Apparantly, from various anime bloggers in Singapore, the rumors are that ODEX are going to find otakus (yeah I know it maybe an exaggeration, but they’re more otaku then me) who download fansubs and fine them. Now, before everyone starts panicking, please consider the following:
1. Look at a typical VCD/DVD shop and see the number of ODEX titles on the shelf. This is proof that a) they’re so bad that no one bothers and/or b) not many people are interested in such stuff. Given such a scenario, ODEX must have alot of money tied up in their inventory which is near-stale and almost movable – therefore they can hardly afford to get licences for series and produce them for the market, unless they borrow from creditors and venture capitalists – a debt on paper doesn’t look very good for niche companies, or their Gundam license is lucrative enough.
2. Unless the local ISPs are so stingy as to use hubs on the consumer end (So far I think StarHub is guilty), packet-sniffing is near-impossible for a SME unless you’re subcontracting for an ISP, or deliberately conducting portscans (illegal), how in the world can ODEX chase after us (financially, and physically)?
With this information, let our wallets vote against ODEX. On another note, what are Sheng Tai toys and ODEX are thinking? Their market targets are all WRONG. Remember the half-assed Gundam Seed and Seed Destiny series on Kids Central? Will a 12 year old kid understand the story and plot behind it (Typical 12-year old who has not finished watching GSD: “OMFG! Shinn’s so angsty-cool! NOOO! Stella died! Impulse pwns Freedom! MUAHAHA!”)? Chances are, very few.
I think they accepted money from CERTAIN US organizations.
The tactics used here are rather similar to these CERTAIN US organization.
But we’ll never know until we see the audit trail. Or an insider tells us the real story.
So far all I can say is wait and see…