Internet Service Provides, how much do they protect you?
Posted by: SerSiTiv in Internet, SerSiTiv, Tak Glam Lah!
Recently a Singapore based Anime distributor Odex, started serving “lawyer letters” to Anime downloaders and did so by obtaining the personal information of subscribers on Singnet and Starhub. These two ISPs were served court orders of which they had to cough up the information for Odex.
23rd August 2007, Pacific Internet, a third ISP in Singapore manage to protect their subscribers and won the case preventing their customers information to reach the hands of Odex. Pacific Internet lawyers walked out victorious and Odex was ruled out based on the following.
Only copyright owners - that is, the studios that made the anime - or an ‘exclusive licensee’ for the anime being downloaded, can take legal action under the Singapore Copyright Act.
Odex is a sub-licensee and had letters from rights owners authorising it to take action on their behalf, but the firm was neither a copyright owner or an ‘exclusive licensee’.
An exclusive licensee has the sole right to distribute a product in a certain market.”
So what did the other two ISPs do to protect their customers? Singnet, one of the largest ISPs in Singapore simply could not be bothered and submitted without contest!
It was also noted that Singnet lawyers were not present at the hearing.
I mean this goes to show how much your ISP serves you, in fact I do not find broadband prices in Singapore exactly cheap, protecting online privacy is the least your ISP can do for you but this was quite incredible to hear they did not even try to argue. Even Starhub made some arguements in an attempt to protect the interest of their customers.
This is really a PR nightmare, now with such bad press I wonder who wants to sign up with Singnet, who probably just lost customer confidence after this whole saga.
*Post based on facts provided by Online news articles.
[Source: Straits Times Article 1 , Straits Times Article 2]
