Ban on private downloading of copyright material pushed forward (updated)

From ANN: An advisory panel to the Japanese government has recommended adapting copyright law to criminalize private downloading of copyrighted material. Downloads for private use are currently permitted in Japan; only uploading the material is punishable by law. Apparently, the main targets of the revision are video sharing sites such as Nico Nico Douga and Youtube.

"However, it was noted at the meeting that users might visit a site that happens to have unauthorized material, and therefore run afoul of the revised law without realizing it."

-meaning that it would be illegal to even visit a site that hosts such material? Sounds rather draconian, not to mention unenforcable.

Update: colleague Andreas Bovens, who's been blogging about copyright in Japan for years, explains the details about how these noises about a downloading ban came to be, who exactly is making them and who is asking questions.