While it wasn’t Odex this time, they have become synonymous with anime piracy, so they get the blame.
Nope, this time it was Showgate inc.

A quick check on Animenewsnetwork came up with this

Japanese anime production and distribution company Toshiba Entertainment Inc. will be officially renamed Showgate Incorporated. The company was previously known as Amuse until 2003, making this the second time the company has undergone a name change in the past decade. Toshiba Entertainment has handled production for a wide variety of anime projects, including Genshiken, Noein and Shakugan no Shana.

No idea they did Shana as well.

Anyway, here’s the low down on the alleged “crackdown” so far.
According to sgcafe,Showgate inc has sent the much feared letter to at least one unfortunate fellow, needless to say, anger and chaos ensued. (ok that was an exaggeration)
You can check out the latest happenings here and here.

The New Paper, a tabloid over here has published a story on this as well.

Huh what Odex, Fengshui Girl FTW!

A quick read reveals that the individual has been offered a respite from this ONLY if he was not the offender in question. That about leaves the possibility that he still faces the possibility of a fine of a staggering 200,000 SGD! In short, no first warning this time round. He himself has admitted to downloading Devil May Cry, a spin-off from the hack n slash game from the same name.

While this ostensibly does not bode well for the anime fan, I am inclined to take a “well it’s sooner or later” stand.  That said, I am obviously dreading this turn of events.  Could this be the beginning of the mass exodus of otakus? Could we be wiped out? Stay tuned!

In other related news,  I was reading up on Danny Choo when I came upon one of the member news here.  Member Actar reported that several scenes depicting lesbian or gay in the latest episode of Zero no Tsukaima : Princess no Rondo was censored, namely the kissing scenes between Momo what’s her name and Louise.  I was stumped initially when I heard Zero no Tsukaima was being screened, but I should have known better, given the country’s strict laws with regards to gay. Heck, i shudder at what they did with Tiffiania freaking eyes (boobs). Note to Odex, if you are going to show any anime, make sure it’s compliant with the laws without having to censor! The offending scenes can be found here at RandomC.

Smuck!