Jan 22, 2010 14:33:10

Censorship under capitalism launched: "Web Checker" service identifies anonymous comment posters

You might have heard of "2channel". It's the biggest web community in Japan and surely the greatest source of viral marketings, both in a positive and negative way.

To prevent damage from false(or inconvenient) post on this notorious web site, a firm in northern Japan launched a "Web Checker Service", which deletes those posts and specifies posters for for a seemingly-bit-too-costly one million yen.

Read on for detail.

"Web Checker" Agency - Yuhan Co, Ltd.（Cache）

According to the agency's web site, "Web checker" service semi-automatically searches defamation of their clients on 2channel website.

The service is mainly targeted for Pachinko companies(which are often legally 'gray' gambling venues). Minimum fee for "basic service" is 150,000 Yen(one surveillance per week) and 60,000 Yen for 24/7 surveillance.

Basic Service (One year contract, no renewal charges）
-Searching problematic web sites through multiple search engines
-Man-powered surveillance on blogs and SNS.
-Classifies posts in 5 menacing levels and warns clients
-Reports to police on forenotices of crime
-Vindicate clients on 2channel by stealth if groundless posts are made
-Emergency/periodic report
-Consulting on counteracting harmful rumor

So how do they delete posts on 2channel? Basically they use "Brute Force" method. Most of comment threads on 2channel close at 1000th posts, so you can delete them by posting massive amount of comments. They also provide "information manipulation" and "poster identification" services.