Q-Eng

Good afternoon, fellow Toastmasters!

Have you ever watched video on Youtube? If you are not an internet person, I think you have heard of the name Youtube.
I often use Youtube. If you also use Youtube, you and I might be criminals in the future.

Today, I’d like to share my opinion about a new law.

According to the news, the Japanese government has passed a new amendment to its copyright laws; making illegal downloading of Japanese media punishable with jail terms for the first time.

When I heard this news, I exclaimed aloud, "How stupid can the Japanese government be?”
Shortly after, an international hackers group by the name "Anonymous” declared war on Japan. They took down and defaced numerous government websites in protest of this amendment. Of course I don't agree with any forms of violence, including cyber attack, but I also want to protest this law.

Imagine you have a favorite bookstore. The shopkeeper is a kind person. The shop is always comfortable and doing well. You drop by the shop when you want to buy a book, when you want to check what book is popular now, or just want to kill time. You can take your time to browse and read the books.

But, one day, suddenly some surveillance cameras are installed in the shop and you can't even open a book to read it unless you purchase it. Reading the book without paying for it is illegal. You, and even the shopkeeper, may be fined up to 2,000,000 yen or given a two-months sentence. Would you still go to the shop? I wouldn't.

I have a lot of young foreign friends. Almost all of them are huge fans of Japanese anime. They say that Japanese anime is completely different from other animation and is really interesting. They learned to like Japan by watching Japanese anime. All of them watch anime on Youtube or other sites - which is now considered to be illegal by the new law.

The people who agree with the law say that if they want to see video or want to listen to music, they can buy them legally. The economical loss of the illegal copies was tremendous. However, I believe that the attention and love for Japan that the illegal copies have created have had a much larger economic impact. Maybe it is countless.

I want to ask you.
How can we make foreign people learn to like our country? How much money do we need to spend on foreign marketing to gain their love and attention? How can we love books which we have never read?

I think the Japanese government has now decided to go down the wrong path. Why do they close the door of opportunity? Why do they hide effective advertising displays from prospective customers?
The Korean Government took a different approach. They made a market of Korean dramas and movies for the world as a policy. We all know how much money people spend on it. I don't deny Haruki Murakami's novels or beautiful Japanese scneries. But Japanese anime is more fascinating and unique for foreign people. I wonder how many Japanese senators know how amazing Japanese anime really is to foreigners.

The form of media is changing from moment to moment. The way to get music has been changing as you know. It has changed from records to CDs, from CDs to be downloaded through the internet. Old norms don’t keep pace with the change any more. We should construct a different framework in order to protect the copyrights of media. I think that the government should sponsor a public organization to deliver them legally. It will earn huge merits and reliability for us in a long run.

The new amendment of copyrights law will be enforced starting in October. I want to say again, "How stupid can the Japanese government be?”
What do you think?

Toastmasters　のミーティングでは、(奈良以外のクラブは知りませんが）、スピーチの記録を取りません。写真を一枚撮るだけです、私としては、スピーチをするために、一生懸命原稿を書き練習もしたので、せめて記録だけでも残しておきたい気持ちがあります。それで　ちょっとここに日記として貼り付けておこうかなと。。。。これは、prepared speechではなくて、まあいわばその日の前座、warmup のためのスピーチです。結構emotionalに話した感があります。