Ok...By now all that is in the know will...well...know...that there is now a organization out there in Singapore called Anti-Video Piracy Association Singpore (AVPAS) that is taking action against ppl who DL anime...Personally I feel that the situation here is much worse compared to the states as Singapore is a pretty small...who am I kidding...Singapore is about the size of Bill Gates' bathroom, u cant even kidnap a kid without getting caught within 24 hrs...there is no where to hide and no crowd to hide in... ...
When I first heard about this I thought it was jus a scare or something...And had the "Fuck care lah...it wun happen to me" attitude...Till I saw this... ...
Yup...We're screwed... ...Not mine hor...I'm jus saying that this scared the shit outta me... ...After wandering around the net and its various forums...it turns out that AVPAS is made up of...get this ...only Odex...lol Yup...you got that right...the ENTIRE "Anti-Video Piracy Association" is made up of only Odex, jus looking at their "Authorized Titles" and one would notice that they are ALL Anime titles...lol Anti-Video Piracy Association my as ...might as well call it Anti-Anime Piracy Association...Odex make themselves look so noble by taking upon themselves to set up this so called AVPAS to fight piracy when all they are doing is looking out for their own interests... ...
Upon inspection of their UBER long list(I wanted to count the number of titles...but after taking a second look I didnt bother...)...I noticed that they licensed EVERY SINGLE GUNDAM series...be it TV series, OVA or movies...Ha...So they are saying that we cant DL these to watch...But are they fucking sure that they will get it released here in Singapore? I dun think they even hav enought cash to buy the copyright to HALF of all the Gundam anime they listed... ...There are also repeat titles like "12 Kingdoms 十二国記" and "The Twelve Kingdoms" lol...Do they even know their anime?...Do they even know wat they are distributing here in Singapore? Are they jus trying to make the list look long to scare us or is the list jus too fucking long to keep track? I mean...jus look at the size of this list!
Many ppl were surprised that the Naruto series that is uber popular here is not on that list and felt very puzzled...But when I first noticed that Naruto was not there I immediately remembered that Naruto is licensed by Blue Max here in Singapore so even if the sales of Naruto drop it does not affect Odex (It says a lot when no one complains about Blue Max when Odex can hardly ... ...PLUS, they keep saying that they are only doing this to protect the Japanese Animation Companies they are representing...Riggghhhttt, ppl nvr ask u to take action u so bo liao go volunteer for wat? If u take a close look at the letter, u would notice that it tells the "offender" that he/she can settle the matter out of court...By "settle the matter out of court" they of course mean "HAND THE CASH OVER OR U'R GOING STRAIGHT BEHIND BARS PAL!!!" Initially I heard that the rate was 500 smackers per episode but from wat I hav heard the "settle the matter out of court" fee range 3.5 - 10 k...yup 10k... ...I wonder wat Odex gets out of all this? I bet they are getting a portion or maybe even all of the "settle the matter out of court" money... I guess thats the way they are keeping their company afloat wif sales dropping like nobody's business... ...
Ok here's wat I got from wiki... ...
In one of the sections in the page there is one labeled "Legal threats towards fansub downloaders" here is wat is written... ...
Legal threats towards fansub downloaders
As of 1 June 2007, Odex has sent letters to people downloading anime fansubs of series from Japanese companies that Odex represents. A copy of the letter may be seen here : [1]. The letter threatens legal action against its recipients. It is stated in the letter that the recipient is given a period of time to contact Odex for an out-of-court settlement, and if Odex is not contacted within the deadline, legal proceedings will be issued. It is unclear how Odex managed to obtain personal information of people that they suspect of downloading anime fansubs using Bittorrent programs, and information as to how many people have actually received such letters were withheld by Odex. However, general opinion holds that ISPs like Singnet, etc. were responsible for the disclosure of personal information.'
Of important note is that Odex apparently has the legal right to commence legal action against people downloading anime fansubs of series that they do not sell, as long as they are produced by the Japanese companies that they represent, as Odex is under AVPAS directive to curb video piracy.[citation needed]
The response on anime-related online communities and forums has generally been negative, ranging from sharp criticisms of Odex's video quality and business model, to impassioned outcries for a boycott of Odex or of the anime market.
Ok... so lets inspect this piece of article...They said that "It is unclear how Odex managed to obtain personal information of people that they suspect of downloading anime fansubs using Bittorrent programs, and information as to how many people have actually received such letters were withheld by Odex. However, general opinion holds that ISPs like Singnet, etc. were responsible for the disclosure of personal information."...So the "general opinion" is that ISPs like Singnet disclosed the "offender's" personal information...Funny that Singnet is the only one officially mentioned...Cause it is of "general opinion" that it is because Singnet disclosed our personal information that those "offenders" were caught... According to the law...if ISPs disclose our personal information...it is an infringement of privacy and these ISPs could get into trouble...So far...only Singnet users were caught... ...Hmmm...Let me think that over...Only SINGNET users were caught...Can it be that all the pirates are using Singnet to access the Internet? Cant be ...MASAKA! ("IT CANT BE!/DUN TELL ME!" in Japanese) IT SEEMS THAT SINGNET HAV BROKEN THE LAW BY DISCLOSING OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION!!!!!!! It is also pretty funny that only Singnet went ahead and disclose clients' personal information while the other ISPs hav kept quite... ...I guess it is because Singnet is practically semi-government...I say semi-government because of all the "connections" the government hav within Singnet and all the strings they hav tied onto Singnet... ...Of course...All these ain't facts... ...They are merely "general opinion" *Raises Eyebrows* ... ...
