Picking up the pieces after Odex - And putting the pieces back together for them

Since it was decided in the courts on October 30, 2007 that Odex was allowed to find more information to back up its arguments, it makes one wonder what more proof Odex could possibly find to incriminate scores of youngsters accurately enough beyond reasonable doubt to demand information from the Internet Service Providers (ISPs). After all, they've flown in the CEO of BayTSP, the very company who's been doing all the technical harvesting for them, who holds the crux of the validity of their argument. After all, you can't demand information about IP addresses or send settlement demands to the holders of IP addresses if you can't establish a link between IP addresses and the supposed infringer at a screenshot point in time, can you?

Or can you? Like it has been previously mentioned, it's fully possible to spoof someone else's IP address, but a more pressing issue is the ability for people to leech off another person's Internet access and perform acts absolutely anonymously by bringing their computer/laptop within range of another person's wireless connection. Catching people who piggyback wireless connections by itself as is as complicated and difficult as finding a stick insect in a lumber factory: even if you manage to take a picture of your target's location chances are it'll have noticed your presence and ran like hell. And it still doesn't solve the problem of relying on IP addresses as a sole identification method. Piggybacking is an extremely touchy issue that even the most skilled of investigators can't always prove actually happened.

So how does this add up for BayTSP, who claims to "only collect information that downloaders make available to everyone else on the network"? Unfortunately for BayTSP, it's another obstacle for them that just raises the burden of proof higher than it already is. And now that Odex has declared that it will no longer demand customer information directly from the ISPs but will rely on the ISPs to essentially police the Internet and send letters in their stead, one can't help but wonder if Odex realises just how far it can go armed with just IP addresses alone.

Speaking of which, let's bring the issue of IP addresses one step back in time to when this whole furore started, when Odex was happily axeing SingNet and StarHub in court. Being a StarHub user myself, issues with shared IP addresses crop up rather often -- especially when it comes to attempting to edit Wikipedia articles only to find that the IP address has been blocked for vandalising an article that most people didn't even touch.

Assuming that the adolescents Odex had targeted included individuals who were suscribers of StarHub Online broadband services, this brings up another can of worms -- if Odex relied on customer information and IP addresses alone to pick the people to penalise, it's fair to assume that they had to have some demographic parameters to keep in mind during their selection process. If we assume that, we can guess that Odex simply ascertained that they were attacking far likelier targets in the form pre-teens and teenagers as opposed to single mothers and dead senior citizens. But if that was the case, who's to say that all the lettered kids did in fact download fansubs? After all, it's a known fact that the anime following in Singapore is a pretty exclusive niche that no one had cared about or noticed until now, so there's a likelihood that some teens who got lettered weren't even supposed to be involved in the first place. That, and not everyone who received the Odex letter has actually gone to their offices to settle.

So is Odex even sure that in they managed to hit the right people even in the wake of their first crusade? It's another "who knows?" query amidst the silent aftermath of the Odex saga, but in the meantime there's another issue that comes to mind, this time on a global scale.

Not too long ago, Japan had been seen crying to the United States in an appeal to ask their citizens to stop "illegal Net releases of anime". Conspiracy theories and arguments between fans and the animation companies aside, it's notably surprising that Japan never brought up the issue on such a level before the whole Odex saga started, but let's take a step back and think about it.

Japan is appealing to America to stop illegal Net releases of anime. Their reasoning is that fansubs hurt their animation industry. According to a Japanese anime site, the animation industry has also seen three consecutive years of growth.

So Japan is appealing to America to help curb the negative development of an industry that's been showing nothing but positive development.

Wait, WHAT?

That's a seriously warped situation there, even from the perspectives of laymen like us. If you can't even trust your own data, whose can you trust? Odex's data that says Korea's animation industry is dead even though it's alive and kicking, and that Japan's anime industry is bleeding to death?

It would appear that for now, the animation companies seem to have agreed with this rather paradoxical statement and are fighting the battle for Odex -- something that they have declared to do should Odex fail in its appeal to harvest IP addresses.

But wait -- if Odex had declared that they would rely on their online warning system and the ISPs to send litigation letters for them instead of demanding customer information, why are they even continuing to fight for the customer information from PacificNet suscribers? (Good grief, another can of worms.)

Battles may be won and lost now, but until the questions of the public can be answered by those who can answer them, the war is far from over.