The Japanese government will soon go on the offensive against illegal manga websites with 3 popular sites set as their main focus - Mangamura, AniTube!, and MioMio. The government has asked internet service providers to block these sites which host pirated manga and other illegal, copyrighted material.
One recent study estimated that the operation of just these three websites alone cost the manga industry ¥400 billion yen ($3.73 billion USD) in revenue in just a 6-month period. Mangamura alone is estimated to garner over 100 million readers each month.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe commented on the proposed National Diet bill, "Our country's content industry could be denied a future if manga artists and other creators are robbed of proceeds that should go to them."
Presently, the motion is calling for ISP's to take voluntary action but the Japanese National Diet is aiming to have formal legislative restrictions in place by 2019.