I was alerted by a friend that the site of ODEX that was perpetually on hiatus for around two months, has updated its site with a notification list. As much as I am not too happy with the compromise of privacy and the lack of PR handled in this purpose, I believe that the notice at least has shed a bit more light for those who wants to know what the company is thinking.

In this article (I saved it under .doc file just in case if it’s taken down), there are some points on ODEX’s take on the issue. However, I am sure that most of you will probably slam it down as a last ditch attempt to save anything, and in all honestly me too. For those who are slightly more tolerant though, read on to tell me what you think of the little thoughts that I have of this article.

On a different note before I go on with some short notes, here are two articles from TJ_Han and DarkMirage that will be helpful to answer many of the questions.

These 400 over authorised titles do not consist only of anime titles that are licensed to Odex. Whether or not and to whom an anime title is licensed for sale in Singapore does not change the fact that they all enjoy copyright protection under Singapore law. Odex was appointed to conduct the present enforcement drive because it is the largest distributor of anime in the region, and it has conducted successful enforcement actions in the past in relation to the sale of pirated anime VCDs and DVDs.

Ok, nice start. I guess a re-establishment of the legal right is definitely good to address the many issues and lack of transparency by the company.

Based on searches conducted over a 6-month period from November 2006 to April 2007 on 50 anime titles only using BayTSP’s tracking solution, Odex found that there were more than 400,000 instances of downloading in Singapore. Singapore was found to have the highest level of anime downloading in the world by population.

Upon consultation with the members of AVPAS as well as other affected Japanese content owners, Odex was tasked to organise a major enforcement effort, and represent all the content owners in enforcement action against downloaders in Singapore, under the auspices of AVPAS.

Very important data. So, the plan has been set way before in the month of November. In that sense, why are warnings not given out to proper channels at the very least to an audience that hardly knows anything about copyright laws. No one here, I believe, will have any trouble telling you that they know that it’s rather contentious to download an anime since the fair use deal as stated by Andy Ho’s article is decent but not foolproof. In fact, it is rather hard to convince a judge that the downloading of the anime does not cause a possibility in shrinking the market profits. Copyright laws, in the end, are provided to protect the intellectual property of the anime companies.

Nevertheless, I find that this notice is close to 8 months late, and ODEX suffered the pain telling the law to 9 year old children who probably does not even know the difference between a copywriter and a copyright.

The objective of this enforcement drive is to carry out sustained action that will serve as a wake-up call to anime fans and other internet users in Singapore that downloading is illegal. Many internet users in Singapore download copyright material which is owned by major foreign companies, such as film production studios and television networks in the US and Japan. These companies have so far not taken action in Singapore, not because downloading is legal, but because Singapore has not been a priority for enforcement. This will now change, at least where anime is concerned, in view of the alarming statistics gathered from BayTSP’s data.

I get it, but I believe that most people have mentioned about the warning signs. I am sure that many have been deterred if an official statement to the press/on the main site engaging the anime community was released way before this. Will that be a better wake-up call and you can screw up everyone else who is not information savvy enough to absorb that fact?

Some reports have stated that Odex may earn up to $15 million through compensation payments received from downloaders, on the basis that Odex receives $5,000 from each of 3,000 subscribers. This is again not true. 3,000 IP addresses do not equate to 3,000 different subscribers. Further, Odex does not require all downloaders to pay $5,000 in compensation.

The main factor in deciding the compensation amount for early settlement purposes is the level of downloading carried out by each individual. Bearing in mind that the enforcement drive is still at an initial stage, conscious efforts have been made to keep the amount claimed to a minimum. The amount paid to Odex so far has not covered even 20% of Odex’s enforcement costs incurred to date. Additionally, downloaders who face genuine financial difficulties have been allowed to pay significantly reduced compensation amounts, or to pay in instalments.

Ok, some credit nevertheless. They do not deny the fact that there is a profit earned from this early settlement. There is at least some transparency about the fact that they might have earned some cash through this. I give them that, and it’s normal to earn some cash over illegal downloading since you are issuing your right as an enforcer.

However, I do not like the tone in one of its statements where they bordered on intimidation. Many has advised on fighting a law suit against ODEX over this, and I can tell you that the chance of winning is not that high. As much as it is not a completely lost-case through the fair use statement and the sheer evidence that your IP can be misleading, it is not a good chance. Still, the letter on the possible excessive punishment is apparent that they are not at all remorse over the lost moral battle. I will want them to clarify more on the lead up of the issue.

Nevertheless, I will say that with the incident being blown rather out of proportions, it is important to be more transparent of its dealings and the notification helps a little but way too late to save itself. This is very important when you are dealing with an extremely hostile crowd that you have screwed heavily enough to have a huge furore on traditional and new media.

That’s about it. What do you think of the article by ODEX itself? Useful, crap or “Hey, I don’t care because I will hate them forever even if they become all good!” My personal opinion is perhaps similar to many: an aim to cover up the gaffe of Stephen Sing. I will look on closely to see how they can somewhat re-engage whatever remaining community that will resolve this stifling condition.

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