The Osaka High Court has acquitted the creator of a file-sharing software program of helping others to violate copyrights, reversing the guilty ruling by a lower court.
Former assistant researcher at the University of Tokyo's graduate school, Isamu Kaneko, was accused of developing and posting on his website the program called Winny.
The program allows users to exchange movies, games and other files on the Internet.
In 2006 a district court found him guilty of assisting copyright violation and imposed a fine of around 17,000 dollars.
Kaneko pleaded not guilty, saying if creators are blamed for the abuse of their software, technological development would be impossible.
On Thursday, a presiding judge at the high court said prosecution of software developers should be limited to cases in which they actively encourage illegal use of the software.
The judge said Kaneko may have been aware that his software could be abused but did not go so far as to promote its illegal use.
The case triggered mixed opinions over the role of software developers.
Some said developers have a responsibility to consider the possible abuse of their software. Others noted the lack of a clear guideline on what amounts to illegal acts could hamper technological development.
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