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Native name | 2ちゃんねる (Japanese) |
---|---|
Type of site | Textboard |
Available in | Japanese |
Owner | Disputed |
Created by | Hiroyuki Nishimura |
URL | 2ch |
Commercial | Yes |
Users | 10 million monthly (2010)[1] |
Launched | 30 May 1999[2] |
Current status | Disputed (since 19 February 2014 | )
Available in | Japanese |
---|---|
Founded | 1 April 2014 |
Owner | Hiroyuki Nishimura |
Parent | Packet Monster Inc.[3] |
URL | 2ch |
Commercial | Yes |
Current status | Active |
Available in | Japanese, with a small minority of boards in English[4] |
---|---|
Founded | 1 October 2017 |
Owner | Jim Watkins |
Parent | Loki Technology Inc. via Race Queen Inc. |
URL | 5ch |
Commercial | Yes |
Current status | Active |
2channel (Japanese: 2ちゃんねる, Hepburn: ni channeru), also known as 2ch,[5] Channel 2,[6][7] and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net,[8] was an anonymous Japanese textboard[b] founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Described in 2007 as "Japan's most popular online community",[9] the site had a level of influence comparable to that of traditional mass media such as television, radio, and magazines.[2] At the time, the site drew an annual revenue of around ¥100 million (about US$1 million),[10][11] and was the largest of its kind in the world, with around ten million visitors[9] and 2.5 million posts made per day.[2]
The site was hosted and had its domain registration provided by Jim Watkins, based in San Francisco, California.[10][1][12] In 2009, ownership of the site was transferred to Singapore-based Packet Monster Inc., under which Nishimura remained in control.[13][14] In February 2014, Watkins seized the 2ch.net domain, taking full control over the website and assuming the role of site administrator.[12][15] This has resulted in two textboards claiming to be the legitimate 2channel:[15] 2ch.sc,[a] owned by Nishimura through Packet Monster Inc.,[3] and 5channel (5ちゃんねる, go channeru, domain 5ch.net), established in 2017 by redirect from the original domain and owned by Watkins through Philippines-based Loki Technology Inc.
2channel and its successors are more controversial than other social media in Japan;[5] they are extremely popular among Japan's extreme right-wing, known as the netto-uyoku, who post xenophobic comments, often targeting Koreans and Chinese.[9][6] Defamation is of particular concern; by August 2008, Nishimura had received more than one hundred lawsuits for defamatory comments left on the website.[11] Announcements of crimes also have drawn scrutiny towards 2channel and its successors.[13][17][18][19] In 2012, 2channel was accused by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police of allowing its platform to be used by amphetamine dealers,[20] although no charges were filed.[13]
In September 2007, 2channel averaged over 2.4 million posts per day.[21][c] As of July 2020, 5channel had 1,031 boards receiving around 2.7 million posts per day on weekends,[22] with no growth since March 2016.[23][c] Meanwhile, 2ch.sc then had 826 boards receiving around 5,700 posts daily.[24][c]
Textboards like 2channel were rooted in two earlier technologies: dial-in bulletin boards, known in Japan as grass roots bulletin boards (草の根BBS),[5] and Usenet.[26] 2channel has two predecessors: Ayashii World created in 1996 by Shiba Masayuki,[26] and Amezou (あめぞう),[25] created in 1997. Ayashii World was the first large anonymous web bulletin board in Japan, while Amezou originated the more familiar "textboard" concept wherein threads are displayed chronologically, with new comments bumping old threads to the top, rather than in a branching tree.[26][25] Ayashii World closed in 1998, leading most of its former users to go to Amezou;[26] Nishimura advertised 2channel in a post on Amezou in May 1999, calling it "Amezou's second channel".[25] From June, Amezou became increasingly unable to handle the load on its servers,[25][27]: 260 until its host shut it down after threats against Amezou's anonymous owner which contained his dox were posted on it.[26][27]: 260
2channel was founded on 30 May 1999 in a college apartment in Conway, Arkansas on the campus of University of Central Arkansas[2] by Hiroyuki Nishimura.[1] Success came quickly; many of Amezou's users began using it as soon as it opened.[5] When compared with other bulletin boards, 2channel's technology wasn't much different; what led to its success was instead its being an "outlet for unfettered expression";[10] by being hosted in the United States, 2channel was able to bypass more restrictive Japanese censorship rules, while still being accessible from Japan.[28] The site also enjoyed greater immunity from legal action within Japan due to the location of its servers.[10][29] By 2002, Google said that the most searched word in Japan was "2channel".[30] By 2004, 2channel was already the largest internet forum in Japan.[6]
The name "2channel" is a reference to VHF channel 2, the default setting for the RF modulators used in earlier-generation game consoles (such as Nintendo's Family Computer) when connecting to Japanese television sets.[31] Where Amezou was originally meant to be "channel one", 2channel was meant to be "channel two".[25][27]: 266 The site's iconic jar logo is a reference to deprecatory remarks some former users of Ayashii World would make about 2channel early on in the site's history, likening it to a spittoon (痰壷).[32][27]: 271 Nishimura took this nickname and adopted it as the site's logo by 2002.[27][33]