I wonder if the companies that Odex aka AVPAS is representing knows that they are using their titles to threaten ppl wif legal action... ...Come to think of it...It feels kinda wrong that Odex aka AVPAS are allowing "offenders" to "settle the matter out of court"... ...Think of it this way... Odex aka AVPAS is saying that as long as they "settle the matter out of court" by agreeing to their conditions and paying an amount of money, they will not take legal action...Meaning they will make the matter disappear... ...Isn't that like saying "I wont report to the police that u stole my wallet as long as u give me back my wallet PLUS ur wallet."...Its like a threat, it can even be viewed as extortion! If they are so righteous as to bring it upon themselves to bring the pirates to justice... Y not jus sue them straight? Maybe they are afraid that the fact that they broke our rights to privacy to obtain these evidence could be a threat to them... ...That the very law they used to "extort" from these "offenders" could also bring them down... ..
It is written that "Odex apparently has the legal right to commence legal action against people downloading anime fansubs of series that they do not sell, as long as they are produced by the Japanese companies that they represent, as Odex is under AVPAS directive to curb video piracy." I shall not pick on the fact that the word ,"apparently", which means that it is not confirm, was used... ...Ok...So they say that Odex has the right to commence legal action as it is under AVPAS directive to curb video piracy. Something sounds wrong here... ...Well...Maybe it's the fact that AVPAS CONSIST OF ONLY ODEX?!?!?! Somehow it jus sounds stupid to me... It 's like saying, "I hereby giv myself the right to arrest all Chio Bu (Beautiful Gals in Hokkien) and bring them home to be my slaves to do as I please!"
Btw...If AVPAS is the anti-piracy organization...Y does the letter say Odex Private Limited...And since when does a private company hav so much power?
"The response on anime-related online communities and forums has generally been negative, ranging from sharp criticisms of Odex's video quality and business model, to impassioned outcries for a boycott of Odex or of the anime market."
WOOT!!! AND A ROUND OF APPLUASE FOR THE ANIME LOVING COMMUNITY OF SINGAPORE PPL!!! WOOT!!!
Yup...I would like to say that this stun by Odex pretty much BACKFIRED!!!!!!!
Ppl are realizing that they cant DL Anime more, they are stopping, some are considering to buy originals and some are already buying originals... ...BUT NOT FROM ODEX!!! WOOT!!! IN UR FACE!!!
I hate it when ppl support the Odex movement...saying that all others are pirates...Saying that they are only freeloading the Anime Studio and dun reward them for their hard work...HELLO! I buy LOTS of anime realated stuff HOR! Ask any of my close friends and they can confirm that I spend more money on Anime stuff than anything else...I might not buy as much DVDs or VCDs (GOD! VCDs... ...) but I buy quuiittee a lot of figurines and posters...not to mention Manga Tankoubon... And I'm not toking about those Gashapon figurines of Comics Connection posters hor! I'm toking about original imported stuff...Those cost lots of cash hor so I AM supporting the Animation studios! Besides...like many of the pissed off Otaku out there... I rather import Anime for oversea despite paying more than buy from hateful Odex...In fact I hav quite a few ADV Films and Manga Entertainment DVDs... ...
Lots of ppl complain about the poor video and subtitle quality of Odex products...To me that is not the main issue... ...Not all fansubbed Anime are good... For example... Zero no Tsukaima presented by KuroNeko has more grammatical and/or spelling mistakes than the number of strands of hair on my head (Though I enjoyed it THROUGHLY by ignoring the lousy subs...Great vid quality thou... ...). BUT, since I am PAYING for Odex goods...I EXPECT it to hav good subs and BETTER vid quality... ... I quote from Wiki... ...
"Odex's subtitling has been criticised by fans for having an ugly font and sometimes inaccurate translations, as compared to fansubs. Reasons for the ugly font includes the limitation of VCDs as a medium. Furthermore, all of Odex's translations are done by out-house translators. Therefore, there is often limited control over the quality of these translations which are then QCed by an editor who compares the official translations against the fansub translations."
