Manager of pirated manga site that cost Japanese publishers billions arrested in PH

Free access to Japanese mangas might seem like a treat to some readers, but they still come with a price, both for the publishers being ripped off and now for the man who allegedly made it happen.

Romi Hoshino (aka Zakay Romi), alleged manager of website Manga Mura, which pirates the wildly popular comic books was arrested in Pasay City on Sunday, the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced yesterday.

BI agents nabbed Hoshino, 28, at Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (NAIA) Terminal 3 after the Japanese embassy in Manila sought help from the agency in finding and arresting him. And it was a serious operation too, as BI Intelligence Officer Bobby Raquepo, head of the bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit, said Tokyo Interpol was also involved.

The suspect was on his way to Hong Kong when he was caught, The Japan Times reported.

The Association of Copyrights of Japan estimated that manga publishers lost about JPY320 billion (US$2.4 billion) because of Manga Mura, which at one point had 60,000 mangas for free and about 100 million visitors per month, according to AFP. This is believed to be the worst violation of copyright law in Japan — ever.

Manga Mura was operating until April last year when the Japanese government ordered internet service providers to block access to the website and two others to address internet piracy, The Japan Times reported.

Hoshino who is of Japanese, German, and Israeli descent but carries a Japanese passport, will be detained in the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending deportation proceedings.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that the Japanese embassy will coordinate with their Israeli and German counterparts on Hoshino’s deportation to Japan.



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