Jim Watkins, an ex-US army non-commissioned officer (sergeant first class), domain name registrar, and dedicated hosting service provider, hosted 2channel since at least 2004[8] through various corporate identities, including Big-server.com Inc.,[34] Pacific Internet Exchange LLC[35] and N. T. Technology Inc.[36][37] Before 2channel, Watkins' company primarily specialized in using servers and domains in the United States to serve uncensored pornographic content to users in Japan.[29][36]
On 2 January 2009, Nishimura claimed to have transferred ownership of 2channel to Packet Monster Inc., a company based in Chinatown, Singapore, and to no longer be involved in the site's management.[38][39] However, Nishimura was charged with violating Japanese narcotic control laws anyway on 20 December 2012.[40][d] As part of their case, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) claimed Nishimura remained involved in 2channel's operations, alleging Packet Monster Inc. is a shell company (ペーパーカンパニー).[13] The main thrust of the complaint was that Nishimura allegedly did not delete posts seeking to purchase illicit amphetamine from other 2channel users online; the Internet Hotline Center , an agency of the MPD, alleged that in 2011 97% of its 5,223 deletion requests did not result in deletion.[20] On 19 March 2013, the Public Prosecutors Office decided not to prosecute the case.[13]
In August 2013, the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau declared in a tax audit that Nishimura had failed to declare ¥100 million worth of website revenue which should have been taxed between 2009 and 2012, years in which he financially benefited from Packet Monster Inc.;[13][41] Nishimura settled the matter by paying the owed tax, ¥30 million.[42]
In August 2013, a hacker using the name sassy ecchi (さっしーえっち)[43] leaked the personal details (including names, addresses, and phone numbers)[37] and credit card numbers of thousands of 2channel users who had used 2channel's paid services into the public domain,[44] exposing the anonymous profiles of various high level personas such as politicians and writers,[45] including an attorney involved in 2channel cases, Takahiro Karasawa (唐澤貴洋),[43] and a staff member of AKB48.[46] More than 74,000 users had their personal information exposed by the leak.[47]
The paid service involved in the leak was known as the "2channel viewer" (2ちゃんねるビューア),[43] or maru (●).[48][e] Its main utility was that it allowed users to read old threads; if a thread on 2channel received 1,000 posts, it would become part of the kako rogu (過去ログ, lit. past log) by a process of ".dat omission" (dat落ち)[f] of such threads, after which time a thread was no longer freely accessible.[50][1] 2channel charged ¥3,600 per year for the service, which was typically paid by credit card; logs of these payments were the source of the data leak.[51]
At the time of the leak, Watkins apologized on behalf of N. T. Technology, Inc., saying he was the victim of a "cyber attack" and that "some data [of my] customers was compromised."[37][52]
On 19 February 2014, Jim Watkins, as chairman of N.T. Technology, Inc., 2channel's domain registrar, seized 2channel's domain. He took full control over the website, relieved Nishimura of all power, and assumed the role of website administrator.[15] Watkins made the kako rogu free to all users shortly after assuming control.[53]
Watkins claimed that Nishimura had failed to pay him money owed which led to the seizure as a way to cover Nishimura's debts,[54][55] while Nishimura claimed that he had in fact paid everything owed and that the domain transfer was an illegal domain hijacking.[56] In response, Nishimura created his own clone of 2channel at 2ch.sc ,[57] scraping the contents of the entire 2channel website and updating 2ch.sc as new posts appeared on 2ch.net. In a Q&A session on 4chan shortly after becoming the site's owner, Nishimura claimed that 2channel was stolen by Watkins.[58]
Nishimura has attempted to repossess the domain both through WIPO's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy[59] and through the Japanese court system.[8] Through the Japan Patent Office, Nishimura owns the trademark "2channel",[60] though the WIPO refused to intervene on his behalf on account of that, suggesting the parties go to court instead as it was not, in its view, a case of "cybersquatting" but rather a "business dispute".[59]
Ron Watkins, Jim's son, in 2016 registered the trademark "5channel" in Japan.[61] On 1 October 2017, 2ch.net began redirecting to 5ch.net, a domain owned by Loki Technology, Inc.[62] The chairman of Loki Technology Inc. is also Jim Watkins;[63] his wife, Liziel, is the treasurer and majority shareholder.[36] According to a press release, the name was changed to 5channel to avoid potential legal issues due to Nishimura's ownership of the "2channel" trademark.[64]