... ...WTF?! They sux because they are done by out-house translators? There is often limited control over the quality of these translation?! HEY!!! I DUN FUCKING CARE IF U TRANSLATED URSELF OR UR MOTHER TRANSLATED IT, UR FATHER, UR GRANDMOTHER, UR BEST FRIEND, UR GREAT GRAND UNCLE, UR ARCH ENEMY OR EVEN IF UR DOG DID THE TRANSLATING!!! God...In case u dun know Odex hav been using this as one of the excuses and Wiki is merely quoting them...IF I WERE TO PAY FOR A PRODUCT I EXPECT IT TO BE GOOD REGARDLESS OF THE SOURCE...Odex saying this is as stupid as a com salesman saying, "Sir, The PC u purchased is MEANT to hav a missing hard drive as when we hired the guys in China to assemble it they forgot to place the hard drives into the PCs so u hav to understand...its not our fault so u will hav to make do wif the PC without the hard drive..."
However, still it is not the lousy vid and subtitle quality that made me nvr to touch Odex or even local version of Anime series...There CONFIRM will be editing or cutting done... ...I realized that this is not Odex fault and that the fault lies wif the government of Singapore itself but it is because of this that I refuse to buy Anime from Singapore...I brought several VCDs from Odex (Last Exile, Kiddy Grade and some others), I noticed the cuts and edits and was pretty tu lan(Pissed off in hokkien). Do they hav any idea how it feels like to hav finished watching a series and then finding out that u hav yet to see all the series has to offer? That u hav missed some parts of ur fav show? That thought really pisses me off...For example...Even when ArtCentral airs Anime during midnight which is understood that it is an adult time slot...They insist on showing cut Anime (Althought I doubt they hav a choice in the matter). Ppl say that there will still be a chance that kids will watch the midnight time slot...Pls...if u take even these chances into consideration...Dun bother showing anything on TV lah since all of the shows hav a chance of influencing kids in a bad way... Wif so much mutilation done to our beloved Anime...U expect us to buy it from u?!
When I first saw Gundam SEED on KidsCentral...I noticed that there was a jump in the opening song...Meaning there is a cut somewhere in the opening...When I later saw the original opening...and saw y they cut out that part...I was shocked...It was a pink silhouette figure of a naked Lacus...She was stretching her arms or flying or both when her boobs bounce in a sexy way...That cut that out...Because of a single sexy scene they cut the opening... ...COME ON!!! IT WAS JUS A SILHOUETTE FIGURE!!! You cant even see the boobs properly...much less the nipples... ...The following openings were subjected to similar treatment or not shown at all... ...They say that it will teach the wrong things to kids...I hav see those openings... ...And I hav yet to rape a single gal (Or hav I?... ...). Seeing a silhouette of Lacus' boobs or even Cagalli's undies WONT turn kids into serial rapist...Trust me... ...I dun think even uncensored boob can do that... ...
I seriously dun see the point in all of this...They wanna turn all guys in SG into permanent virgins?
Then they say they hav to protect kids from such "obscene" images...First of all...They are FAR from obscene...U hav no idea wat obscene is until u hav seen the things I've seen... ...SECONDLY...If u think that Gundam SEED is detrimental to the psychological well being of a child...THEN DUN FUCKING AIR IT ON A KIDS CHANNEL FOR KIDS TO WATCH! Stick to ur goddamn Pokemon... ...Besides...Gundam is not meant and will NEVER be meant to be shown to kids as it is NOT a children program. I understand that on the surface it seems like a show that will be really popular to kids, wat wif the cool Mechas and all, but a look at the deep storyline tells othewise...Anyone (The ppl in KidsCentral) who say that Gundam is meant for kids CLEARLY hav not watched Gundam... ...It has so much politics going on in it that it makes Lee Kuan Yew look like he is playing SimCity wif Singapore!!! I bet that over 75% of the kids watching Gundam on KidsCentral dun even know wat is going on more than HALF the time... ...And that they are only watching the show jus to see the Mobile Suits fight! Heck, I bet half of them dun even know wat a Mobile Suit is and jus stupidly call everything they see a Gundam! They cant even appreciate the deep storyline that accompanies every Gundam series... ...PLUS! Not all the eps of Gundam SEED has fights scenes in it...Some whole eps are dedicated to explaining the politics! So HOW? Pray tell...Is Gundam SEED a children program?! Yes...it appeals to kids...But PLEASE respect the Anime and the way it is supposed to be portrayed... ...
All in all Odex sux...The censorship board sux...And the gov sux more for creating this situation... ...Lets jus wait for the Shit Storm to blow over...If it does... ...
p/s: Some Bravehearts went ahead and called and/or E-mailed the ppl at Odex aka AVPAS and asked if they would sue ppl for DLing Anime not on the list...Turns out they wont cause they CANT sue ppl for DLing Anime not on the list... ...
p/p/s: LUCKY STAR AND TENJOU TENGE ARE NOT ON THE LIST!!! GO GO GO!!!
DISCLAIMER:
I DUN HAV A SINGLE DOWNLOADED ANIME FILE ON MY COMPUTER! I GOT ALL MY ANIME FROM ODEX! PLEASE DUN RAID MY HOME!
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