Odex taking a positive step towards DVDs
Looks like I’m talking about ODEX all the time. This is what happens when you don’t have anime to watch. Tsubaki points out a comment he got on his blog regarding ODEX. I don’t think Odex should be slammed that badly though, but I do think everything isn’t good for the anime scene in Singapore. But anyway, here’s the whole comment reproduced.
It true that ODex is going to be working with ipos for he catch, not that they have the choice… and good news, odex will no longer be producing VCDs and is actually getting rid of their vcd stock, thats why you get a box set at $5.
And you noe wat? the people running odex is alot more hardcore otaku then you think. But they know that singapore is not like taiwan, not that theres not hardcore fan, but not enough. Making it very hard to give specials. And for the DVD features, the japanese studios just don’t wanna give it to them.
For those looking forward to buy haruhi, look forward to a new packaging and DVD9 quality.
You noe wat if you can offer your help to them, on their email, even better.
oh poly and uni students might get special prices for odex products too. And just to make you people feel better, odex is changing, they are now consulting school clubs and such. A thinktank is also setuped.
My thoughts on the comment first. If it’s true, I think it’s great news. VCDs are in my opinion useless. DVDs are definitely the way to go. Nevermind if there are no specials, if the series is good, I wouldn’t mind buying the dvd set for keeps if the subbing is good. (i hope the original jap audio is there, i don’t care much for dubs)
I do know that Odex are run by “fans” who are trying real hard as it is already, it’s not easy to balance having to be profitable. Even though at the moment, their products arn’t desirable at all.
Consultation with school clubs and all is good, although as I stated previously, I don’t see what kind of good effects can come from it. Cheaper prices are also good.
I just hope that Odex achieves what it is saying.
Now, I’m curious about whether Odex is FORCED. I don’t see how they can be forced, although I can see that it’s probably IPOS that’s spearheading things.
So Tsubaki is upset that Odex is blocking all anime downloads. I’m curious as to whether that is true, or whether that is something implemented by IPOS. Of course I’m very upset that I can’t get my anime, but I’m not sure if Odex should be slammed that badly for it if IPOS is at fault.
Now the question of anime fansubs providing publicity. As a whole, the anime scene in Singapore will suffer because of the lack of downloads in Singapore. But I doubt Odex itself will actually suffer.
I say this looking at sales of normal soap operas. Sufficient publicity is generated through magazines, and screenings on TV, thus I would think the same would hold for anime. Odex doesn’t sell merchandise, so it doesn’t matter to them that you’re buying merchandise of anime you’ve come to like because of fansubs.
I agree with Tsubaki that fansubs wouldn’t drastically affect Odex sales. But it wouldn’t help at all either. So in a sense, they’ve got no reason to oppose IPOS.
In summary, I think it’s exciting that ODEX is moving into DVDs, something that we’ve been having a lack of supply of. Although the quality of these DVDs sets are yet to be seen.
If IPOS is the one spearheading the clampdown on anime downloads, then Odex shouldn’t be slammed that hard. After all it can just be some government politics that’s going on, with Singapore trying to appease Japan in terms of copyrights? Who knows.
I would very much love to hear from ODEX themselves, as fans of anime, what they feel about it, as opposed from a business point of view.
On a personal note, I wonder how Odex products those who say they’ll boycott Odex own. I mean, it’s easy to boycott something you’ve never bought.
*this is just some rojak thoughts of mine at the moment, might have to be rearranged later*
p.s. Anybody has ODEX’s email? The comment say email Odex, but I don’t see any information as to how.
Oh. and I want to state again that Odex should provide free samples to bloggers to help spread publicity. 
lol … DM has already sent a letter to ODEX … seems like their nonexisistent doesn’t only applies to anime events … but also their inbox
haha u posted this post at 3pm, DM’s at 4pm
My take. I think their products lose to Poh Kim’s and Blue Max. Not to mention Innoform. Theirs Inuyasha packaging puts me off.
No matter what, I lose faith on them and start to invest in Taiwan’s Proware Media (funded by Disney).
I am willingly to spend money if their products are on par with Proware Media. Otherwise, I rather them to spend money on distributing merchandise.
