Apocalypse now
Taken from RIUVA. So Odex has finally done it. Singapore’s anime community is doomed. Oh shit. So anyway some poor guy probably wet his pants after receiving this letter.
WTF zOMG H4X!
BTW the organization mentioned in the letter AVPAS (Anti-Piracy Association of Singapore) is similar to the RIAA/RIAS except that Odex appears to be the sole active member. The organization has obtained authorizations from various Japanese studios to represent their rights for all their copyrighted works, even those that are not licensed by Odex for distribution in Singapore. The full list of titles can be found on their website.
Read on for my thoughts.
That said, I am very, very curious as to how Odex, a private entity, managed to obtain personal data from the ISPs based on purely circumstantial evidences. As far as I can see from the AVPAS member list, there is zero indication that it is anything but a private organization. It is related to neither the police nor the relevant government agencies. Therefore, it is the anime equivalent of the RIAA.
However, RIAA, as mighty and powerful as it appears to be, is not able to obtain any personal information from American ISPs directly. It has to do it through the court. That means that it has to first start the legal procedures before the court issues a subpoena that forces the ISP to reveal the identity of the defender and summons the person to court. The defenders in these lawsuits are given the generic name “John Doe” because their names are undisclosed by their ISPs until after the court subpoena. In such cases, the first letter received by the poor sob should be from his own ISP informing him of the existence of such a subpoena for his identity.
The above letter is addressed to the person himself and was sent directly by Odex. This means that Odex, without first going through any legal proceedings, is able to obtain personal information directly from the ISPs using only the IP address. That is insane if you consider the amount of invasive power that has been put into the hands of private company and the potential for abuse by individuals with their personal agendas.
You know, there’s a certain someone whom I really hate on a certain forum. I will fake produce a record of his IP address illegally torrenting a picture that I once drew during a particularly boring physics lecture. I shall then e-mail this “proof” to Singnet and ask for this person’s home address. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll go spend a few bucks to register a company to make the request seem more legitimate…
Of course Odex is a legitimate company that is trying to protect its rights under the current intellectual property rights law (flawed as it may be). But my point is that if a private entity can obtain such information without the prior knowledge of the people involved and without the authority of the court, then what exactly in our legal system is protecting our privacy from abuse by some unscrupulous characters? And if such protection of personal privacy does indeed exist, what exactly allows Odex to bypass it?
Then again, I’m not well-versed with the local legal system. Maybe our privacy laws are really that screwed up. Oh well.
Read this excellent explanation of the “RIAA vs. John Doe” lawsuits, particularly the sections on “How the RIAA identifies the people they sue” and “The Lawsuit Begins”, and compare it to what Odex is apparently authorized to do. Doesn’t RIAA look like the better alternative?
So what are your remaining options for your weekly anime fix?
- Direct download sites
- Obscure Chinese Bittorrent trackers
- XDCC bots on IRC
- Download raws off Winny/Share
- Move to Japan
- Find a job at Odex
Alternatively, find a safer hobby like playing pirated computer games or serial jaywalking.
June 2nd, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Kouji, i feel cowardly asking you to type my contents, since i obviously have no balls to aim for the news paper lol.
But it would be good if you talk about thier licensing methods, the lack of info on when and what is gonna be releasing. And the time for releasing anime. If they have to wait for japanese dvds to come out first, they have to realistically plan ahead of licensing those that they can bring in immediately while the newer ones can have some marketing from fansubs lol.
about how they license the anime without assurance of whether it might reach sg due to the nature of the anime.
KeKE, maybe you missed out the parts where we obviously presented other alternatives that requires money as well. we arent that cheap. If you were insisting on reading anime news, why are you here?
Like what DM said, that’s a pretty stupid thing to say. The times of the anime community is bad now, the air is heavy, so i would appreciate you don’t start lighting up any flames here.
June 2nd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
The copyright licenses granted to Odex are most likely to be the right to reproduce, modify or distribute. As far as I know, there is no right such as “the right of possession”. The precedent lawsuits all involve individuals distributing copyrighted materials or utilizing them for financial profits, not for just possessing them. Downloading animes for domestic use could hardly be deemed as reproduction or distribution.
I am really interested about which exact section(s) of the Singapore Copyright Act(Chapter 63) do anime downloaders infringe upon. Odex should probably indicate that in their letters at least, instead of just listing the generic punishment of fine of $20,000 or 6 months jail term. If there is no actual infringement as outlined in the Copyright Act, the victims could sue Odex for false accusations and well the punishment limits are several times higher than that for copyright infringement. When that happens, it would seem like those who paid Odex in settlements have been extorted.
For those interested in reading the Copyright Act, it is available online at http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:06 pm
If all things fail, go to youtube….
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Infringement of copyright can be found in division 6 of part IV of the copyright act.
Remedies for infringements of copyright can be found in Part V of the copyright act.
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
~~~
Before starting off, I like to make a short introduction about myself. In many aspects, I am very similar to the closet Hikkikomori that exists within Japanese Society in general.
As such, I dislike having contact with the rest of my fellow humans. In fact, if I had the chance, I would rather spend the whole day at home alone, by myself, play games, watch anime, laze around, literally a PEST ( Play, Eat, Sleep, Talk ), alone.
