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.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of teenagers at a political rally and encouraged them to tell their friends to participate in the political process. (via Kotaku)

“I want you to tell them, ‘It’s time for you to turn off the TV and stop playing GameBoy,'” Obama said. “We’ve got work to do.”

GameBoy? LOL. Sure, it’s only a game console and this doesn’t make him any less of a candidate than the next guy (or gal), but little things like this really show us the kind of generation gap that exists between a generation that grew up with the Internet and feels more than comfortable being part of it and a generation that is just learning to deal with it and thinks of it as nothing more than an improved telephone network with Google.

Ah, yes. It’s rant time. ひさしぶり～

For my generation, it has been an accepted truth since forever that politicians high up the ladder just don’t understand technology. Technology to them is a scary and unpredictable wild card that has to be controlled and legislated or all hell will break loose. They all know how to Google for dirt on their political opponents and set up lunch appointments using their BlackBerry, but as far as they are concern, the Internet runs on voodoo magic and faerie dust.

Ruri for President!

In a way, this has always been true for every generation. The younger generation adapts to advancements in technology and science faster but the government has always been full of old suits. But the Internet is different the car, radio, plane, microwave oven or even television. While every new invention in the last century or two builds upon its predecessor to create something faster, better or more efficient, the Internet is almost completely new and self-advancing. A car is just a faster horse carriage. A plane allows us to delivery goods faster than ships. The television comes from the radio. They require a change in mindset for the people and the government, but on a very manageable scale. Roads need to be wider, more variety of goods can now be exported, new forms of entertainment can be produced.

But the Internet is all that and more. It is also growing a lot faster and changing a lot more than anyone had anticipated just a decade ago.

Just ten years ago, you needed to be somebody to be heard. You had to make a name for yourself before someone even gave you the chance to be published or to go on TV. And then you worried about what to say. Today, anyone with a message can post it and if it resonates with enough people, it will be heard. This kind of democratic force is hard to understand for the baby-boomer generation. To them, Internet discussion is nothing more than teenage chatrooms and trivial entertainment. That is until one of them gets brought down by blogs. As more and more people get connected, the power that a well-targeted website can have over the political process will become enormous.

Motoko for President!

Of course, I’m not deluding myself; we are still a long way off from that. Right now, we are at a transitional phase between the old and the new, and this is where it gets really frustrating for a lot of people and confusing for the others.

Take file-sharing and DRM issues for example. The politicians, the judges, the CEOs and the self-proclaimed legal experts: an overwhelming majority of them are old and male. There is nothing ambiguous about digital copyrights in their minds: file-sharing is bootlegging which is like fake Chinese products which is really stealing money. And naturally, they take steps to legislate and suppress file-sharing. But what they don’t realize is that file-sharing is a very different thing from traditional piracy which is mostly profit-oriented and organized. File-sharing is completely unrestricted and the tools are available to anyone and everyone. It’s an inherent part of the Internet that will never go away. It’s impossible to stamp out file-sharing without destroying the freedom and democratic forces at work that make the Internet what it is today. File-sharing is a Pandora’s Box that cannot be unopened and trying only makes you look like a huge joke.

Tama-nee for President!

Instead of trying to legislate the Internet into oblivion, maybe it’s time for the people and the legislature to re-examine the relevance of our concepts of creator rights and the centuries-old system that fails to account for present-day realities.

Instead of whining about how digital piracy has destroyed company profits and trying to sue the world back to its 1990s status quo, maybe it’s time for the entertainment industry to open its eyes, rethink its revenue model and reinvent itself to stay relevant in the new paradigm.

But of course that is all wishful thinking. The reality is that the people who matter in the grand scheme today did not grow up with the Internet. I doubt Mr. Bush even knows how to load songs into his own iPod without his personal aide doing it for him. People fear what they do not understand and decisions made on irrational fear are often bad ones. Just take a look at Jack Thompson. Now, I’m not blaming them or looking down on them; it’s just a sad, sad reality that cannot be helped. Politicians may hire tech consultants to keep themselves “updated” on the latest web crazes but it’s a completely different thing to learn about something than to know about something.

Yuki for Vice President (under Haruhi)!

Judges and politicians are, in theory, selected from smart and capable people who can make sound moral decisions. But even if assuming that was true, can they make the correct decision about things like DRM and net neutrality if they aren’t even sure what those things mean? Maybe. But it can be a lot better.

Some cynics might say that this phenomenon will always be true, that the government and the influential will always be nothing but greying heads who lag behind technology. I agree to a small extent, but I personally think that the current difference is a lot more pronounced because the birth and growth of the Internet was too sudden for its level of impact on society. I think when the day comes when a new generation of leaders born after the Internet takes over, we will have a much less polarized society and a much smaller gap between our generation and the next. Because somehow, I just don’t think that it’s very likely for those of us who grew up with the Internet with all its limitless information at our fingertips to one day stop keeping up with its progress. At least I personally don’t intend to ever stop reading Slashdot (and its eventual successors) until I get Alzheimer’s or drop dead.

Perhaps I’m just being overly optimistic and perhaps political technophobia will continue well into our own generation when neutral interconnects are perfected and full virtual reality takes over the keyboard and LCD, making our generation look as outdated and irrelevant to the next as Hillary Clinton is to us today. (Damn it, I want a cyberbrain.)

Whatever the case is, I will bet that within 10 years, digital copyright laws will have to be radically revamped. I will bet 100 USD which, at the current rate of inflation and US currency devaluation, should be just enough for a can of Pepsi by then. :P

It’s a wonder how I drifted so far off-topic to come up with this rant just from reading a single line mentioning GameBoys in Obama’s speech. The unpredictable power of association that drives our logical mind.

This picture has absolutely no relation to the topic

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.

This picture has absolutely no relation to the topic

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.

[audio:dontdownloadthis.mp3]

You can download a higher quality version of the song from http://www.dontdownloadthissong.com

Now excuse me while I go rob a liquor store while selling crack and running school kids down with a car. :P

Anyway, before you go wtf over it, it’s a joke. Weird Al is not the latest propangada machine of the RIAA. In fact if you visit his MySpace page, you’ll be able to play and download his song “You’re Pitiful”, a parody of the popular “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt.

James Blunt gave his approval for the parody but his record label didn’t. Weird Al decides to screw the suits and release the song for free through the internet.

“I have a long-standing history of respecting artists’ wishes,” Yankovic writes. “So if James Blunt himself were objecting, I wouldn’t even offer my parody for free on my Web site. But since it’s a bunch of suits — who are actually going against their own artist’s wishes — I have absolutely no problem with it.”

And that is an artist that deserves respect.