Viz Media's PR director addresses Internet piracy

Active Anime talks with Viz Media's Evelyn Dubocq about how Internet piracy is changing the anime and manga industries, and how it affects the publisher's licenses, like Naruto and Bleach:

If anime piracy continues to grow in North America, at the expense of legitimate product, then studios will be forced to increase prices and/or slow down the number of anime releases, to compensate for lost sales. For some of the less popular, but critically acclaimed anime series, this could mean that new seasons would never be officially released here. Similar, new anime properties may never even make the leap from Japan to North America.

... While as a general rule we appreciate fan enthusiasm, we cannot condone the use of screenings of illegally downloaded episodes. The creators have spent much time and effort to have their creations shown with the best quality and through legitimate channels. On their behalf, we request cooperation from fans not to promote piracy but to join us in supporting the creators' efforts.

Dubocq also touches upon scanlations, or amateur manga translations, calling them "just another form of piracy."