ISP Ordered to Reveal Identities of BitTorrent Anime Sharers
Written by enigmax on January 30, 2008The High Court in Singapore has ordered an ISP to hand over the personal details of its customers who used BitTorrent to share Japanese anime titles, overturning a previous decision. The decision will likely pave the way to taking legal action against hundreds more BitTorrent users.
Odex Pt. Ltd is a Singapore-based company that distributes anime in South East Asia. Founded in 1998 it started distributing anime in 2000, offering titles such as Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist and Mobile Suit Gundam. Last year we reported that the company had started to pursue those it accused of sharing its copyright works, sending out many ‘pay up $3500 or else’ letters - a response, says the company, to a drop in sales of more than 60% in the previous 2 years.
Odex used a tracking system to collect IP address of alleged sharers and then in court cases, successfully forced the ISPs StarHub and Singnet to give up the identities of their customers involved in the sweep. Next up, they tried to force another ISP, PacNet to give up the same. However, PacNet refused, so Odex went to court to try to force them to comply. To the dismay of Odex, the court decided that Odex had ‘no right of civil action’ against those it accused of infringing its copyrights, as Odex is only a sub-licensee of the anime titles it distributes, not the copyright holder.
In a very short-lived victory for file-sharers on Tuesday, the High Court dismissed attempts to force PacNet to give up its customers details to Odex. The judge, Justice Woo Bih Li, decided that as Odex had no right in this case to take copyright action, it could not be allowed to see the personal details of PacNet’s customers either.
However, in 2007, Odex added the names of the real six Japanese copyright holders to its case (GDH, Kadokawa Pictures, Showgate, Sunrise, TV Tokyo MediaNet and Yomiuri Telecasting) which, it turns out, was a smart move. Although Justice Woo Bih Li denied Odex a chance to see the records, the real copyright holders are in a position to sue - so he granted them full access to the records instead.
A spokesperson for PacNet said: “Pacnet is glad that the court has ruled in favour of us and has dismissed Odex’s appeal with costs. We will abide by [the] ruling and provide these copyright owners with the details of about 500 IP addresses.”
By some estimates, Odex could’ve made as much as $9m if everyone they accused paid up so they are understandably pleased at the result of the case. A spokesman said: “This ruling in favor of the Japanese copyright owners is a significant boost for us and our principals, as we have always acted for and on behalf of the copyright owners. We are very pleased that Pacnet will now be required to hand over information on the infringing accounts to our copyright owners.”
It’s likely that this decision will encourage Odex to continue with their tactics against file-sharers, tactics which have already resulted in death threats for its boss, Stephen Sing and his family, after being dubbed ‘the most hated man in Singapore’s anime community’.
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hmm, well i download tons of anime, because you cant get it in the US, but once it comes to the US i do go out an buy it when they release an unedited/subtittled version that is, i cant stand how the US companies butcher a series with bad voice acting.
but seriously, if people dont want to pay $1000+ for an entire anime series, like dbz on dvd, with its 291 episodes, then the companies should look for other ways to distribute it, alot of anime fans are kids/teens and cant afford to spend such outrageous prices to watch a cartoon.
either way though, i think thier gonna end up failing in this, sure they may beable to go after people, but this is the internet, were all Anonymous, and when 1 person distributing anime gets taken down, 10 more rise up in thier place, Anime is an addiction, and when theres a demand, there are people willing to supply, same deal with drugies / drug dealers
looks to me, like there is gonna be some massive boycotting of alot of companies and industries, because of them fuckin over thier fans like this
@martin - amen dude. amen. Its a small community to say the least and this isnt going to help it. Some of the anime released in japan never even gets dubbed in english. And on top of that, even if it does, the voice actors they often get these days could make baby jesus cry.
Personally I believe that the anime distributors should endorse fansubbing and host it. It creates interest on an international level and provides them with a very powerful market monitoring tool so that specific areas can be targeted for retail.
Singnet wasn’t forced to give names… they gave it when asked…
“Lets take Britney Spears, (no not Shitney smears! be nice!) I researched it apparently Thanks to the ongoing child custody battle between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, court documents have been released showing that Britney Spears still makes $737,868 a month - around £4 million a year.”
To be fair, does it make sense to judge this based on one of the richest and most famous people? What about the rank and file IP creators, the independent musicians that only sell 1000 copies of their albums, or independent game developers who only sell 200 copies? Those are pirated too. They’re far more numerous than the millionaires, and hurt a lot more by piracy.
For those who have not read up too much on this let me just pass on a key point of information. Odex’s anime releases are crap. Basically imagine paying retail for a bad bootleg. In the past there were even cases in which Odex didn’t even bother translating the series themselves and instead ripped the sub from fansubs.
Personally I try not to download anime licensed in america. If It hasn’t been released i’ll buy it from a store that sells “imported” anime or Ill watch it online but I have made it a personal oath not to download and burn my own anime.
