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April 04, 2005

Terrie's Take 321 -- Privacy Law

General Edition Sunday, April 03, 2005 Issue No. 321

+++ INDEX

- What's new
- Services lineup
- News
- Candidate roundup
- Upcoming events
- Property
- News credits

============ Proprius Investments Ltd. Seminar ==============

Presenting: How to Invest Profitably in U.S. Real Estate
Date:  Tuesday, May 17th 2005
Time:  6:30pm to 8:30pm
Location: Mitsubishi Bldg, 10F, Marunouchi, Room Middle 3

For reservations and more info, go to:  http://www.propriusltd.com/
=====================================================

+++ WHAT'S NEW

On April 1st, the government passed into law new regulations covering the privacy of personal data held by companies. Prompted by the highly publicized leaks of user data at YahooBB and several other companies last year, the legislation passed now has teeth and has to be taken a lot more seriously than before. The executive in charge of data privacy at a company found to have breached the terms of the new regulation could  potentially face up to 6 months prison time.

The law applies to any company or individual maintaining an electronic database containing more than 5,000 records on customers or private individuals in general. A record is considered as being information sufficient to identify a person, such as the name and date of birth, or, potentially, their email address.

The main points of the new law are that companies must tell individuals when seeking their personal information just what the information will be used for, and whether the information will be disclosed to another party. If it will be, permission from the individual must be sought first.  Other points arising from the law can be seen at: http://www.privacycouncil.com/adSvs_japan.php

The side effect of the law is that companies must now take steps to ensure that they don't commit a breach. The most certain way to achieve this is by educating those in the company exposed to customer data on how to handle is, as well as improving the security of data and the equipment it is stored on. One way to do this is to implement a P-Mark, a JIS certification granted by an organization called JIPDEC (Japan Information Processing Development Corporation).

The P-Mark system was established in 1998, and about 1,200 companies have received certification of data privacy compliance. Anyone can apply for a P-Mark, directly to JIPDEC, for the grand sum of JPY84,000 application fee plus JPY52,500 for two years, renewable. The P-Market is granted on the basis of a company's compliance with JIS Q 15001:1999 standards, which are amazingly available in English at http://privacymark.org/ref/jisq15001.en.html.

One issue with the P-Mark is that there seems to be some uncertainty about what constitutes a proper level of security and process to comply. Needless to say there are a number of consultants around who will hand-hold companies through their P-Mark program. However, if you wanted to get the mark by yourself, so long as one of your related companies operates in North America, then you might want to take a back door approach and first of all qualify for a USA-based BBBOnline Privacy Seal (www.bbbonline.org), for which the regulations about privacy are VERY well established. In fact, they are on the web site. Then, as a holder of a BBBonline seal, you will be able to apply to get automatic approval of their operation by the JIPDEC folks -- all thanks to a harmonization program being run between the Better Business Bureau and JIPDEC.

Another way to prepare your company for better privacy measures is to roll out your own education program. This is now possible through the efforts of a local foreign entrepreneur, Mr. Greg Kaufmann, who runs a company called Intellitest. The company has a bilingual ASP platform and privacy-related content that lets employees do self-training about the issue. The content can be customized to meet the needs of each company, and costs ¥3,500 per person plus hosting and maintenance fees. http://www.intellitest.jp/default_en.aspx.

Lastly, you'll notice that we have been plugging our new personal investor newsletter PII  recently. The last issue was about investing in real estate, was about investing in real estate, and we encourage you to keep an eye on it, as we will be introducing distressed real estate here in Tokyo that is within the financial reach of many readers. Such as a 43m2 apartment in Shibuya which sold for just JPY17m in March.  Yes, such apartments are old, but as an investment property, they can earn interesting returns if you're willing to refurbish them. Also related to property, make sure you catch the free seminar being held on May 17th by Proprius Investments, about real estate investing in the USA. More about the seminar in EVENTS below. 

...The Information Janitors/

=============== AMT Group's Development ===============
Clarity/Focus/Alignment 

How well does your leadership team implement your strategy?  Does everyone know where you are going and why?  Perhaps they need a map! The April edition of Andrew’s Ax shows how Territory Mapping can help you & your staff gain clarity, focus and alignment.
For a free subscription, e-mail [email protected] before April 10. You can also click on the AMT Group website “Read Andrew’s Ax” back issues, in both English and Japanese.

http://www.amt-group.com
====================================================

+++ SERVICES LINE-UP

Contact [email protected] if you want your company advertised here.

