nation that a creator of a computer virus has been tried for criminal responsibility.

Creating computer viruses is not regarded as a crime under the existing law, but police were able to arrest Nakatsuji because in spreading the virus he used copyrighted animation footage without permission.

The prosecution described in detail the process by which Nakatsuji allegedly created the computer virus, attached it to copyright animated footage, and then promoted it on Internet bulletin boards to accelerate its distribution.