Due to its large number of boards, the types of information exchanged on 2channel are very diverse.[2] There are boards for topics as diverse as sports, sex, celebrity gossip, computer programming[10] and ongoing earthquakes;[65] even some academic research has gotten its start on 2channel.[66]
One of the most distinctive features of 2channel is its use of anonymous posting.[2] Nishimura explained his reasons for preferring anonymity online to USC Annenberg's Japan Media Review thus:[7]
If there is a user ID attached to a user, a discussion tends to become a criticizing game. On the other hand, under the anonymous system, even though your opinion/information is criticized, you don't know with whom to be upset. Also with a user ID, those who participate in the site for a long time tend to have authority, and it becomes difficult for a user to disagree with them. Under a perfectly anonymous system, you can say, "it's boring," if it is actually boring. All information is treated equally; only an accurate argument will work.
However, a frequent criticism directed toward anonymous textboards like 2channel, most notably by Kazuhiko Nishi, is that their anonymous nature make them mere "toilet graffiti" (便所の落書き).[67][32] 2channel's anonymity is a departure from most English language internet forums which require some form of registration, usually coupled with email verification for further identification of an individual;[9] its anonymity in part inspired the creation of 4chan.[68] On 2channel, a name field is available, but it is seldom used.[69]: PT26 However, as open proxies such as the Tor network are banned from posting on 2channel, the administrators have some degree of ability to help law enforcement unmask users if necessary.[70][1]
While 2channel and its successors are commercial, 2channel was moderated by volunteers.[5] 2channel relied on advertisements from "obscure" companies.[6] In 2007, it had an annual revenue of around ¥100 million.[10][11] Between 2009 and 2012, ¥200 million in ad profits were transferred to Nishimura's Singaporean shell company.[41][42]
As early as 2004, companies such as Dentsu were data mining the website for their clients, keeping them informed of how they were being portrayed by 2channel users;[6][g][71] by 2006, 75% of the content Dentsu analyzed on behalf of its customers was posted to 2channel.[14]
2channel also received revenue from subscription services like the aforementioned maru.[51] For its part, 5channel has a subscription service, "Premium Rōnin" (プレミアム浪人), that allows people outside Japan to post on it; this service also hides ads from its subscribers.[72][73]
2channel historically allowed anyone to use its data,[74] providing it in an easily parsable format;[f] this made it simple to create third party "dedicated browsers" (専用ブラウザ, sen'yō burauza) for posting on and using 2channel. The openness of the data allowed for the proliferation of matome saito (まとめサイト, summary websites) and afi burogu (アフィブログ, affiliate blogs), which summarize 2channel threads and attempt to collect what they see as the "best of" 2channel.[15] In 2007, due to growing discontentment towards such sites, Nishimura added a board, /poverty/,[h] which marked every post on it with the phrase tensai kinshi (転載禁止, transl. reproduction [of this post is] prohibited).[75] This caused many users to abandon other boards for that board.[76]
Watkins made it a priority to combat "piracy" of 5channel by third-party matome sites in March 2014,[77] adding tensai kinshi to many popular boards.[15] Such sites siphon users from 2channel itself, with some receiving in excess of 100 million monthly pageviews;[15] in one case a matome site earned its owner ¥300,000 per month.[77] Watkins followed up the rule change by restricting access to 2channel's data in March 2015, by requiring that dedicated browser authors use a special API to access 2channel's, and later 5channel's, thread data.[72][78][79] On 10 July 2023, Jane, a company that provided a 5channel API server, terminated its 5channel API service, thus ending several applications' support for the site. Some browsers, including Jane's, replaced their support for 5channel with another anonymous textboard site named Talk.[80][81]
Densha Otoko is a Japanese franchise consisting of a movie, television series, manga, and other media, all based on the purportedly true story of a 23-year-old man who intervened when a drunk man started to harass several women on a train. The man ultimately begins dating one of the women. The event and the man's subsequent dates with the woman, chronicled on 2channel, directly inspired the franchise.[82] Whether or not the original 2channel story is actually true is debated.[83]: 27
2channel and its successors, being textboards, cannot have images posted to them. Users get around this, however, by posting a more expressive form of ASCII art: Shift_JIS art.[84][i] Below is a small sample:
2channel and other websites with "chan" in their name have been known for activism done by their users for a variety of causes.[85]
During Hiroyuki's administration, he was often openly defiant of Japanese law, especially around libel, and his duty to follow it, telling Yomiuri Shimbun in March 2007:[2]
I don't have any intention of paying up to a country whose laws I don't respect. As long as they're not handing me the death sentence, I'm not backing down.
