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?

1. Direct download sites
2. Obscure Chinese Bittorrent trackers
3. XDCC bots on IRC
4. Download raws off Winny/Share
5. Move to Japan
6. Find a job at Odex

Alternatively, find a safer hobby like playing pirated computer games or serial jaywalking.

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Recently, Odex hinted that they are teaming up with IPOS to catch anime downloaders in Singapore, sort of like RIAS (Singapore’s RIAA) except for anime. Feeling bored, I sent them an e-mail regarding this rumour exactly one week ago but apparently Odex does not have the habit of checking their inbox, or perhaps they have a filter that automagically redirects everything into the spam box.

Well, here it is…

Hi,

I am DarkMirage, the owner of darkmirage.com. I run one of the more well-known anime blogs in Singapore and I have been involved in the online anime community for quite some time. I write to you with regards to some recent rumours regarding your company and your company’s operations in general.

There have been reports recently that Odex is going to team up with IPOS to target anime downloaders in Singapore. This was first reported in the community by a source close to your company and subsequently confirmed after the recent focus group by kwok, the owner of the blog lolicontrol, who participated in it.

Although I can understand your concerns, I disagree with this decision. But I am sure you have already heard similar objections from many sources so I will move on as this is not what I want to talk about.

The issue I am trying to raise was actually brought up by another local blogger, albeit in a blunter manner.

If you overlook drmchsr0’s usual over-dramatization of the issue, there is an important point to note. Your company has never been engaging the community. Unlike American distributors with their anime conventions, you do not appear at local events. I have met employees of American companies, such as ADV, online and they participate in forum discussions and community events just like the rest.

A recent example would be Bandai’s asosbrigade.com viral marketing campaign for Haruhi Suzumiya. I created a parody site at code-geass.com and the person in-charge of the site at Bandai actually added me to his MySpace friends. The fans KNOW that Bandai cares. We know that Bandai has been reading forums and anime blogs for feedback. The little things count.

When American fans are unhappy with something, they know where to find the people to speak to. Your recent focus group is about the only thing similar in nature that I have ever heard of from your company. I know of local anime fans who do not even know your company’s name.

The issue with IPOS is yet another side-effect of this isolation. You have your reasons for making such a decision, but you have to tell us what they are and keep us informed. But you don’t. Instead, we have to rely on rumours and second-hand information to get a vague idea of what Odex is really up to. And when we do that, the conclusions we come to are most definitely NOT in your company’s favour.

The same goes for your DVD releases. No one knows anything about your products until someone notices them on a LaserFlair shelf. You can hardly blame poor sales on downloaders alone (or at all). The lack of publicity on your part is just inexcusable, it’s almost as if you don’t want to sell those DVDs. The least you can do is to keep your website updated.

Because of your company’s isolation from the rest of the anime community in Singapore, you are seen as an outsider. In America, there is genuine support coming from the fans for the companies there because they feel that the companies pay them the respect they deserve as the consumers. The credits at the end of promotional video on asosbrigade even thanked fansub watchers who support the DVD releases. That means a LOT to the fans who obviously downloaded the fansubs (illegally you might say) and are now eagerly awaiting the R1 Haruhi DVDs’ release.

On the other hand, Singaporean fans view Odex as a non-entity that is outside the community. I have not met a single person who is looking forward to your Haruhi release, which may or may not exist at all since all we know about your future releases come from anonymous rumours. Personally I am looking forward to the R1 release which I plan on getting and I already own the R2 set. But I can’t say the same for Odex’s release.

It all boils down to a PR problem. Your company’s behaviour rubs fans the wrong way and you do not make any (noticeable) attempts at engaging us and addressing our grievances. The impression we get from past experiences is that Odex hates us. You do not bother to correct this impression, so we assume it to be true. You cannot expect local fans to support your products in a situation like this.

I have a very simple suggestion for Odex: create an official blog. You can post all your new releases and acquisitions there and keep us updated what the hell is going on so that we do not have to rely on rumours. When the fans are unhappy with something, we can bring it up there and get a discussion going. Some problems may not be so easily resolved, but at least we will know what is Odex’s official stand instead of making assumptions that are usually negative.

It does not take a whole lot of effort to maintain a blog and the benefits to your PR are enormous. All you have to do is to let the fans know what you are doing. Look at how the Japanese companies do it. Hell, if you cannot find someone to do it, I can even volunteer darkmirage.com for it. Free of charge even, if money is your concern (which it often seems to be).

I dare say that if you do go ahead with the IPOS plan, you will not see the slightest increase in sales. On the other hand, if you engage the community through a blog, forum discussions, feedback sessions and by participating in anime-related events such as Cosfest, support for your products and brand will build up naturally.

For the sake of the local anime community, I sincerely urge that you reconsider your company’s business practices.

One more episode downloaded does not equate to one less Odex DVD sold. You cannot force the consumers to like your products.

Thank you for your time,
DarkMirage

Or to summarize: Odex needs a PR department. A new one if it already has one, but I bet it doesn’t.

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Actually if IPOS is really going to go along with this, the easiest thing for them to do is to take down the name of everyone who walks into one of the anime goods import shops and then subpoena his/her ISP. You can probably get a >95% conviction rate.

It’s not a huge stretch to say that piracy created the entire anime community in Singapore, generating a ton of previously untapped export revenues for Japanese companies in the forms of figurines, goods and those R2 Haruhi DVDs that will be arriving at my doorsteps in about two weeks.

Please don’t kill anime.

P.S. Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora episode one ROCKED!!!… No officer, I didn’t download it. I just…uh…took a flight to Japan to catch it on TV last week.