Kinda hard for me to go boycott them when I’ve been buying stuff and supporting them for some time already…
Sigh, at least I can rest easy in the fact that I didn’t buy anything for the past year owing to mostly stuff I don’t quite need.
And stuff that screens on central and Channel U? I think ODEX gets paid for those, so no need to buy the VCDs.
What I’m getting afraid of is the VCDs though. I can’t afford DVDs, so it’s been VCDs all the way so far for me. If they fully convert to DVDs, I might be in trouble…
Sorry can’t seem to get my comments posted in anime desho desho. so i’ll post here.
I’m sorry if my previous comments have caused such an out roar in this particular blog.
But Odex is changing abit slowly but its changing. Over the years it has been like a bear beaten so scared that it has remain in the cave, only coming out to get some food, but this year with a big push by the circumstances(IPOS), it has to come out.
Reason as to why they have been so closed is because, of the volatile, that 1 wrong move can 1> Offend MDA or 2> Offend the Fans, either which can close the company down. And now is either this that or both… so its a very hard balancing game they are playing here. Believe me they have already given much leeway in this enforcement act.
Some of you guys reason that Cowboy bebop is a lot more violent but only got a PG, while some others got NC-16 or something like that. well this is the unpredictable part, the rating is given to them, not that they as for it.
They have also not release their licenses because, those licensed show might never make it to the DVDs due to the censorship. Chuangyi is lucky cause they have a easier time, you dun see M-18 stickers on their products right? Hence to not disappoint fans, they might as well dun update at all(a stupid decision which everyone in the think tank agreed!)
And so as part of the change, they will be having a new website soon, which will include a forum, blogs of the translation team and such. But such things take time to develop, so everyone pls be patience. Odex will be opening up alot this year.
So i beg of you people to atleast give them a chance and us a chance to change odex for the better.
Then again i’m just a poly student, wat do i noe… So sorry if i offended anyone…
BTW: if you wanna contact Odex you can do so by emailing to them at info@odex.com believe me they will read the mails even had the meeting with DarkMirage although i’m sure he didn’t say anything about it, his advise for Odex in the end is “close down and move out” not very helpful…
But i’m sure they will read every mail except maybe for spam and pure flames…
Result speaks louder than empty promises,
a reputation for being an inferior subber and lousy quality
stop insulting anime, seriously.
ODEX convince me why should i buy your products?
when you already offended the fans with your latest legal fiasco
Why should i not hope you become bankrupt than waiting for you to give a chance?
Hardcore fans? sounds more like good business to me, come and prove me wrong
As a “potential” customer
i think you better rethink your current strategy
cause i hope this bear gets beaten and starve to death in its cave
I am wondering if ODEX would sue if i am downloading the Live Earth Concert.
Has anyone got sued by Odex for downloading?
I tried to access their website too but it seemed like it’s going through a revamp.
I believe there are at least 40 people have received letters from Odex before. (although I can’t prove that number) about 18 people recieved letters a month ago, while another batch got sent out a few days ago.
So everyone ignored the letter? I’m also looking at Hardwarezone forum and it seeemed like Odex and AVPAS are run by same people coz both companies are residing in the same building at International Plaza. Funny thing is only the President of AVPAS is listed with profile on the website.
Hmm, this sounds like the time share thingy that’s happening in Singapore and they too are sending out letters to ’sue’ owners…
I believe most people settled the fine with AVPAS.
I think it’s more a case of the fact that ODEX is the largest anime distributor by far, hence an organization like AVPAS would have a large percentage of Odex people
There appears to be a total lack of communication between both sides
On 2 August in the New Paper, Page 16-17, there was an article written on a 9 year old charged with illegal downloading. In that article there was a picture of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge being distributed by ODEX, I have yet to see this title or any other new titles for that matter being released by ODEX, unless you are talking about selling them to TV channels
There are also statements made by Mr Stephen Sing, but not enough to clear up the matter on how much is illegal, about their new releases etc.
On a side note, most people are boycotting when they haven’t even buy anything from them yet. In the end you have already boycotted
I really hope there is some communication from ODEX soon, even though I do not download any anime.
i have thought a little about these problems and if , we ppl in singapore do not buy any of ODEX releases and keep low for a while , wont ODEX have to withdraw their warnings or even worse close down?