By May 2008, Nishimura had lost more than fifty libel lawsuits in Japanese civil courts, and had been assessed millions of dollars in penalties;[10] by August, according to him, he'd received more than one hundred lawsuits.[11] While according to the official pages of the website, slander was prohibited,[87] activists such as Debito Arudou claimed that the site did not actually respond to requests to delete posts in his case, returning mail unopened.[88] After the transfer to Packet Monster Inc., Arudou, who had still not received any of the court ordered penalty, wrote in an op-ed that Nishimura had only transferred his assets to increase his "unaccountability".[89] While Nishimura at that point had never paid any of the compensation courts ordered in his cases, in 2010 one of his plaintiffs was successful in getting compensated through the publisher of one of Nishimura's books.[1]
Crime announcements (犯行予告) were a regular occurrence on 2channel, including of mass suicides and murders.[13] After the 2000 Neomugicha incident, in which a bus was hijacked by a man who posted on 2channel, police officers started regularly policing 2channel;[2] such surveillance only increased after the Akihabara massacre announced his 2008 attack on 2channel as well.[90][17] Former superintendent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Tateshi Higuchi called the site a "den of iniquity".[91] According to The Japan Times, however, 2channel cooperated with police in the past to aid them in catching criminals using 2channel by giving police their IP addresses, from which their locations were determined.[1]
Such crime announcements have continued to be a problem on 5channel:[18][19] it was speculated that the man who carried out the Kyoto Animation arson attack posted an advance warning of the crime on 5channel.[92]
Part of a series on |
Koreans in Japan |
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2channel, with its massive size and anonymous posting, is abundant with slander, hate speech[6][93] and defamation against public figures, institutions, and minority ethnic groups.[94][95] Far-right users of 2channel are referred to as netto-uyoku, a term roughly analogous to "alt-right". Though the site has rules against posts illegal under Japanese law, the scale and anonymous nature of the site makes prompt deletions difficult to realize in practice. Furthermore, on occasion, 2channel has been accused of being reluctant to remove defamatory posts.[96][97]: 676 The discussion boards are also often used to coordinate real-life demonstrations; as an example, 2channel users organized an August 2011 rally against Fuji Television, their complaint being that the channel was broadcasting too many Korean television shows.[98] Sankei Shimbun reported in 2018 that 5channel, which received most of 2channel's users, has the same reputation for attracting netto-uyoku.[99]
2channel netto-uyoku frequently make racist comments against Koreans.[9][95] In 2009, it was even discovered that an Asahi Shimbun employee had posted racist remarks towards Koreans on 2channel.[100] After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, fake news proliferated on 2channel, falsely accusing Chinese and Korean people of "plundering" evacuation centers.[101]
2channel operated on forum software that was considered innovative at the time of its founding, originally written by Hiroyuki himself,[102] but later replaced through the collective effort of his Unix-savvy users; the software is known as read.cgi
.[2] It was a major departure from Usenet; however, when compared to other Japanese textboards at the time, such as Amezou, 2channel's format was not much different.[25][10]
Boards in the textboard software have their threads sorted by the time of their last post, so making a post would "bump" (上げ, age) the thread to the top of the board index. However, when posting in a thread, users may use a function known as "lowering" (下げ, sage) to avoid bumping a thread in this way.[5][103] Often, posters will use sage on purpose, to avoid unwanted attention.[5]
In response to racism towards Koreans by 2channel users, especially against Yuna Kim, an athlete who defeated Japan in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the site suffered an extended outage in March 2010 due to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack conducted by a Korean hacking group.[90] The attack against Jim Watkins' Pacific Internet Exchange LLC affected other sites on the shared network as well, including some belonging to US government agencies; it is estimated to have cost US$2.5 million.[104] Watkins requested the American government investigate the event as an instance of "cyberterrorism";[34] according to him, sporadic DDoS attacks by Koreans continued into 2011.[105]
