Japanese virus 'punishes' filesharers

The Japanese Masato Nakatsuji is arrested and suspected of having destroyed computer property through the "tako-ika (squid-octopus) virus. The virus changes computer’s media files icons with the image of a cartoon-like squid-octopus. Reportedly, the ika-tako virus had infected 50,000 computers in 2009.

 It was not the first time Nakatsuji was arrested for such an offense. In 2008 Nakatsuji was arrested for writing the Harada virus. This virus focused on people using the BitTorrent program Winny to exchange files. File-sharers that exchanged files infected with the virus would see the following message appear on their displays: "You're already dead. Come here. And apologize to me. If you don't, this PC will self-destruct." Consequently the virus replaced music, video, and system files with the image of a man named Harada.

Remarkably Nakatsuji was arrested on the grounds of copyright infringement, because he used the copyrighted image of a character from a Japanese so-called Manga comic. Perhaps it played a role that at that time writing a virus wasn’t a criminal offense in Japan.

Nakatsuji was conditionally released for committing copyright infringement by the Harada virus in 2008 when he was arrested for writing the ika-tako virus on August 4, 2010. Nakatsuji said to the police that he wished to see if his programming skills had improved. Moreover, he wanted to punish people who use file-sharing software.

Source: JapanTimes