But you need to understand that Odex has almost no sales in singapore at the moment. Even before the letters went out, they were barely selling anything. They make money by selling their subs to other countries. So any boycott won’t make a difference
In fact, it’s tv tokyo studios that is pressuring odex to clamp down
Over the past 5 years i have bought my fair share of vcd/dvd animes. and i must tell you ppl, i nearly threw them away cos despite going back to the shops to get them changed, these various problems keep appearing 1- the Disc keeps skipping , 2 - Picture quality is poor, 3 - The subtitles are in broken english, and sometimes just downright wrong. add this to the fact TS video and poh kim got sued for selling pirated discs and u can understand why i have no faith regarding anime purchases anymore. and seeing that they’re going after kids, rather then improving their base product,i dare say i’d turn my back on them for good. I’d rather wait in the anime void than tolerate persistent sloppiness.
As if my impression of them wasnt bad enough, as of 2007 they’re pissing off the majority of their customers. Way to go ODEX.
You’ve made sure a whole lot of people remember your company name.
sadly, for all the wrong reasons.
There are news in the net that O*** also obtained/used fansubs (G****** S***) and release it under it own branding..
Doesn’t that also constitute to them infringing on the copyright of those fansub groups?? Talk about the kettle calling the pot black..
With so many problems with O*** products, maybe we can consult CASE if we have any CASE with them and sue them?
Why is it that country like Taiwan have the support of the fans and yet no such clamp down on fansub release??
I would rather spend my $$$ with quality overseas releases than the coasters disc from O***
I am caught between both sides. On one hand, I am glad that Odex wants to rid of the illegal downloading of anime but on other hand, I still want my share of anime. I just deleted gbs of my anime, alittle depressed right now. But hey, in order to remove the temptation of downloading further on ongoing series. But then it crossed my mind, if I stop now, will I still get “fine” for the earlier months of downloading? Where will this “tracking” period be capped at? I am pretty sure there are people out there who has already stopped but will they get fined since they downloaded before. The only thing I don’t really like is the slamming of the letter to the downloader/owner of the account. Not everyone surfs forums and read about ODEX. Truthfully, I don’t even read the papers everyday. I have a few friends who didn’t even know about ODEX till I told them about it. At that time, I was about one week late from the article I read. Myself only knew about them since that one little column in the strait times.
Odex may want to fasten their speed on updating their website. Some suggestions for the “new” site, having a list of always-updated licensed anime series, listing what will be out and in what format and also, where to purchase (what stores carries their products). I am not sure if I am blind or I don’t go out enough, I read that they do sell DVD, but I don’t recall seeing them. I do have some titles here that I am waiting to get, but I doubt it will ever get into the consumer market here. Already looking into R2 or R1 releases via the usual dvd sites.
No comments to the quality of ODEX products, as I have not purchased any from them before. Maybe I should and check it out but I want DVD releases. So far, what i have is bought online. But I do have my fair share of crappy english and lousy font. So quality is still one must thing to have in any Anime DVD releases. This is usually how I go for DVDs.
1) Quality (video/audio)/Packaging
2) Japanese Audio with English Subtitles
3) Best is Region free (but i know some issues there)
And lastly, ODEX, please have a survey or something to see what Anime fans out there are looking for. A fuss like this should not be ignored. The moment confidence is lost, it is going to be hard to pick up again.
Same as K, i totally agree with what K has mention. There are fans of anime out there who would love to own great quality stuff. Often i buy vcd or dvd but to be horror after spending good money on great titles, the stupid dvd or vcd dont play at all and not to mention about sub-title. So maybe company who are bring in all the different anime title please do something about the sub-title and the quailty of the disks. What really put me off is the fact that dvd or vcd is super slow compare to watching on-line or download. Example, i started to watch bleach and i was hook to it and there was no one who brought dvd or vcd in at all. Somewhere down the timeline, came the first bleach vcd for sale but those of us who have been following bleach would be far ahead compare to vcd being sold. I have a suggestion maybe someone or company could offer us online download at maybe $0.50 per episode, where there is no infringe of copyright, i believe most anime fan wouldn’t mind paying to have episode around the same date and time of the actual release. So maybe someone could look into this and solve the problem of copyright for good.
