Forum - View topicNEWS: Singapore Anime Licensor Pursues Illegal Downloaders
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wilson_x1999
 Posts: 183 Location: Monterrey, Mexico |
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From what I have seen online and read on some blogs, ODEX doesn't even advertise their shows, so people don't know if the show has been licensed in Singapore, and instead of getting trying to get the fans support they use scare tactics? mmm... looks like someone has been reading the RIAA manual for PR
An interesting post I found about this: http://www.darkmirage.com/2007/05/30/apocalypse-now/ |
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kokuryu
 Posts: 915 |
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ODEX doesnt even own the rights to the shows, BTW, they only have a VERBAL agreement with the Japanese companies to persue people in Singapore - in other words, witch hunt.
In the meantime, the companies in Japan continue to deny they have ever issued a license for any anime to be produced and distributed in Singapore. |
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testorschoice
Posts: 468 |
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Do you have a source for this claim? |
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Gage
Posts: 480 Location: United States |
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What exactly does the children's behavior have to do with downloading anime without permission? I would say that the kids were just interested in viewing the show... nothing too bad I think. Unless I'm missing something.
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LoOpiNg
Posts: 16 |
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And how did they get not only the time and date of what download and even the mail address of the individual?
Even though they didn't disclose it, the only way is through the ISP and in Singapore there are only 2 major ISPs. Is that legal to reveal so much private information? |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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It is legal in any country as long as there's a search warrant issued by a prosecutor, and it is no news that net activities of Singaporeans are under constant monitoring from their government. In fact, all net activities can be traced by NSA's Echelon. They just don't bother to record everyone, but it is a piece of cake to track one(s) down. |
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la_contessa
Posts: 200 Location: Pennsylvania |
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It seems as though the behavior itself WAS downloading anime without permission (or, more accurately, payment). If it's illegal to do it, and people do it, they're breaking the law whether the law is valid or not. |
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minakichan
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But this is bounds above the RIAA. THIS is the way to pursue illegal downloaders-- not saying I like the idea, but still-- not slapping everyone left and right with a lawsuit. I imagine there's a LOT less backlash.
I wouldn't say this is the route to go in America, however. As I understand, anime actually has some following in Singapore-- you can actually watch a lot of it on TV, and manga doesn't cost an arm and a leg, so there's a lot less excuse for illegal downloaders. |
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SharinganEye
 Posts: 402 Location: Les Etats-Unis d'Amérique |
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"Call connected through the NSA, Complete transmission through the NSA, Suspending your rights For the duration of the permanent war..." |
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Gage
Posts: 480 Location: United States |
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Oh. Maybe they didn't know they were breaking the law. |
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population_tire
 Posts: 576 |
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Those fines are ridiculous. If I made a fine like that, I'd only charge $5 an episode, since that's how much a DVD would be.
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lildude
Posts: 13 |
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This is only happening in Singapore right? I haven't seen anything that says it's happening there exclusively.
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RamzaOwns
Posts: 13 |
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lol, now we know how ODEX makes money
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ichido reichan
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therefore if you can't download it, get a dealer and just buy it from him, very easy!
