<rant> Be warned.

It's kinda funny... all this talk about people stealing each others' work. Well, let's think about all of it for a moment.

Naruto is a copyrighted publication of a company and author in Japan. International copyright laws protect it, even though I'm in America, because we are signitors on some of the same copyright treaties that Japan is on. So, legally, despite the fact that the companies in Japan LOVE the fact that someone is translating it free of charge (hell, it gets them a fanbase in America, so that if they put out a product here, they're guaranteed an audience), it's... illegal.

So, what's theft of something stolen? (As Chuusin has purportedly done in the past. I've heard it said that Inane has stolen stuff too, so who's to know?)

I've always been keen on scanslation groups making massive mention in the manga about who originally made and produced it. As much effort as they put into it (in the 2-3 days that they pour over it, edit the scans, translate the text, and fontset the images), the original team that produced it put waay more effort into it. It's not Kishimoto's Naruto, it's Inane's Naruto that you're downloading, and that, in my opinion, is a bit fucked up.

Groups like Inane/OT/HNGO and others put a tremendous amount of effort in a short time to get these things out to all of us, with little thanks, and tons of bitching. While that is true, let's not forget that everything here is legally dubious, even if it's enjoyed by all (even the people whom, ostensibly, we're hurting by scanlating/enjoying the manga). The groups put it out free of charge; the readers don't have to pay for it. If you don't like the agreement, don't be part of it. But on the other hand, don't waste our collective time and/or bandwidth listening to you bitching and moaning because a group that isn't getting paid in the first place doesn't do it fast enough for you.

Inane and Chuusin fixed their problem. That's enough, no? So let's have fun talking about Naruto instead of peoples' insecurities at what the hell we're all about here.

-xtortout

PS Ukon is gonna die. Mark. My. Words.