As a fellow anime watcher, I understand where you’re coming from, cause I feel the same pain.
But I believe the Japanese animation companies themselves do not allow episodes to be released (either in dvd or online) so early. Usually it’s done 6 mths after the series end.
Of course this doesn’t justify what Odex is doing suing people without warning individually in my opinion
Odex has already enraged many fans over this issue, on top of providing low quality products, slow production, etc. (I really despise them for their inaccurate subs. I just don’t see how fansubbers can do it so well for free and yet Odex can’t even come up with reasonable quality subs.)
Having gotten off on an extremely bad note with most of the fans here (especially all the hard core fans), I doubt that anything will change even if Odex is indeed trying to improve themselves.
And to add on, I went to Taka Toy Fair to check out the cheap sale of VCD and DVD. It’s on till this weekend. And you know what, the covers for the DVD aint as bad as what people are saying, I mean it is only average. And no, I didn’t buy anything, no titles I wanted. The ones who were buying then were secondary sch kids, but considering on their allowances, it is affordable for them. So I don’t really get the point of “consumers not bitting it”. Maybe I should send my “shopping list” to Odex and let them consider the titles I want.
I was just thinking, will the manga and anime music industry take a fall too? I have bought manga because of the anime, 2 very gd examples, Fruit Basket and Nodame Cantabile. I just bought all 3 singles of Abingdon Boys’ School because of their involvement in the D.Gray man OP and Darker than Black OP.
But I must say the temptation to download is great… unfortunately all the series I am watching are under the AVPAS list… So looks like a matter of time that maybe I will get the letter too…
If BlueMax products are much better, maybe it’s high time that the japan change their exclusive distributorship to BlueMax or others and let O*** s**ks its thumb!
I wouldn’t want a lousy distributor who is not doing a good jobs and damaging the good-will of the community.
This not only reflect badly on the animation companies but has a deeper impact on the animation lovers.
This will not only reflect badly on the animation companies but will give a very very bad image for Singapore as a few anime lovers are planning to go overseas if this carries on. Singapore lacks a lot of things…and its about to loose more…just like freedom of speech…no one goes public in fear of being sued or arrested and now this. And i have to agree Odex has got many chances in the past to change and chose not to…so its too little too late for them…aint no more chances. Fan subs give better quality for their unpaid work rather than some money eating rat company who cant sub jap anime for twinkies(ie. Odex).
To K: not trying to scare you but I’ve already received the letter and it’s penalising me for something that I’ve downloaded in the past though I’ve stopped downloading eversince someone told me that downloading anime is illegal. Well, waiting now to meet up with ODEX and see what they have to say. Most probably I’ll be paying a hefty fine.
to Meow:
Have u consult CASE if u can sue them for inferior goods and compensations?
Keep us updated on your meeting with O***
Thanks Meow. Well keep us updated. Nothing much to say especially when it is known fact that downloading of anything is considered illegal now, regardless if the title is licensed in SG or US. As long as they are a member of AVPAS, which is ALL anime titles involved. It’s starting to get to me already, having problems watching anime now. The feel is gone… This is depressing…
My take is the Odex as a company on it’s own is gaining profit from these lawsuits.
They don’t keep up to date on the animes yet they want to profit.
How do u sue someone for something you as a company cannot provide it’s like saying i have this product which I CAN produce but i’d rather sue ppl downloading it.
If they keep up to date and in good quality why would people have to download anime? when although fansubs are good they don’t get to watch this or share with friends their licenced copy.
They should jump on the banwagon and sell these products on par with “Fansubs” before they start sueing people.
Atleast ppl have a choice to do the right thing or the wrong thing. Right now odex produces anime 6months from current date of release how do u expect the public to have a choice? this inturns makes the anime industry in singapore a let down in this case if a company elsewhere sells up to date material u will expect people to start importing instead. Which inturns makes odex suffer and now that people will start to boycott odex products they again lose money.