That said, I ain’t no saint. As such, the following comments were simply made by someone who does not really fit into any part of Singapore Society.
If there wasn’t so much coverage over the downloading issue, I would never have posted the following comments
~~~
The tactics used by Odex and/or AVPAS might seem to be effective, but in reality might in the end backfire on themselves. Why?
In almost all anime, there is alot of hidden soft themes, which fans get exposed to over and over again, and are eventually heavily influenced. One of these themes, is individuality freedom.
That by itself is not a big deal. But remember Singapore’s Golden Rule? “You can do whatever you want, just DON’T get caught”. The rule is practically indoctrinated into almost every aspect of life. (EVEN more so, if you have ever been into National Service)
Mix the 2 ingredients above, and you get the most explosive keg of Gunpowder. To the neutral, the appropriate term would be “Uninhibited Freedom.(To do as you wish to do)”.
To our government, it would be more like “Totally Unrestrained Freedon” which is without any form of control. I am aware that the government is doing a great job at running the country (Economic prosperity etc ) But it is IN human nature itself, to rebel against those in control.
A fine example is showcased in the recent General elections in Singapore. Despite the fine showings made by the PAP, a very disturbing trends can be noted in the numbers who voted non PAP parties/candidates.
That said, given that most Anime Fans are often influenced by what they liked to watch, the demand of fansubs WILL always be there. Just that the supply, through personal download becomes risky.
So how would they fill this demand through unofficial methods? Simple, through 2 ways.
1. Across the causeway. Anime fans are really a curious lot. Like religion, there is a certain consensus of sharing, and willinginess to help one another, especially in times of need. This also transcends nationality.
Getting downloads from friends from across the causeway, on a weekly basis is still a practical possibility. And you don’t even need to burn it into a disk.
Remember the capacity of your mp3 players and thumb drives? At the rate the capacity is increasing, carrying high quality fansubs in entire series by hidding it within these innoncent looking devices is as easy as 1, 2, 3. AND 2 dogs ain’t going to bother to try to sniff them out.
Unless they are willing to go as far as to check the electronic data stored on such devices on every single ingoing and outcoming person on the CauseWay, I highly doubt you can nip this method of entry.
Of course, this is simply just bringing it in, what about spreading it? Remember how does modern “extremist organisations works”, having a fragmented hierarchy often works, and often one in the chain may not know another within it.(Whether it is closer to creativity or just plain psychotic, I will let you decided upon it.)
This is probably the case in which anime fans would collect themselves into groups to maximise effiency and sharing. In fact, all they need is a USB thumbdrive or a large capacity mp3 player, and they can easily transfer data amongst one discreeting without having to rely on the “intrusive eye”.
Also, for those who are loners, do not despair. Whenever there is demand, there will eventually supply. Both Odex and AVPAS have only factored in the tail end users.
They totally forget about the the Video Game Pirates. That still exists. To this particular group, it is good business waiting in the wings. They are already smuggling data as mentioned above into Singapore, then creating copies of it within Singapore itself, then reselling it.
By cracking down on the end users, those who do not have the means or will to curb their desires, looking to these pirates might be an effective remedy in their perspective.
And given the quality of fansubs, the pirates could even put down a “Quality Assurance” Seal on their products, over the products that Odex makes. (5~10 dollars for a piece of high quality pirated DVD Sub, over a poorly done original product, which would you choose?)
~~~~~~~
Off track topic for a moment, anyone actually noticed the death of a certain pirate industry? Especially those of old game platforms like GameBoy, GameBoyAdvanced, MAME, etc
Those are for a great reason, you can literally download the products off the internet, and play them emulated, for free. Any game for such consoles are too easily available.
In fact it was too easily available, such that the pirate industry for the segment is ALL but nearly gone. ( Which tech savy idiot would pay 30 dollars for what you can get for free off the net, at the touch of a button, in an instant?)
AVPAS/Odex should be able to draw meaningful insight of this.
~~~~~~~
That said, AVPAS/Odex by using the might of the legal system, will no doubt scare the typical downloader. But for the hard core, it is more like necessity rather then a luxury.
For this group to survive, banding together to get this ‘fix’ would make more economic sense. And given the 1st point they made, evidently, rather then try to challenge the system on their main grounds, they would rather quietly just boycott it and get their ‘fix’ elsewhere.
And if the pirates had their say, they would probably put an ad within the Chinese and english dailies, thanking them for the extra (lucrative) ‘product’ line, as well as the new customer base.
So, what dies that leave Odex/AVPAS with? Only resentment, hatred and utter disdain. That hill to climb WILL be alot harder then willingness to work with the community hand in hand.
Finally, to end this off, I only have this to say.
I am not going to go on the ethics of right and wrong, but rather what extent would Singaporean anime fans would go for their fix of anime.
Sometimes, creativity breeds new methodologies and ways to slip under the system, and when there is demand, you can be sure some Singaporeans will definitedly try to take the “cheap route”.
Oh yes, finally, I forget to mention earlier, I am not really into anime ( I cannot remember names of series, their singers, voice actors even), but rather I can sense the $$$ opportunity within doing it.
