Odex, Pacific Net, Singapore: a quote

I have received a number of comments some of which are published in the post below, regarding the Odex, Pacific Net case.

I have only published a few of the comments because many of them appear to be from people angry at the case - and, you can just guess what the tone of them is like.

It would help those commenters to note the words of a Pacific Net spokesman, published yesterday in the Straits Times, concerning the case:

"Pacific Net respects the rights of intellectual property owners and at the same time, also believes in protecting the privacy of all our subscribers."

This is an indication, contrary to what some commenters thought, that part of Pacific Net's argument would have been the protection of privacy. The full details of the argument are, however, protected by the Court, here, in Singapore.

Beyond privacy issues, however, Judge Lau was also concerned that Odex should not be the one to file the suit. He would have preferred a direct suit from the Japanese anime studio itself. This is a bit strange, however, since Odex own the rights to these Japanese anime cartoons, here - and the Japanese studio gave Odex permission to pursue the case - on their behalf. It seems, to me, like a case of a Judge finding a way to ensure that his own viewpoint prevails, by discovering a technicality he can use to support his view. The fact is, copyright was infringed on numerous occasions. The fact is Odex own the local rights. The fact is Odex are pursuing the case on behalf of the Japanese anime studio. It would seem, therefore, a straightforward matter, for me, anyway, to accept their proxy action - and find in favour of the holder of the local rights. Yet, the law is a strange realm - and often does strange things. Perhaps this is one of them.

It will be interesting to see how this copyright case is eventually resolved. Will Odex actually sue downloaders? Will the downloaders pay? Will this action reduce copyright violations here, in Singapore? I will report if anything interesting happens, ultimately.

(If you would like to read of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, and his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, and Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, left-handedness, College, University, Chemistry, Science, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)