[quote comment="275912"]so in short:
Europe belongs to the Pirates
America belongs to the MAFIAA
and Asia could still swing either way.[/quote]
I think in need to take a trip to europe in that case.
come to indonesia once in a while. or find a friend on indonesia. we here are nice to our neighbours who share the same interest. to some, who share the same necessity on anime.
we here have no rule (yet) on torrent or downloading anime. the only crime as i can recall ever pursued by local authority was to make money from copyrighted stuff. sharing is not a crime, as long as it is not used to make provit.
even so, in my town, we have a rental software shop that renting all kind of softwares with cracks included, and anime of (most) all kind.
singapore is a hell for anime for now? come to our place. we will (i will) definitely help my brothers&sisters who love anime.
email me if you can’t live without anime or disscuss it on a site that i know have disscussed some things about odex’s tyranny
ferre_kun@yahoo.com
http://www.anime2leech.com
—-
anime bless those who help spread it out
edit: in my town only, there are around more than ten rental software/anime spread accross the town, untouched by legal rights lol.
you can say it’s heaven of piracy it is.i’m not saying that i’m proud of that fact, but what can i do? the legal stuff never reached here, while buying it online costs too much (thanks to dollars exchange rate to rupiahs lol)
anyway, no need to buy monopolised anime distribution if the product is suks like hell. if they improved their products instead of pursuing the sharer, then it maybe worth consideration. until then, spread the word not to buy any product from it at all. you can find what you need right next door. country boundaries is not an issue for anime
—-
anime bless those who help spread it out
Some things you may not know that I bothered to find out…
1) Odex did not wage a flat $3500 fee. There were a few cases that came up to that amount, but not many.
2)Odex did not collect the money and never made a cent directly, nor will they.
3)fees included filing, lawyers etc. The proceeds are to go to the Copyright holders.
4)At this point, everything is in arbitration. No money has changed hands except court costs borne by Odex
5)Thanks to excessive downloading Geneon is closing its doors. All other distributors are cutting releases by 50% or more. Many, many hard-working anime fans are losing their dream jobs.
6)Without Distribution, Anime companies will begin to fold since they make their livings by selling their product.
To sum that las bit up. Bye-bye anime.
The company, Odex is Singapore’s biggest licensor, but only has a staff of about 50 people.
Anime is a small industry when compared to other entertainment companies. They don’t have a huge resources that big music and film companies have to withstand the onslaught of illegal downloading. They are suffering from the very fans that claim to support them. Many people claim to buy what they like and are just downloading to help them make good decisions. The numbers don’t back this claim up.
Geneon is the best example. They catered to the fans. Then tried to bring the best titles the fans wanted at a good price to market. They are all but gone now.
Singapore has a very high per-capita download rate. Odex is trying to fight that and also help their country to be a ligit player in the media market. Lucas, Universal and other producers are looking very closely at Asia which is notorious for all types of piracy.
I personally think the movie and music as well as anime industries need to change their business model. But, at this point, it looks doubtful that Anime will survive the transition without massive losses.
This is just my opinion, but it’s an informed one.
are you kidding me?? think about it for a second, any person from the US that can find a file called hagane no renkinjitsu without looking it up is probably not going to be caught for copywright… we are the guys you have fix your networks buddy… as far as the guy who posted about how that is the way he puts food on the table for his kids… i hope you have daughters you can put on the street to bring home the bacon, or else your sons are going to come home not wanting to sit down because you are backing a losing cause buddy. they could not stop the mix tape, they can’t stop this… get a real job!!
These days no one wants a real job. Easier to make money sitting at home online where all the vast internets of knowledge are there for the taking. Then you get jerks thinking so high of themselves and whatnot. To me piracy has gotten abit out of hand. Was better off small and resolute but who am I to judge. Hence all the tards floating around :/
How long can/will the media corps effectively do business by suing for profits? Wow, what our world has become….
[quote comment="275911"]I can\’t wait until this happens world wide and they catch all you thieves, You all think that it\’s ok to steal peoples work, because You think they make to much money, You don\’t see us coming to your work and saying \” I think these people are making too much money everything they make now should be free\” do you?
I am an online affiliate trying to earn money to feed my family, and you guys think it\’s ok to steal what I am trying to make a living with?
Well it\’s not ok with me and I hope every last one of you get robbed one day or some bastard starts fucking with your business and I really hope it affects your family as all your theft has affected mine, fuck all you thieves,
VIVA LA GFY.COM[/quote]
Fuck us? Well, we’re a flexible bunch of folk, change your condom every time and everyone should do fine… Once you’re into it, though, you might want to get a sponsorship from some powerdrink company…
As for you earning no money… Not everyone can get the best chance of survival these days… Usually, the folk who spend too much time ranting rather than DOING SOMETHING are, sooner or later, removed from the gene pool. At least that’s how it was going for the past few millions of years, and the outcomes are promising…
You either assimilate to changing environment, or you run out of pancakes. It’s really that simple.
if media was not ridiculously overpriced you would see an increase in sales and revenue. people often use the internet to find what particular type of movie or music they most enjoy. it results in people buying media they know they enjoy instead of not spending money on something they’re not sure about. i buy CDs/vinyl containing songs/albums that i already have.
who wants to spend $20US to buy a movie/cd? i don’t. i’d rather pay $10US and support the work instead of download the media illegally. however, a reasonable cost is too low for greedy corporations such as the RIAA/MPAA and similar groups. people will search for cost effective and simple method of getting what they want at a reasonable price. unfortunately, the current price is free, because of the industry’s inflexibility with prices and technology.
p.s.
anime is jejune, unless you’re a child. grow up.
Interesting footnote to add:
Odex is starting up it’s scam machine again.
Apparently they’re targing an unknown business ISP.
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