NicoSound February Shut Down Reason: Admin Arrested, Japan Copyright Laws Violated For Illegal MP3 Downloads!

If you happen to be a Vocaloid fan or one of those Niconico utaites who got shocked for the sudden shut down of its partner music site NicoSound in February, well the answer to the 3-month long mystery has been answered - just now. Yes, the NicoSound February shut down reason has been uncovered.

On Thursday, May 8, the 29-year old administrator of NicoSound was arrested by the police at Teine Station in Hokkaido. A report from Anime News Network revealed that he was accused of violating Japan's copyright laws. Most of the music streamed in NicoSound have song rights under the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) and Dwango User Entertainment, and these songs are protected by the country's copyright laws.

The name of the administrator was not revealed to the public for privacy protection.

When NicoSound was still active, users are not required to install a dedicated application to convert the audio of Niconico's online video streams into MP3 files - with the download system much similar to Youtube, users could just copy the video link and NicoSound would automatically create the downloadable MP3 file and save it to your computer. Hokkaido Police reported that the website converted at least 1,500 songs per day from Niconico, with Vocaloid songs sharing a huge percentage in the final count.

NicoSound is a free service for users and it was funded via online advertising. Until now, it garnered a total earnings of 130 million yen (US $1.3 million). When the web site was shut down in February, it displayed an apology for the sudden closing and thanked its users for the support.