Beginning on 8 January 2015, 8chan, also owned by Jim Watkins and hosted on the network of N. T. Technology, Inc., suffered an outage due to a DDoS attack. Due to the attack, 2ch.net, then owned by Watkins but not yet operated under the name 5channel, went down as well.[106] The attacks against the messageboards lasted until at least 13 January, leading "many 2channel users to become angry with the management".[107]
The 2channel forum is a Japanese internet phenomenon. This single site has more influence on Japanese popular opinion than the prime minister, the emperor and the traditional media combined. On one level, it serves as a fun, informative place for people to read product reviews, download software and compare everything from the size of their poop to quiz show answers. But conversations hosted here have also influenced stock prices, rallied support for philanthropic causes, organized massive synchronized dance routines, prevented terrorism and driven people to their deathbeds.
In September 2007, 2channel averaged over 2.4 million posts per day.[21][c] As of July 2020, 5channel had 1,031 boards receiving around 2.7 million posts per day on weekends,[22] with no growth since March 2016.[23][c] Meanwhile, 2ch.sc then had 826 boards receiving around 5,700 posts daily.[24][c] Due to its popularity, 2channel and its successors have had considerable influence on Japanese society.[2]
Use of sites like 2channel by minors is a major concern in Japan.[5] Some children's search sites, such as the now-defunct Kids Goo (キッズgoo), filtered textboards like 2channel.[108] In Tokyo, a local ordinance requires that internet service providers develop filters to prevent minors from accessing sites which could harm the "sound and wholesome fostering [of their youth]"; they must also confirm before installing a connection if any minors live in the household.[5]
Despite this, however, web filter provider Net Star in February 2007 released the results of a survey which showed that the utilization rate of 2channel for primary and secondary students was 12.2%.[109] In response to threads on 2channel about certain schools which were leading to cyberbullying, the Ministry of Education in 2008 released a 65-page manual for teachers and parents on how to handle the issue.[110] Concerned about the popularity of 2channel among children and teenagers, a team of childhood education professors at the University of the Ryukyus in 2009 published a paper making recommendations to lawmakers on how to curb such use.[111]
In February 2020, Nishimura himself wrote an op-ed in Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun warning parents about the dangers of allowing their children unfettered access to social media sites like YouTube and 2channel.[112]
Naoto Kan, a future Prime Minister who was then a member of the National Diet, sent a legal notice on 10 May 2000 demanding that 2channel delete a post by someone falsely claiming to be him.[113]
After the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in 2007, Prime Minister Tarō Asō stated in a Fuji TV interview that he sometimes posts on 2channel.[114] During each election season, supporting posts for perennial candidates Matayoshi Jesus and Mac Akasaka were frequently made on 2channel, turning them into something of a meme,[115][116] similar to the repeated candidacies of Vermin Supreme in the United States. After more than ten failed candidacies for various political offices, including Governor of Tokyo, Akasaka was eventually elected to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, representing Minato, in April 2019.[115] Asahi Shimbun credited Akasaka's online fame with helping him win the surprise victory.[115]
Japanese news organizations often relied on 2channel to determine the issues the public was thinking about, and for leads.[6] However, the mass media often reports on it negatively,[83]: 23 similar to how it reported on otaku culture a decade ago, before it went more mainstream, even though internet trends nowadays routinely slip through into other media.[117] The phrase "the online bulletin board says" (インターネットの掲示板で),[b] when used in reporting, may refer either to 2channel or to other forums. Movements spawned on 2channel often receive media attention, noting how the methods of 2channel activists break socially normative behavior and bring pressure to bear through sheer numbers.[83]: 25 Beyond this, though, 2channel posts were often a basis for media reports in Japan.[83]: 25, 32, 35
TV programs have even featured 2channel's moderators and users;[13][118] comedian Hikari Ōta, for example, criticized Nishimura during a discussion on the Tokyo Broadcasting System's Sandējapon on the ideal limits of free expression as applied to social networks.[119]
Shokun! magazine, during its operation, ran a column known as Kōjimachi Denmō Sokkōjo (麹町電網測候所, lit. Kōjimachi internet weather station) which shared "patriotic" 2channel posts.[120] Weekly Bunshun, published by Bungeishunjū), meanwhile, has been criticized for being seen as overly pro-2channel and relying on its posts too much in its reporting.[121]
2ch.sc is managed and operated by PACKET MONSTER INC. and more.