If only those fansub peeps get together to sell their anime online..in some legal way i mean..i wouldn’t mind having to pay like $4-5 per episode..now there is no way for me to continue watching bleach..the world just got depressing..instead of going thru great lengths having schoolkids pay up fines,they should have put in effort to make an online store or sumthing..It has been proven effective in the audio industry…why not follow suit?People would not risk doing something wrong if they can get wat they are looking for legally..my message to Odex,give the fans quality and they’ll start coming to you for stuff..at which even price would not be a factor..face it..who wants to buy shit?Looks like u just dug your own grave to me..
I stand by depressed opinion. If we can obtain the distribution rights and liaise with the fansub group to make it available to the community, we would have deepen the grave that they dug.
With all this S**T going on it makes not only the viewers drop down to hell. This privacy intrusion is a world we live in. All the people can only be waiting to be slaughtered by Odex. I will be going back to the traditional way only books and Manga. I didn;t even see any titles I would want to buy from Odex. Licensing has even prevented more anime titles to be watched. So just Say Sayonara to the anime industry and watch everything fall. As a hard core for Manga Anime Gatcha and Figs it seems that I won’t be buying anything cause I feel that I will be just one of the Ass waiting to be kicked by Odex. Further more without anime downoads I think I wouldn’t need Unlimited broad band from Starhub any more. Let’s just all Kill their income and hope that they go to hell with us.
A simple calculation:
If those 1000 from Starhub terminate their contract.
$59.92/mth for MOL Express X 1000 = $59,920/mth
x 12 mths = $719,040/yr
For 3 ISPs, that will be $2.15 millions lost in revenue to due a certain company.
Why must the 3 ISPs suffers while that company gain $3k x 3000 = $9 millions from it!
If they didn’t released it in the market, how can they said that they lost revenues from it when it’s them who foolishly grab more than they can chew!
We keep saying to be like US, then they only goes after those downloading licensed releases and used the fansub to promote the industry! The side-products are the main revenue for any animes, not the show itself!
I agreed that Odex as a company on it’s own is gaining profit from these lawsuits.
How do we know whether the director of Odex is playing a fair game since it has the power to sue people?
Is it right to sue people selectively, for example knowing that odex’s best friend has committed a crime of illegal downloads, odex decided to drop the lawsuit because that is odex’s best friend???
It come to my surprise that ODEX, who sells crappy anime is sueing everyone. And I am more surprised to see the court to give them the upper hand, I know that it is Illegal to sell or buy pirated dvd or vcd, but I am also surprised that the Singaporean Court or Government does not care about the privacy of their citizens, it just like what the communist do. so maybe the government through the law system can review this? what happen to the privacy???, why do the government allows an entity to profit from intruding their own citizen’s privacy, and even more they are not being transparent about the procedure used by ODEX to get the IP addresses.
anyway I believed that in the macro economic, this will resulted in a huge amount of profit loss for the 3 ISP, I myself will stop subscribing to the unlimited package, I might as well use the free ones (Wireless@Sg) or just use the internet in the library, after all, I don’t play online games that much and without anime to download, I will be using the internet only for checking emails or just browsing. which the 56 Kbps is more than enough.
just imagine how many people will stop their subscription, isn’t that would means that the economy in singapore will be affected, what about the share price for those telco companies? especially when the world stock market is in trouble now
maybe for short term that will be ok, because some of us are still under contract, but in long term there will be no use for the unlimited internet.
I hope the government will do something about this, and keep singapore’s economy as good as ever. We are already start to lose our port business to our neighbouring country. (the evergreen and the maersk; who are the big 2 in the world are already shifting their business to malaysia)
believe more tedfox.
do u know how far back did Odex requested trackback logs from ISPs?
Odex is asking for 7 months log files from the ISPs mind you!
did u ever heard of their anti-video act from jan 2007 to date?
nope! not a shit until letters start slamming around.
Support the Odex Rebellion and wear your Black Ribbons! Join in now: Find out more at http://odex-rebellion.blogspot.com
If you were not able to participate in funding for the court case against Odex, play your small part against this tyranny. Stop the talk. Take action now; every small move counts.
You can choose fight it out with odex in court if you can qualify for legal aid. Use the govt to fight it out with them. Legal aid is free.