=================== Banner Japan K.K. ==================

Since 1979 Banner has been helping clients invest worldwide to maximise returns. We offer: Pension Planning, School Fees Planning, Trust and International Tax Planning, Portfolio Management; Access to Market Neutral and Capital Guaranteed Funds; Life, Critical Illness, Medical and Travel Insurances. Banner Japan arranges multi-currency loans for international property purchases and re-financing in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Consultations are free - contact us at 03-5724-5100 or go to www.bannerjapan.com for more information.
====================================================

+++NEWS

- Aarrghhh! We're all going to be eating anchovies
- Private individuals push up bourses
- Yappari, online music-sharing is illegal
- Yahoo Japan sued for bad auctions
- Billions raised for takeovers


-> Aarrghhh! We're all going to be eating anchovies

We just hate anchovies on pizza, but it looks like there will be more of them, according to a new government report. Apparently researchers at the Fisheries Research Agency's National Research Institute of Science have found that  sardine populations decrease when average water temperature is more than 16 degrees C, while anchovies thrive. Indeed, anchovies are happy with average temperatures of up to 22 degrees C. Given that  global warming is probably increasing the water temperatures in the Sea of Japan, this may explain why the sardine catch in the last 20 years has plummeted from 4.5m tonnes in 1988 to just 58,000 tonnes in 2003. ***Ed: More on fish and how we may be killing off certain species of tuna in the latest issue of Japan Inc magazine, on sale now.** (Source: TT commentary from Apr 2, 2005)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

-> Private individuals push up bourses

According to the Nikkei, last year's volume of share transactions on the first section of the Tokyo Stock  Exchange (TSE) was the highest in 16 years, averaging just over 1.2trn yen daily. Most of the action was from retail investors, day traders and the like, buying and selling an average 81% of the total market capitalization. Indeed, some issues, such as those of Dwango and Invoice experienced turnover of 979.8% and 873.8%  respectively, due to stock splits, and Maruzen and Tokyo Theater had  turnovers of 846.7% 756.5% respectively due to paper gains on real estate. ***Ed: But the market is not all roses. As the Nikkei points out, the market became overheated in April last year, after hitting 12,000, and plunged shortly after for an extended correction. And we're creeping back up to 12,000 again...** (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Apr 1, 2005)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20050401D3ZJKN08.htm

-> Yappari, online music-sharing is illegal

Unlike Holland, where the developers of file sharing software have been found to not be responsible for any
possible copyright violations by users, and in the USA, where legal action is still taking place, Japan has ruled
that not only the copyright violators, but also those developing software that allows such violation, can be held liable. The Tokyo High Court found software developer MMO Japan guilty of aiding the violation of the copyright law, by providing software that allows users to engage in online file swapping. The company was ordered MMO to pay JPY71m in damages to the JASRAC, as well as a number of record labels. (Source: TT commentary from yahoo.com, Mar 31, 2005)

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050331/kyodo/d895o7vo0.html

-> Yahoo Japan sued for bad auctions

Yahoo Japan is being sued in a class action brought by users defrauded in online auctions hosted by Yahoo. 572 people around Japan brought the suit, after paying for products such as TVs and digicams, but not  receiving the goods. The suit alleges that Yahoo knew such fraud has been taking place, and yet let users  continue to be exposed by the system. Plaintiff lawyers are saying that Yahoo has an obligation to make sure deals happen properly, especially since it is charging fees to both the auctioneers and bidders. ***Ed: We think they may have a point there, and believe that this case will contribute to the legal trend of making companies responsible for the user actions their services enable -- much like the MMO Japan finding above.** (Source: TT commentary from yahoo.com, Apr 1, 2005)

http://tinyurl.com/6dr9o

-> Billions raised for takeovers

According to the Nikkei, 3 major foreign players in the Japanese M&A scene, Carlyle, Blackstone Group, and Warburg Pincus, have between them raised global M&A funds of JPY3.2trn ($30bn). Apparently Carlyle alone has allocated JPY100bn ($950m) for acquisitions in Japan. Ironically, the article comes just as Mizuho has announced that it will dissolve four related and subsidiary companies specializing in the corporate turnarounds. (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Mar 31, 2005)

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20050331DA1J3314.htm

NOTE: Broken links
Many online news sources are now removing their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience.

=============== Email Marketing Works ==================
Study after study shows that email marketing ranks among the most effective, and cost-effective, methods of reaching your audience. However, constructing an effective email marketing campaign involves far more than simply stuffing your customer's inboxes. Follow up mailing, reporting, personalization, autoresponders and, of course, crafting of the appropriate message are all essential components of a successful campaign.

Ashley Associates Ltd. (http://www.ashleyassociates.co.jp) is a leading provider of email marketing solutions. For more information, or to request a free white paper please contact [email protected].
====================================================

+++CANDIDATE ROUND-UP

DaiJob, Inc's executive placement team, AMBITION Consulting
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DaiJob has great candidates. Contact Alex Burr at [email protected], or Ph: 03-3499-3040 for details. http://www.daijob.com.