【大使館 (Embassy)】Anime & Manga / Books / Comics & Cartoons / Computers / [...]
Speculation abounds, however, that the move may be a legal trick to deflect further lawsuits filed against Nishimura for the site's frequently libelous content.
2channel was based on a previous text board called Ayashii World, the first big anonymous text board in Japan... Ayashii World, like many anonymous chan boards, experienced so much downtime that its owner began to receive death threats, prompting him to shut down the board in 1998.
(260) 「内部告発」板は企業の裏事情や差別問題などを扱う板で、ここが6月19日に突如消減したのだ。[...] ただ他のスレッドでもあやうい告発が続いており、例えば暴力団の資金源に関するスレッドてでは、あめぞう氏の本名など個人情報をちらつかせ脅迫するような書きさ込みもあったりと、いつ閉鎖しても不思議ではない状態にあった。¶夏ごろ(一説には6月には既にちらほら見られたそうだ)に増殖を繰り返し、設置されたほとんどの掲示板を壊減的状態に追いやった。[...] そして管理されない姿を見かねたのか、はたまた苦情が相次いどだのか、「まいたいねっと」側がか掲示板のパーミッションを落としはじめ、10月14日にメイン板の「@広場」が停止。[The "whistleblowing board" was suddenly shut down on June 19 [1999]. [...] In a thread on the sources of money of organized crime gangs, a threat was implied against Amezou's owner, and he was doxed. It was not strange to close it. Around summer (one source says it began in June), most of the boards were in a broken state. [...] ¶ And, either due to not being able to countenance the unmaintained state of Amezou, or because the complaints were coming one after another, the host, Maitai Net, started returning 403 errors upon visits to the bulletin board. On October 14, "@Square", the main board, stopped functioning.]
They figured out a loophole in Japanese censorship rules," [...] Adult material in Japan has to be censored, but…Japanese people could access content that resides outside of Japan. Bingo. The work we did in the following years was really just marketing uncensored Japanese content to users in Japan.
筆者がはじめて、インターネット巨大掲示板「2ちゃんねる」に触れたのは、9・11テロがまさに進行中の時だった。[⋯]この時点で、ネット検索に出てきたのが、当時から「便所の落書き」「痰壷」などと露悪的に自称していた(それゆえに筆者は接触しないようにしていた)「2ch」の書き込みだった。 [I first touched the huge internet bulletin board "2channel" when the 9/11 terror attacks were in progress. Up to then, I had no interest in 2ch as online searches only brought up results deprecating it a "spittoon" and home of "toilet graffiti".]
Ni channel will be right here and the next one over. Alright, now we have two facilities, and this is the new facility. This whole area here, about tennis court-sized, is Pacific Internet Exchange, our area. We're going to do it in sections, that's why we moved from the other side where it's all...many different companies. This is our section.
N.T.Technologyは8月26日、不正アクセスによって同社の提供する「2ちゃんねるビューア」の顧客情報が流出したことを発表し、謝罪した。流出した情報の範囲とその原因については「現在調査中」としているが、約3万件のクレジットカード番号や氏名、住所、電話番号などの情報が流出したと見られる。[On August 26, N.T. Technology announced that the customer information of the '2channel viewer' stored by the company was leaked due to unauthorized access and apologized. Although the range of information leaked and the cause of the leak are said to be 'under investigation,' about 30,000 credit card numbers, names, addresses, telephone numbers, and other information are thought to have leaked.]