I am just voicing this from the pragmatic point of view.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:52 pm
All i have to say is this: good luck, Singapore, on your aspirations to become a animation hub, cos you’re going to need it.
Especially when the tacit agreement between fansub groups and their distributors helps the anime industry in the US outgrow yours (wasn’t the US the backwaters of anime some time ago, pre-fansubbing era?), and anime fans from most parts of the world can sit down and talk enthusiastically about the latest anime shows, while Singaporeans twiddling their thumbs and curse themselves for know nothing other than the crap Odex dishes out.
That is, if there are still anime fans around who’ve not thrown in their towels and quitted anime altogether.
Odex’s reply to complaints about the quality of their products? “Perception problem”.
Fine then. If perception is the problem, I can easily stop looking. So can others.
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Dark Mirage - “It makes money off providing series for local TV and Animax. ”
Not too sure, but I don’t think Animax buys their shows from Odex. They acquire the licenses straight from the Japanese distributors.
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:20 pm
hmm… i’ll pretty much like to boycott O***’s products. but i wouldn’t know where to get my anime elsewhere if so (esp since is a danger zone now). anyone know where i can get r2 animes from? other than buy.com, amazon, and ebay.
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Animax is a subsidary of Sony, which is a regional distributor. Which even brings to the point, why would they need to even go through Odex then…
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:36 pm
yeah i doubt they make any money providing anime to animax or anything. or else they wont be doing this
we don’t need anime to survive.
but anime need fans to survive.
AND
odex need anime fans to survive. it’s a very simple cycle.
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:42 pm
@Yoshi;
Then where do they get the subtitles from? Self-sub?
@hitoshura;
I’ll need a couple days to write it out nicely. I’m just really lazy and even though it’s for a cause i believe in, i still need my lazy-time. I’m going to need a list of animes which they have the licenses for but did not release or partiailly release it on either VCD or DVD - licenses which they just sat on. Also, are there any anime, which are too graphic (too much pantsu shots or blood and gore or violence or anti-government messages) to be released in this country, that they have licenses for?
Once written, though, where does it go? Who should i mail the letter to?
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:51 pm
@bardmanship: Thanks for the proofread. Those parts you pointed out really did sound weird after a subsequent read ;)
About your (partial) letter, I am thinking we should gather all the possible points of “attack” on a page somewhere, so it will be easier for people to write letters, as well as to see what points have already been mentioned.
@hitoshura: You’re looking for this page?
Do give it a go - at least we can say we’ve tried. As long as you don’t make accusations you can’t prove, and maintain a civil tongue, it should be ok.
@DM: If what you say about Odex’s real market (TV stations) and direction is true, then local anime fans are in a tight spot legally then :(
As for writing letters and such, personally I think the aim is not so much as to threaten Odex with a boycott if they don’t buck up, but more of getting Odex to speak up officially about their situation.
If they are under those restrictions by the Japanese studios, they should make it known to the public. I don’t understand why they would prefer to keep quiet about it, and take all the blame upon themselves, rather than just saying their hands are tied.
Once they do so, it would (hopefully) open up a path for us to ask the studios themselves for a relaxation of these restrictions. I know, what I’m saying here is getting wilder and wilder, but at least there is a road for us to take, as opposed to the roadblock we have now.
Interestingly, Chuang Yi doesn’t seem to be having these kind of restrictions from the manga publishers, even though they too cater to the S’pore market. Maybe the manga publishers have a different view from the anime studios.
Oh well, I’ll be sending in my letter now, we’ll see if it’s for better or for worse (or it gets relegated to the trash bin lol)
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Yoshi: Wherever they obtain their license from, someone has to translate and dub for Animax. That someone is Odex. Even some R1 productions are outsourced to Odex.
Bakavic: Licensing to Chuangyi doesn’t make manga any easier or harder to pirate. Therefore it can only serve to make more money for the Japanese companies. If R3 DVDs came out fast, cheap and high quality with tons of extras, not only will it become a perfect source for pirates, it will also be parallel imported back to Japan and destroy their local market. (Which, BTW, sells DVDs containing two episodes for 70 SGD each.) Manga just doesn’t have these problems.
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:31 pm
wow, after reviving the damn router sitting behind me, the posts have all become lengthy :P
Anyway, I will modify my letter and send it to ST right after I finish the presentation slides for my project.
Just that I have to use my real name is making me uncomfortable.
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:39 pm
All I can say is, “wait and see.”
To those (or the person) claiming to be migrating, its not as rosy as it seems. Racism and social divides do exist in Japan, being a Chinese won’t help you very much in trying to assimilate with society. Its not easy. Think before you act and ‘jump the gun.’
To the people writing into your local newspaper’s forums, all the best. I’m not expecting them to be published though.
To everyone ranting on about Odex, loosen up. Downloading subs of unlicensed anime/raws/subs of licensed anime are all the same: illegal. Watching anime on TV in Japan is free? Wrong. They do pay a fee to their respective TV providers/stations.
The bottom line is not to overreact. Observe how the situation develops before doing anything rash.
Calm down.