Don’t forget that the law is on their side…
ATTENTION:
=====================================================================
THERE WILL BE AN ODEX BURNING CEREMONY ON AUGUST 25TH, 2007 AT THE YOUTH PARK OPPOSITE ORCHARD CINELEISURE! PLEASE BRING ALONG YOUR ODEX BOX CASES TO TRADE THEM IN FOR A BLACK RIBBON. THE ODEX BURNING CEREMONY WILL TAKE PLACE AT 5:00PM (1700 HRS). YOUTUBERS FEEL FREE TO VISIT, ALL ARE WELCOME.
==========================================================
ATTENTION:
=====================================================================
CHANGED AS OF 19TH AUGUST 2007 4:15PM (1615 HRS), THE ODEX BURNING CEREMONY WILL BE CHANGED IN LIGHT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. THERE WILL BE A COLLECTION OF ODEX CD’S AT THE YOUTH PARK ON AUGUST 25TH 2007 AT 5:00PM (1700 HRS). BREAK THE CD’S AND TOSS INTO OUR JUNK BAG, AND THE CARDBOARD CD COVERS WILL BE SEPERATED FOR RECYCLING. ALL THRASHED CD’S WILL EITHER BE RECYCLED OR RETURNED TO ODEX AT THEIR OFFICE. SIMILARLY, TRADE IN YOUR BOX FOR A RIBBON AND JOIN THE CAUSE. http://odex-rebellion.blogspot.com/
==========================================================
Well, I, for one, think that the whole episode isn’t very good for the Anime community in general. The Straits Times obviously wrote a biased report and have managed to villify the Anime community and classify everyone here as illegal downloaders who send out death threats.
To me, anime fans always are willing to support copyright owners and content producers. This has been the way Anime clubs and fansubbing in general coexisted with corporations and content owners everywhere else in the world. In several Anime clubs I was a member of in the US, we regularly pull fansubs off distribution once a local company has licensed them. In the meantime, we regularly ask for permission to these companies for each club screening we are about to conduct every other week. None of the companies has ever denied us doing these screenings (i.e. Viz, Bandai, etc)
Literally, Anime fans grew out of grassroots efforts to enable the Japanese content owners enter the American market. None of the Anime companies that grew in the U.S. like Viz and Animeigo grew without their founders and staff being members of anime fanclubs who screen fansubs in the first place. Bandai would’ve never came to the US like they did without the proliferation of so many small startup companies bidding to license their content for distribution in the US.
The main point here is that what AVPAS and ODEX is doing is wrong.
Even if ODEX/AVPAS is hiding behind a legal curtain, what this episode has taught us is that what is legal is definitely not ethical, just, nor right. Their approach, which was unfair, secretive and heavy handed, is the same as the way the government campaign against the crime of the month, by villifying and setting examples of those doing wrong, then using their own SPH to move public opinion their way, except that this time, the anime fans are paying for their negative PR campaign.
In turn, the anime industry and Odex themselves are paying for it. Everyone hates Odex and their enforcers.
I imagine that the Singapore Government, if they are smart, do not want to be associated as the villain who sues 9-year olds $5K for downloading content they would be willing to pay for anyway if asked nicely. The Singapore government would be very happy however, to be positively associated with us fans who really actually support content producers by buying legally licensed content.
The problem is, the AVPAS website is promoting the MP who heads it, and Odex’s and AVPAS’s actions are, as they said, a PR disaster. AVPAS (supported by IPOS) or ODEX itself is to blame for the ugly situation by alienating the very consumers that have the very potential to make the anime industry thrive.
In other words, it looks like AVPAS has killed ODEX and anime fandom in general in Singapore.
So what should we as good anime fan citizens do?
I think it’s clear that the message being sent out is that AVPAS and Odex value money as their barometer of right or wrong, and being legal doesn’t mean being ethical.
So what can the fans do?
1. Don’t support ODEX with your money anymore. Never buy Odex for as long as you live, or until Odex repents.
Talk to your local retailer, explain to them that Odex products are crap, and encourage them nicely not to sell Odex products anymore. Point out to them that Odex can be suing the retailers next for that imported pirated anime if it is not from Odex so it is better not to deal with Odex or anime in general, and refer them to legal anime providers abroad; i.e. Amazon.