2ちゃんねるの広告収入は東京プラスなどを経由して、09〜12年の4年間に約3億5000万円がシンガポールの会社に送金された。[...] 残る約2億円も、この会社がペーパーカンパニーとみられることから、国税当局は西村氏の個人所得と認定。[Through Tokyo Plus KK, among others, in the four years between 2009 and 2012, ¥≈350 million was transferred to the Singaporean company. Since it is considered a shell company, the National Tax Agency has determined the profit of ¥200 million to be personal income of Nishimura.]
過少申告加算税などを含む追徴税額は3000万円に上り、すでに納付されたと見られます。[The additional amount assessed by the National Tax Agency, 30 million yen, has already been paid.](To view the archive, JavaScript must be disabled in your browser. Alternate convenience link)
この件で1番怖いのは、匿名を盾に誰がどんなことを書き込んでいたかが明らかになってしまったことだ。2ちゃんねるが最も封印せねばならない部分が、白日の下に晒されたのだ。有名なライトノベル作家が他の作家を数百回にわたって誹謗中傷した事実が明らかになり、本人がホームページで謝罪に追い込まれた。某2ちゃんねるまとめサイトの管理人はあらし行為を謝罪、サイトの閉鎖を発表した。流出したメールアドレスからは、某政治家、某大学准教授の名前、中央省庁、マスコミ各社、商社、通信会社、国内外の有名大学まで驚くような名前が並ぶ。[The scariest thing about this matter is that it became clear who was writing what behind the shield of anonymity. What 2channel was most expected to keep secret was instead exposed in broad daylight. It was revealed that a famous light novel writer slandered other writers hundreds of times, and he was forced to apologize on his website. A certain 2channel matome site owner apologized for trolling and announced that his site would close. You can see the names of politicians, an associate professor at a university, central government agency staff, media company staff, trading company staff, telecommunications company staff, and staff of famous universities in Japan and abroad from the leaked list of emails.]
2channel personal information leak incident: AKB staff member account leaked? What's all the fuss about!?
巨大ネット掲示板「2ちゃんねる」の有料サービス会員の個人情報約7万4000件が流出した件で [About 74,000 customers of giant internet bulletin board '2channel' had their personal information exposed online.]
「●」こと「2ちゃんねるビューア」で昨年8月に発覚したユーザー情報流出だ。[The user information leak that happened in August of last year had its source in "●", also known as the "2channel viewer".]
このほか有料サービスに登録すると、名前欄に"●"を使って書き込むことができるとのこと。なお、有料サービスがスタートした1日以降、一般ユーザーが名前欄に"●"を使おとしても、サーバー側で"○"に置換されて書き込まれるようになった。 [Those who subscribe to the service can also write a «●» in the name field of their posts. It should be noted that when those who are not subscribed put a «●» in the name field, the server replaces it with a «○».]
While anyone can read 2channel for free, only members who pay 3600 yen per month can search the archive of old threads.
N.T.Technology, inc was a victim of a cyber attack earlier today. Some data for customers was compromised. Your data may have been compromised.
The previous management was not able to generate enough income to pay the bills for the expenses of running 2ch.
When 2channel began having financial trouble as a result of the controversy, Watkins used the opportunity to seize control of the site, citing its failure to pay its outstanding bills.
The Panel finds it prudent to note that the Policy is intended to handle cases of cybersquatting. Any potential business dispute between the Parties may be more appropriately addressed through court proceedings rather than through the Policy.
権利関係に関する無用な紛争を生じさせず「・・・」掲示板の名称を新たに「5ちゃんねる」へと変更しました。[The name of the textboard has been changed to 5channel to help avoid future unnecessary disputes regarding our rights to operate it.]
Tor経由では、2ちゃんねるにはアクセスできません。[2channel blocks access from those who use Tor.]
2ちゃんねるのデータの利用に関して、原則的に自由ですが、 2ちゃんねるのデータ自体を利用して対価を取る行為はご遠慮下さい。[As a general rule, you are free to use 2channel's data. However, please refrain from profiting from it.]
2007年末には、営利目的への無断転載を禁止する「ニュース速報(嫌儲)」板が設けられた。[At the end of 2007, the /poverty/ board ("Newsoku – Poverty") was set up, which prohibited unauthorized reproduction of its contents for profit.]
