Awaiting Odex's answer

This article here in Straits Times caught my attention. Below is a direct quote. Will we get a reply from them? Lets wait and see.

Will Odex return money they demanded from alleged downloaders?

ACCORDING to Justice Woo Bih Li, Odex had no right to sue anime downloaders under Singapore's Copyright Act (ST, Jan 29) nor obtain the names of the alleged downloaders' (ST, Jan 30).

This is because Odex is neither a copyright owner nor an exclusive licensee for the anime involved.

This judgment implies that Odex's previous bold claims of having the authority to pursue, catch or even punish downloaders have been all false. In fact, Odex's actions may very well be illegal if this issue is pursued. Also, this gives rise to a critical implication.

The implication is that Odex has no right to even demand money from downloaders at all, unless they have downloaded Gundam Seed.

We all know about the large sum of money that Odex demanded from the alleged downloaders throughout last year. However, we haven't really heard much from Odex regarding the whereabouts of the money since Aug 31, 2007, have we?

Hence, I pose the million-dollar question to Odex: Is Odex going to continue to hoard all those ill-gotten profits they demanded from the alleged downloaders? Or will Odex honestly and dutifully return all the money?

It also just struck me that the methods which Odex employed in demanding money from downloaders share uncanny similarities with the methods that were employed by the phone scam artists last October, where victims were tricked into thinking that they had to pay up or face criminal charges although the scam artists did not have any legal authority to do so.

Reflecting on this entire fiasco, I strongly feel that laws should be put in place to prevent the repeat of a fiasco where unethical firms or individuals gain money through crafty means, such as the use of ingenious threats which take advantage of the people's lack of legal knowledge.

Otherwise, Singapore may very well become the environment where audacious crooks, who employ such methods, will breed and thrive in.