Keep Anime Alive

I suppose that the time has come to talk a little more about KeepAnimeAlive.

Originally I was hoping to launch the site this previous weekend, but making the site completely cross-browser compatible is taking slightly longer than I had intended. I'm hoping to finish everything up and finally launch the site in the next day or two. In the meantime, I thought I'd take the time to explain the site in all its glory.

The idea for the site started many years ago, when I attended a panel at Anime Boston run by Greg Ayres, where I heard him speak about the damage piracy was causing the industry. Since then, it's been a dream of mine to do something to help the industry. Since then, I've kept a close watch on the anime industry, and watched with dismay as the US anime market has dwindled from it's $550 million high in 2003 to its current value of approximately $180 million. With the recent distress the anime industry has been in, I decided that I would be one of the fans to step up to the plate and actually do something. As a result, the idea for KeepAnimeAlive came about.

KeepAnimeAlive is an non-profit online center and community for news, interviews, and other resources regarding piracy involving the anime industry. The site seeks to inform anime fans of the damaging effect piracy has on the industry, provide information on where to legal online streaming sits, and provide a community for fans who want to help the industry. In addition, it will feature many entertaining, yet informative podcasts, as well as interviews with industry professionals.

KeepAnimeAlive is meant to be more than just a news site. It's a place where anime fans can gather and work to support the industry they love.

Having my idea firmly in mind, I began to plan out the project.

Having a background in web design and programming, I knew that I could handle the creation and maintenance of the website myself. Web hosting is insanely cheap currently, so I could easily pay the projects initial startup cost out of pocket. However, for the project to succeed and to grow into what I intend it to be, a lot more planning was needed, in order to fully flush out the scope of the project.

One of the most important assets KeepAnimeAlive has is the planed association with Sustain the Industry. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have been in talks with theRAofEdwardElric about incorporating Sustain the Industry directly into the site, providing a place for members to keep track of their monthly purchases and post their YouTube videos.

Another of the big assets to the site will be the interviews with industry professionals and experts. We currently have two interviews that we're waiting on confirmation for. I won't name any names in case the interview falls through, but one of them is a very big name in the anime industry.

Additionaly, KeepAnimeAlive will have various videos and podcasts that are related to the combat of piracy, as well as being entertaining. One such show is the Bootleg Bomber. Similar to the Chibi Project, Bootleg Bomber is a monthly podcast involving the violent and highly entertaining destruction of bootleg DVDs and merchandise.

We've also planned out many ways to draw visitors to the site. We hope that our interviews with some of the big name's in the anime industry, especially ones that speak out against piracy themselves, will draw visitors to the website. In addition, we are going to attempt to create several viral marketing videos for KeepAnimeAlive.

As the site grows and more elaborate videos and projects are planned, it will become much harder for myself and the others involved to pay for the sits budget out of pocket. It's our hope that, as KeepAnimeAlive grows, we will eventually be able to get sponsored by major players in the anime industry, like Funimation.

One thing we've had to take into a account while planning out the site is the vulnerability to hacking and internet attacks. This is always a problem on the internet, however the topic of piracy and anime is such a controversial one, that the sites very existence is assured to draw the attention of many people who wish to undermine the site. As such, we been planning out strategies to confront the threat, such as daily backing up the site's database.

So. That is KeepAnimeAlive. Look forward to its launch later this week!

As always, don't be a parasite.

Teamwork

Many times, when discussing the issue of piracy, I'm presented with the argument: "I'm just one person. It doesn't really matter one way or another if I download anime. I really don't make a difference." This truly is a hard argument to respond to, because it is partially true. The actions of a single person often don't make much of a difference.

In most cases, one person alone can't change much. That is why people gather others and work together. When people come together and work towards one goal, what was impossible for one person suddenly becomes possible. Fortunately, the desire to oppose and combat piracy has become a growing desire among many anime fans in recent months.

I mentioned the Sustain the Industry movement on YouTube in a previous post. Since my post, the movement on YouTube has grown in size, as more and more people band together to "sustain the industry." Robert's Anime Corner Store, an online retailer of anime and related products, has issued a challenge to fans, saying that whoever buys the most from their store and makes a Sustain the Industry video about it will be given a $25 gift certificate. I also previously mentioned that I am working with Sustain the Industry to launch the KeepAnimeAlive website later this month.

As I said, it takes teamwork to really accomplish something, and fans worldwide are realizing that. Recently, some German anime fans have started the Anime Copyright Alliance:

Fans in Germany have established an initiative called the Anime Copyright Allianz (Anime Copyright Alliance, ACA) whose stated goals are to promote respect for the copyrights of anime titles in Germany and to educate fans on relevant copyright law. The alliance's members include fan-run websites and clubs as well as the Viz Media Europe-owned Anime-Virtual/Kaze labels and the Japanese company Animax, which runs anime television channels in Germany and other European countries. Two fansub websites are also on the list of ACA members.

The group's official website focuses primarily on the removal of anime titles that have been licensed for release in Germany, and encourages users to report licensed series that have been uploaded for illicit download. However, the ACA says it will not pursue legal action against uploaders, but only report illegal uploads to the sites that host them, such as YouTube and RapidShare.

The German news site Gulli reported today that one of the group's members, AnimeFansubs.org, has been subject to denial-of-service attacks, and as of this writing only a cached copy of the website could be accessed. According to Gulli, other members' sites have not been heavily targeted.

Original article at Anime News Network

Fans are stepping up their game, working together to accomplish things that one fan could not alone. While they currently focus only on series that have been licensed in Germany, it is still a big step. They are one of the first fan run groups to actively fight against illegal uploads.

In everything from Evangelion, to Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (the Japanese series that would later become Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), we are shown the importance of teamwork. If we are to make any progress in the fight against piracy, it is important for fans to work together. Sustain the Industry has had a huge impact in the anime fandom in the few months since it started. These teams of people that come together to work towards the common goal of helping the anime industry can do much more than just one individual working alone.

I urge any fan who is serious about supporting the anime industry to go out there and joint a team dedicated to supporting the anime industry, or even start your own. Whether it be in your local community, or your internet community, gather people together and work together to support the industry. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you are just one person, and nothing you do will change anything. Sustain the Industry started when theRAofEdwardElric posted a simple video on YouTube asking fans to join her in her quest to sustain the industry, and now the movement is bigger than imagined it would ever become.

While it's true that a single rock thrown won't stop a landslide, it can also start one.

Be that rock, and don't be a parasite.