Odex says it is not going after illegal downloaders for profit
“Illegal downloaders can download animes for all they want… five years, ten years, there will be nothing left to download. This is the fear that most strikes us. We want to address that situation,” said Stephen Sing, director of Odex Pte Ltd.
I wonder what made him think that anime would be easily busted. I understand that artiste need to eat and make a living. However the problem here is that fans don’t really have much avenue to get the material. I believe the fans here will support by paying for DVD if there are good quality that is worth the $$$ and other merchandises.
People who see things as hopeless are those who are unlikely to innovate. Five to ten years is a long time in the world of technology. Lots of innovation will happen. Innovation can come from a few perspectives: content creation, distribution and marketing.
Take a look at digital audio industry, people use to believe in order to be an recording artiste, you MUST depend on recording labels. Fortunately, technological innovation has empowered talented and creative folks to produce their own demos and even albums with low-cost equipment. I believe the same thing can or is happening to anime.
Peer-to-peer systems are the way to go when it comes to robust and low-cost delivery of content. Just as Akamai is web1.0, bittorrent and other protocols are the equivalent in web2.0. It is a matter of leveraging such distribution channels.
As for marketing, who says that giving free cannot be profitable? If we think in-terms of a local geographical boundary, obviously it is not feasible since the population is so small. But our infrastructure and connectivity links us to the world! So why are we thinking so small?
And if the so-call piracy problem lies with teenagers. Punishing a teenager for the being “wrong” without the education of what is the right thing to do doesn’t make sense. So is Odex saying the education here is to buy their lousy crap?
The message I gather at both ends seem to be “You WILL pay for downloading elsewhere (Odex)”, at the other end “Your product sucks! (fans)” and the net result seems like “No anime to watch…”
That might lead to more rebellion since once the news broke that Odex lost the first case against Pacnet, downloading may actually shoot up again. How do I know? I was once a teenager too! In any case, Odex is not punishing the teenagers, but their parents’ pocket.
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September 1st, 2007 at 12:19 pm
A bank robber called Sin-kar-lin (in Hakka) already found guilty, is in court for sentencing.
Judge: Do you have anyting to say?
Sin-kar-lin: Your honour, actually ah, only part of the three million I stole is for my survival. The rest I wanna donate to charity. Your honour can recommend some charities, ah?
Judge: I got five words for you. Tell it to the Marines. I hereby sentence you to 10 years imprisonment and 84 storkes of the rotan.
Sin-kar-lin: Like that hor, I bring my gang and appeal lor.
Judge: Good. Then we can also cane your gang.
September 1st, 2007 at 12:23 pm
LOL
September 1st, 2007 at 12:26 pm
There’s a good article titled “When Piracy Becomes Promotion:
How unauthorized copying made Japanese animation profitable in the United States.”
Please go to http://reason.com/news/show/116788.html
September 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Jokerz: cool stuff! The problem here in Singapore is that the middle-man (who adds little or no value) is complaining and trying stupid thing that ultimately generate negative PR.
September 1st, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Quoting from reason.com
“Rarely taking legal action, the commercial producers sponsor such events, using them to publicize their releases, recruit new talent, and monitor shifts in audience tastes. In any case, they fear the wrath of their consumers if they take action against such a well-entrenched cultural practice—and if they did pursue infringers, the legal penalties in Japan are relatively light.
Many media companies in the U.S. would have regarded all this underground circulation as piracy and shut it down before it reached critical mass. Instead, we have moved from a world where Speed Racer operated on the fringes to one where Pokémon is better known in the United States than many of its American counterparts.”
Basically the Japanese and U.S have different cultures, it is clear who is more consumer friendly…