今月3日以降、2ちゃんねる専用ブラウザーの開発・公開には「Jane Style」の開発元であるジェーン社などから許諾を受けたうえで新しいAPIを利用する必要が生じている。[Since the 3rd of this month, it is necessary to use the new API. Dedicated browser developers must get permission from the developer of JaneStyle to publish a 2channel dedicated browser.]
5ch.net 専用ブラウザ(以下「専用ブラウザ」)を開発、公開するには、5ch.net の所有者である Loki Technology, Inc. の許諾を得て、5ch.net が提供する API(以下「API」)を用いる必要があります。ウェブスクレイピングを用いた専用ブラウザの開発、公開は禁止されています。株式会社ジェーンは Loki Technology, Inc. との契約で 5ch.net 専用ブラウザ開発者に対し API の使用許諾を出す権限を受けていますが、これは排他的な権限ではありません。[To develop and publish a 5ch.net dedicated browser, the API we provide must be used. The development of dedicated browsers that work via parsing HTML is prohibited. Loki Technology Inc. has granted Jane KK the non-exclusive privilege of granting licenses to our API.]
判決によると、同掲示板に04年3~12月、有道さんが人種差別主義者であるかのような中傷などが12件掲載されたが、管理人は有道さんの削除要請に応じなかった。 [In total, twelve slanderous messages were posted calling Arudou a white supremacist between March and December 2004. The admin ignored his request they be deleted.]
また、一般人の誹謗中傷・私生活情報暴露は禁止します。[Further, to slander or expose the personal information of an ordinary member of the public is forbidden.]
In December 2004 through February 2005, I notified 2-Channel by e-mail at their designated address where you request deletions. They never answered. Nor did the defamatory posts come down. So my lawyers contacted the owner, a Mr. Nishimura, by registered snail mail, several times. Returned by the post office unopened. We did check to make sure Mr. Nishimura was residing there, of course. So we sued. And believe it or not, Mr. Nishimura never answered any court communiques, never appeared in court, never offered any acknowledgment whatsoever. That's irresponsible on all counts.
そもそも今回の「運動」は、2ちゃんねる(現5ちゃんねる)から「ネトウヨ」に対するカウンターとして始まった。2ちゃんねるが「ネトウヨ」の活動場所とみなされることが多い現状から考えると、この「運動」を不思議に思う人もいるのではないか。[In the first place, this 'exercise' started as a way to counter netto-uyoku users from 2channel (5channel). Considering the current situation where 2channel is often regarded as the activity place of the netto-uyoku, there are surely some who find this 'exercise' perplexing.]
Hiroyuki single-handedly created the program for his groundbreaking, autonomous/anonymous media when he had "time to spare" during studies in the USA.
ただし、米国政府機関など複数のサイトに被害が発生したことから、FBI等が捜査に乗り出し、把握されている被害額は約250万ドルに上るとされている。[However, due to damage to multiple sites including those of US government agencies, the FBI and others have launched an investigation and it is estimated that the amount of damage is about $2.5 million.]
年末から続く不調に、運営側に怒りの矛先を向ける人も少なくない。[Due to the bad condition (of the infrastructure) which has continued since year's end, many users are angry with the management.]
マック赤坂氏は「スマイル党」を立ち上げ、2016年の東京都知事選や国政選挙など、過去に10回以上立候補。政見放送に奇抜な服装で臨むなどして、ネット上で話題を呼んできた。[Mac Akasaka, founder of the "Smile Party", has run for various offices, including national offices, more than ten times, such as in 2016 when he was a candidate for governor of Tokyo. The eccentric garments he wears during his political broadcasts, among other things he does online, have given him considerable attention.]
太田光はSNSの炎上について、「こういう問題の最初が2ちゃんねるだからさ、一番悪いのは博之くんだよ」とジャブ。[Ōta responded with a jab: "Because this problem got its start on 2channel, Hiroyuki-kun is the number one worst offender," he said, regarding flame wars on social media.]
保守系論壇誌『諸君!』では2ちゃんねる上における愛国的言説を紹介するコーナー(「麹町電網(インターネット)測候所」)まで存在するという。[There is even a column of the conservative magazine Shokun!, Kōjimachi Denmō Sokkōjo, that shares patriotic posts from 2channel.]