from channelnewsasia

Anyway, from an unverified source, I was told that XYSing KYSing of Xedo (and his fellow director), were also directors of a defunct company called Games Mart. (And my own searches on ACRA confirmed this. ACRA reports found here: Odex | Games Mart)

This source informed me that back around 1999, Games Mart Pte Ltd was caught for counterfeit goods (primarily Sony Playstation stuff), and 2 of their directors and an employee were subsequently charged.

These two directors - names omitted as unverified - were found guilty and sentenced to 15 months of jail, along with an employee named Jason, who was sentenced to 10 months. (I have so far failed to verify this and I am not sure if any news on this court case can be found on the Internet to support these unverified claims. It does not seem likely I could get my hands on the court reports like these cases of people getting sued by the Public Prosecutor here and here.)


Anyway, what I did find in Google, was a brief mention in the comment section of a blog by someone of the moniker of Beowulf that some anime released by Xedo were actually released previously under Games Mart.

While I am not attempting to imply anything here, but it appears that the bad quality of Xedo products has gone a long way back.

District Judge Ernest Lau ruled in the ISP's favour that Pacific Internet does not have to reveal its subscribers' personal information. Lau believed that Odex was not the right party to make the application, despite having the go-ahead to prosecute on behalf of the Japanese anime studios. The decision came as a surprise to many, and Odex is likely to appeal within 14 days. In light of the decision StarHub, represented by Drew & Napier, said that it was "assessing our options, given the different decisions rendered by the court". For SingNet, the deadline for lodging an appeal has expired, and it was revealed that its lawyers did not even turn up for their hearing. Its failure to contest Odex's application has incurred the wrath of SingNet subscribers. Although Lau has denied Odex the court order, he has warned that the right to privacy was no defence for copyright infringement.

In a further rare move, District Judge Ernest Lau released a 14-page judgment on the reasons of denying Odex's request. In the written judgment, he compares the latter's demands to a Anton Piller order which provides for the right to search premises and seize evidence without prior warning, and being seen as draconian it is only used under extreme circumstances. He has also written that only copyright holders themselves or its exclusive licensee can make such copyright claims, and that he is not satisfied with the evidence that was harvested by BayTSP for identification of downloaders. Out of all the animes licensed to Odex, only Mobile Suit Gundam SEED's license was granted exclusively to the company. Lau also notes that out of the 13 letters of authorisation presented in court 10 of them authorised AVPAS, not Odex, to act for the copyright holders. Odex was ordered to pay Pacific Internet's legal costs totaling to S$7,000.

Should this ruling stand it may set a precedent for online privacy in Singapore, in which currently no such laws exist. It will also raise the bar for burden of proof on the copyright holder to take legal action against downloaders.

As of 28th August 2007, it has been reported in the papers that Mark Ishikawa ,CEO of BayTSP, will be flying to Singapore to help Odex prepare for their appeal.