Talk to your friends not to buy Odex.
Give flyers about the Odex fiasco in front of stores that sell Odex products.
It is better for Odex and/or it’s creation AVPAS to be bankrupt and have no local legal anime in Singapore the short term than deal with such a company with no moral or ethical foundations in the long run.
2. Support your local anime club. Contribute to promote legal copies of anime - Belong to an anime advocacy group that promotes the legal purcase of anime from other sourcese than Odex. i.e. Pool resources to buy licensed anime products directly from the US or Japan; we can also contribute to help the Film commissions board to rate the anime for the rest of the fans who buy legal copies.
3. Maybe talk to your local MP and ask them why a corporation like Odex who has licensing monopoly in Singapore can get a special interest organization like AVPAS, whose only beneficiary in singapore seems to be Odex, be endorsed by an MP. If they’re a supporter of AVPAS, you can always vote for the opposition. And you can always ask them why AVPAS’ message is not to promote the adoption of buying legal content, but suing the heck out of the consumers and your well-meaning average citizen.
4. You can legally buy pirated copies of Odex products outside Singapore, let’s say when you go to JB. For every legal anime you buy, you can also try to buy a legally pirated Odex copy in JB and throw those CDs away. This will give money to the syndicates in Malaysia to produce more pirated Odex property, which could have gone to legal Odex copies if they hand’t been so obnoxious in Singapore.
Have not taken any special interest in reading this Odex case until today. After reading forums after forums and articles after articles, some of my 2 cts worth comments to share:-
1. From AVPAS website, “Anti Video Piracy Association of Singapore(AVPAS) is formed to assess the piracy situation in Singapore.” Sounds like a good against piracy assocation in general but it seems more focus on against piracy japanese animation. Just look at list of associate members and authorized titles.
2. Parallel importing does not means piracy. Just because shops does not get its stock from odex does not mean it can’t source from other countries where the VCD/DVD have different packaging.
If parallel importing is piracy, then say bye bye to the bugis street stalls that sells music cds.
3. Odex says they are authorised by AVPAS to take all steps necessary to protect and enforce the copyrights subsisting in more than 400 anime titles. However, i found from wikipedia (dun know how true this is) that in 2003, Odex formed the Anti Video Piracy Association of Singapore (AVPAS) to fight video piracy in Singapore. If this is true, then odex authorized themselves? The vice president and secretary of AVPAS are employees of Odex.
4. Read from some forums that poh kim is also a distributor of some of the jap animation in Singapore. If so, does the amount collected by Odex be distributed to poh kim or is Odex leveying on the situation?
5. Odex could well give warning letters rather then fining ppl without warning.
What was written in my last post is purely my initial thoughts. Any inacurracy in my previous post, please correct me.
After looking through again, i realise that i may have a biased view and parallel importing for video content is not as simple.
i believe video content has to be screen before coming in so vcd/dvd may have to go through proper channel before reaching us.
What odex did is legal or not depend on the judges. They know the copyright law better than we do. But what they did is ethical or not is debatable. And this could affect odex biz in time to come.
Tedfox, please delete my previous comment as it should not be on your lovely website. Btw, i find your anime site interesting. I hope your website can spread the magic of anime world around.
odex has nothing better to do. sueing ppl just cuz they download animes and please, they aren’t even burning it on a disc and selling it or anything. they just wanna watch anime but no, odex just has to come in and sue them
Looking through all the odex posts, I saw many poeple wanting to start an anime club with a collection of legally bought DVDs for home viewing.
I tried to look for any local official anime clubs but none of their websites seem to have any regular swap meetings or have large inventories of legal anime DVDs that are rented out.
Am I missing something here?
Maybe we should start one; i.e. the following website.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/anime_club_singapore/
Who in here is interested in creating an anime club with a legal anime library collection?
Odex=Fans? LIES
These so-called fans have been churning out crappy releases and hoping for people to buy them. When people dont buy them, they start sending letters to GET $$$ instead of improving their products. You call that being a fan? What a lie.
erm ,
may i know how odex is now ?
is it still available for me to perchase anime ?
because i have order a box of anime at HMV ,
so i am wondering whether i could get it . . .
please reply =)