The day download becomes illegal, we will be back to the "fansub distro" age again and there will be a few tricks to make yourself come out clean out of this... is like growing marihuana on your backyard, ofcourse they will held you responsible for knowning that growing marihuana is illegal (unless authorized to do so) but that doesn't mean you can't get dope from someone's stash and smoke it fast without telling anybody where do you get it. Im here...waiting until all this paradise of free anime comes to an end. |
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wao
Posts: 224 |
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Just butting in to give some extra information... Compared to the US, then yes, it's a lot, but just as a gauge we have about 2-3 anime shows subbed in English aired per week (I remember they had 12K at one point, Jigoku Shoujo at another, and Inuyasha one day too)... on public TV with English subtitles/dubs. I think they're airing Melody of Oblivion soon (wtf?! how much censorship will that need?). I have no idea about the Chinese ones. But we do have a lot of it by most standards if you count the additional benefit of getting Animax SEA on cable TV. That's a local offshoot of the Animax in Japan, and while the shows are obviously not as new as on Animax Asia it's got a decent selection (among crap shows they actually AIRED Princess Tutu, Emma, and a bunch of other stuff you can look up on ANN). Yeah, 24h of anime which does actually change over time, obviously quite a bit better than AXN-Asia back when it used to show anime. You have to get a specific package to get Animax though, and that's why I don't get to see it (parents: "24 hours of anime? Do you think we got possessed?") We also had one period of time about... 2-3 years ago? where they aired anime on TVMobile, the local TVs... on buses (I kid you not). Unfortunately I'd rather forget they ever happened because of the really really really bad English dubs (the Chinese ones like for Arjuna were a bit better but there was one voice that literally made the bus cringe). If it makes any difference we also seem to be slowly improving on teh anime films scene. Ghibli films have been screened in mainstream theatres here since some time back, and have decent ads in the papers and so on (considering the size of Singapore, any mainstream theatre = accessible). Recently we even got TokiKake which was well-received (loads of my classmates who never watch anime watched it and loved it, my teachers watched it, random grannies watched it...) and Paprika's screening at a small but public screen around the city area right now. Going by all of this, we have much less of a reason to be "forgiven" for downloading anime compared to perhaps the States where there is, from what I understand, generally less TV avenues for checking out anime or other countries like those in South America or UAE where there is little anime on TV or it's just very difficult to buy anime. But compared to the States at least, it has to be said that we still have a much less consumer-aware distribution of anime here. As another poster said, ODEX generally doesn't advertise when they license a series or release it, so for lazy bums like me who do not hang out at anime shops I haven't got much of an idea when ODEX licenses stuff (the last time I remember them advertising was for Last Exile). No such thing as announcements during cons, panel sessions, interviews and so on... most people know jackshit about ODEX except that their quality is generally, sad to say, awful compared to the average American release. I'm not talking about the video quality even, just the translations. As for the concerns as to whether it's legal to release so much information: Privacy? In Singapore? LOLLERSKATES That's all there is to it. Also I think it is true that ODEX doesn't own the rights to all the shows they claim to go after under the banner of AVPAS: http://avpas.com.sg/AVPAS_Authorized.html Back when this was released there was stuff that was extremely new like Darker than Black and stuff on it - it's deeefinitely not prelicensing and it's not a case of Licensing Really Fast either, I bet you $1000 on that. What the AVPAS is is a sort of grouping of Japanese interests under a local banner which enables them to go after local downloaders, but it does not necessarily mean the shows are actually licensed and will necessarily be released here any time soon (if they were - pls 2 give me Turn A Gundam nao, okay, thanks?) As to the fines: they don't ACTUALLY charge that insanely high amount per show, if you agree to their conditions and pay them about S$3-5k. If you take it to court or something and lose yuo'd have to pay for it... but considering the Way Things Work in Singapore, as well as one guy who got the letter saying that Odex told him the government is actually supporting this, you have a snowball's chance in hell of winning that lawsuit. I don't think this is necessarily the best solution to the problem, although there is an issue of many Singaporean anime fans seriously thinking it is their right to download free anime and explicitly saying things like "you are a fool for wasting SO much money on anime (trans: $30 for 12 episodes), when you can get it free always get it free first". Part of this is our culture perhaps :p And part of it is the usual students-who-can't-buy thing because I dare say 60% or more of anime fans are really students who are limited in that way (case in point: I get birthday money. I ask parents if I can get an MP3 player that may cost upwards of $200. They're fine. I ask if I can get anime/manga and they blast at me for wanting such rubbish. Hey, my mum cut off my pocket money when she saw me bringing home Mushishi...) While this problem repeats itself worldwide, it's important to consider that the context of Singapore is really very different from the US's in general, although I don't think we want another one of those wars in this thread.... So far it seems the people caught have been caught for downloading a. popular/very commercial sort of things (D.Gray-man, Shana, Bleach... subs in particular), b. through Singtel (one main internet provider) and c. through BitTorrent. b. is something that will definitely change as it's just a matter of time until other major ISPs like Starhub comply, and if c. changes to include direct transfers or something then uh... crap, and I really dont' know if a. will change. |
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