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gusty (![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} gusty) wrote in ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/community.gif){kind=small} fandom_wank,@ 2010-07-10 11:47:00 |
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| Entry tags: | can't escape the screencaps, fandom: pokemon, internet lawyers |
2ch used Deport!
Pokebeach is a Pokemon fansite whose webmaster, Water Pokemon Master (hereby known as WPM), is currently living in Japan in order to cover news about the upcoming 5th generation of Pokemon.
This week the 13th movie in the series came out, featuring advertisements that revealed two new Pokemon. WPM took photographs of these new Pokemon during this showing and posted them to Pokebeach. Filming a movie in a theater is a serious offense in Japan, and members of the Japanese site 2chan were enraged at WPM's actions. They reported him to the Japanese police and are encouraging others to do so. WPM could face an $11,000 fine and deportation.
Bulbagarden, another Pokemon fansite, reported on the incident, with the note that: "After learning of Water Pokémon Master's act, many people, such as several of the administrators of Bulbagarden, have condemned WPM's actions." This is where the wank comes in. A post about the news story was posted in the Bulbagarden forums ETA: Now deleted. A couple pages into this post, a copy of WPM's response to the affair is shared in which he lashes out at Bulbagarden for condeming him:
"Update (2:00 AM) - *rolls eyes* I find it rather revolting that rival sites (and others) are saying I should be arrested for posting two photos from advertisements promoting the upcoming Black and White; talk about blowing things out of proportion and starting unnecessary drama. Said rival sites post photos from CoroCoro magazine before it is leaked, post episode screenshots immediately after episodes air, upload whole video of segments from Japanese television, have copyrighted material on their websites, and even distribute DVD-quality Pokemon movies. Talk about a double standard! At least when I do something fishy, I fully acknowledge it. If you're going to complain about the way I run this website, make sure you're not going to sound like a complete hypocrite first. And chill out - the Pokemon will be revealed soon anyways. Like maybe even tomorrow during Pokemon Sunday (which I'm sure will be uploaded to thousands of places on the Internet), or in the leaked CoroCoro scans next week (which we all know, and have always known, come from people who illegally get the magazine first). Shooting me in the foot for something like this is pretty foolish when everyone does it to some degree; two low-resolution and blurry photos of Pokemon, whether the act of taking the pictures is illegal or not, is not going to hurt anyone and only promotes the games. If anyone should pay a fine, it should be Pokemon and Nintendo to its loyal webmasters who have spent years out of their time and wallets promoting their products. After all, the only reason I came to Japan (spending well over $8,000 out of my own pocket) was to do coverage of the fifth generation. :)"
This results in a back-and-forth between Bulbagarden staff and forum users on whether they're hypocritical for their opinion on WPM's actions considering they reguarly post leaked CoroCoro scans:
TTEchidna: "We weren't the ones who took the scans. As a news organization, what we're doing is no more illegal than a TV channel showing video of a murder."
WPM then posts a conversation on AIM between himself and the Bulbagarden staff on Pokebeach, and this is also posted by Sparrow on the Bulbagarden forums:
"[02:15] PokeBeachWebsite: lol, you guys are so ridiculous
[02:15] PokeBeachWebsite: You do know that you have also shot yourselves in the foot by suddenly declaring something on a fansite illegal, right?
[02:19] archaiceternal: We've always acknowledged that fansites are 100% illegal. We exist only at the whim of the intellectual property holders. Pissing them off by doing something that carries actual jail time and fines like taking something to record images into a movie theatre is just plain stupid. You might have gotten away with it before, but the fans on 2ch noticed this time, and by the time we'd noticed it they were already baying for all of our blood.
[02:19] *** Auto-response sent to archaiceternal: I am currently away from the computer.
[02:20] PokeBeachWebsite: Before?
[02:20] PokeBeachWebsite: I've never recorded or taken pics of a movie in a theatre before -_-
[02:21] archaiceternal: You took audio last time, as I recall.
[02:21] PokeBeachWebsite: For my movie summary
[02:22] archaiceternal: Still highly illegal. Even worse now, they tightened the laws as of January this year.
[02:22] PokeBeachWebsite: Uh so? It was so I could write the summary better
[02:22] PokeBeachWebsite: -_-
[02:22] PokeBeachWebsite: You guys are such drama queens
[02:22] PokeBeachWebsite: lol
[02:22] PokeBeachWebsite: I hope you know that until charges are pressed against me, your news story is stupid
[02:23] PokeBeachWebsite: I'm sure the Japanese gov't has a lot more to worry about than two photos of ADVERTISMENTS
[02:23] PokeBeachWebsite: and of Pokemanz
[02:23] PokeBeachWebsite: lol
[02:24] PokeBeachWebsite: And I'd also like you to know that if they come after me, which I seriously doubt (though acknowledge the possibility), the changes of them going after others will be increased as well
[02:24] PokeBeachWebsite: Thanks to your story"
Before the deletion (after I made this post) there was 29 pages about the situation on the Bulbagarden forums. Supposedly there's more wank on the Pokebeach forums, but my work blocks that website (hence why I used the Bulbagarden forum quotes of what has been posted on Pokebeach rather than the site itself, apologies). If anyone has a link to that, it'd be appreciated!
ETA: Lots of caps here thanks to galateus!