->  IT Manager
Male, mid 40s, Fluent Japanese, Native English

Experience:
- 20+ years of IT exp for leading multinationals in AsiaPac
- 12 years IT/MIS Manager/Director of Japan multinational
- Solid exp in a wide range of systems - mainframe, Unix, PCs, laptops and networking
- Started off as Systems Analyst, then SE, AI engineer, etc
- Strength in both IT Infrastructure and business systems analysis and implementations(ERP)

* Looking for JPY12+M. Available at 1 month notice
--------------------------------------------

-> Network Engineering Manager - Telecom, ISP, Data center
Male, 50yr old, Native Japanese, Business-level English

Experience:
- Managed (ITIL), planned, designed IP-network in ISP and university, as Network Assistant Director and SE
- Designed/Managed 2G and 2.5G networking for major telco
- Critical technical support and escalation as CS Manager
- Designed client/server and firewall systems and Lan-Wans for 12 years as SE
- Super Parallel Computing and image processing (HTDV, MPEG) for 5 years as SE

* Looking for JPY8M. Available immediately.
--------------------------------------------

-> Business Development Manager - IT/Education/Venture
Male, 30yrs old, Native Japanese, Business level English

Experience:
- Owned several businesses
- Expertise in marketing and Project Management
- Mgmt consultation for various businesses - IT, publisher, universities, real estate, trading etc.
- Extensive network of personal contacts
- Matched alliance partnerships between major corporations and venture companies

* Looking for JPY12M. Available immediately
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Alex Burr at [email protected], or
Ph: 03-3499-3040 for details.
DaiJob's executive placement team, AMBITION Consulting!

============= New book: Saying Yes to Japan: ==============
COMMON SENSE IS WORTH MILLIONS when foreigners apply world standard methodologies to Japan's rich-but-clueless service sector.  Read 15 stunning case studies of successful businesses in the new book Shinsei Bank's incoming CEO calls "fascinating" and Merrill Lynch Japan's Chief Economist labels a "must read." Free downloadable chapter  at http://www.sayingyestojapan.com/sample
====================================================

+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

=================< Setting up a Company >================
                          Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar in OSAKA!

Terrie Lloyd, founder of over 12 start-up companies in Japan will be giving an English-language seminar and Q&A on starting up a company in Japan. This is an ideal  opportunity to find out what is involved, and to ask specific questions that are not normally answered in business books. All material is Japan-focused.

  • Date: 8 April, Friday, 9:30 a.m.
  • Location: AA Hall, Kitahama, Osaka
  • Cost: JPY15,000 paid in advance JPY20,000 at the door

Email [email protected] for details and to register.
====================================================
------------------------ Information Management Network --------------------------------

6th Annual Summit on Japanese Securitization, Real Estate & Finance - May 18-19, 2005, Tokyo

This event targets the industry's leading firms and senior level players, to provide an educational forum of the highest quality coupled with outstanding networking opportunities. This year the topics will cover SME CLOs, Credit Derivatives, J-REITs, and RMBS. In addition, the agenda will allow participants to hear the latest developments in legal and regulatory approaches, accounting, rating agency methodologies, as well as case studies about major deals in the market.

For more information, go to www.imn.org/esb739/jie
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============== Proprius Investments Ltd. Seminar ===========

Presenting: How to Invest Profitably in U.S. Real Estate
Date:  Tuesday, May 17th 2005
Time:  6:30pm to 8:30pm
Location: Mitsubishi Bldg, 10F, Marunouchi, Room Middle 3

For reservations and more info, go to: www.propriusltd.com 
=====================================================

ITand business events announcements are priced at JPY50,000 per week.
For more information, contact [email protected]
=====================================================

+++ PROPERTY ROUND-UP

-> The Peninsular -- Noosa

This first-class Queensland waterfront home provides sophisticated entertaining both inside and out, and is set in the Noosa marina development. The home features the very finest finishes and inclusions throughout, and within its 1400m² indoor footprint, includes four bedrooms, home cinema, game lounge, massage and steam room, meditation room, and a fully equipped gymnasium. There is even a fully self-contained guest apartment for those special friends seeking a dream weekend.

Outside, you can enjoy one of the world's most amenable climates while playing on your full size tennis court, swimming in the 20 meter lap pool, or going for a river cruise from your own jetty. Also included is a wood-fired pizza oven, garaging for several cars, and a refrigerated wine cellar. In short, a magnificent home featuring the highest levels of craftsmanship.

* Photos at: http://japaninc.typepad.com/australian_properties_e/

E-mail us at [email protected] for contact informationfor the owner's representative.

======= JETRO Business Japanese Proficiency Test ============
                                              (The JETRO Test)

Seeking a job or hoping to advance your career in a Japanese company? Do you know how well you communicate in Japanese in a business setting? The JETRO Test is designed to objectively measure and evaluate your ability to communicate in a variety of business situations. Applications are now being accepted for the next JETRO Test this June 19th.

For more information, please visit: http://www.jetro.go.jp/jetrotest/
=====================================================

+++END

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+++ ABOUT US

STAFF
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(c) Copyright 2005 Japan Inc. Communications Inc.

____________J@pan Inc is worth every penny!_______________

Don't forget you can get deeper analysis on Japan's hottest new businesses and technology from the quarterly edition of J@pan Inc. 1-year subscription JPY3,600(Japan). It's so cost effective you can even get your company to pay for it! Go to: www.japaninc.net/mag/subs.html for details.
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07:54 PM |

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