Odex Hacked
Odex is a Singapore-based company that licenses and releases anime for local and regional (Southeast Asian) consumption and gain notoriety when it started prosecuting anime downloaders whom download anime sub-licensed to the company.
Odex's actions did not go down well with the anime community whom believed that the company was shifting its business model from sales of anime to profiting from legal blackmail of downloaders and many anime fans have criticised the sub-standard quality of the anime, citing issues like low resolution and inaccurate translations. The standoff was compounded by the actions of Odex director Stephen Sing whom under his alias of xysing, bragged about suing anime downloaders.
To address the ill blood between Odex and the anime community, a forum was set up on Odex's website to "foster and improve" relations but it backfired after some forummers revealed that IP Unmasker could be used to trace forummers. The forum was eventually replaced with a FAQ.
The standoffs appear to be worsening with the Odex's website getting hacked. While the site is no longer accessible, the information has been replicated at Server Takeover.
The hacker's command of English is a little weak with some spelling errors but the message put up reflects the animosity anime community has against Odex. "This server was fully hacked because the things ODEX are doing are just completly wrong!So I hacked them due to my deep abominate against this company.The stupidity of the organisation can not only be seen in the quality of their products or in the disingenuousness of their actions, but also in their skills of web design, compatibility and programming.You can see that by the fact that the server is now hacked. ".
The hacker even provides "helpful" information to help downloaders protect themselves "Just don't let ODEX get any money from you! Also don't get catched by the Dogs they hired to detect illegal downloaders - because accusing people is their main income.At this time they only track BitTorrent users - but there are plenty of alternatives for you. Many fansubbers offer direct HTTP-Downloads or via IRC, but anyway I'd highly recommend to place the downloaded files on an encrypted device. On Open Software for example on a LUKS encrypted device - under windows you can use Truecrypt.If you download your files via SSH, for example from a friend living outside of Singapure, there's even no way anyone could see what your downloading. "
The hacker also repeats the calls of the anime community in boycotting of Odex "ODEX sure won't last long (I hope so). As far as I can see from the amount of users buying their stuff, I can predict that they'll end up bankrupt soon.This would be nice since bad companies shouldn't exist. However it's always up to you. There are plenty of companies which still exist, even if their behaviour is more than wrong (Microsoft to name the worst of them).Onegai, help boycotting ODEX for the sake of Anime!". As usual, hackers put in the Microsoft bashing which has absolutely no relation to Odex's actions.
The Odex hacking is a prime example of a failed public relations exercise that other companies should examine for insights. From the commencement of Odex's "enforcement" actions to the alienation from the anime community and hacking of Odex's website, Odex has appeared to be managing its PR with all the wrong approaches with respect to its target group of customers.
Odex's actions did not go down well with the anime community whom believed that the company was shifting its business model from sales of anime to profiting from legal blackmail of downloaders and many anime fans have criticised the sub-standard quality of the anime, citing issues like low resolution and inaccurate translations. The standoff was compounded by the actions of Odex director Stephen Sing whom under his alias of xysing, bragged about suing anime downloaders.
To address the ill blood between Odex and the anime community, a forum was set up on Odex's website to "foster and improve" relations but it backfired after some forummers revealed that IP Unmasker could be used to trace forummers. The forum was eventually replaced with a FAQ.
The standoffs appear to be worsening with the Odex's website getting hacked. While the site is no longer accessible, the information has been replicated at Server Takeover.
The hacker's command of English is a little weak with some spelling errors but the message put up reflects the animosity anime community has against Odex. "This server was fully hacked because the things ODEX are doing are just completly wrong!So I hacked them due to my deep abominate against this company.The stupidity of the organisation can not only be seen in the quality of their products or in the disingenuousness of their actions, but also in their skills of web design, compatibility and programming.You can see that by the fact that the server is now hacked. ".
The hacker even provides "helpful" information to help downloaders protect themselves "Just don't let ODEX get any money from you! Also don't get catched by the Dogs they hired to detect illegal downloaders - because accusing people is their main income.At this time they only track BitTorrent users - but there are plenty of alternatives for you. Many fansubbers offer direct HTTP-Downloads or via IRC, but anyway I'd highly recommend to place the downloaded files on an encrypted device. On Open Software for example on a LUKS encrypted device - under windows you can use Truecrypt.If you download your files via SSH, for example from a friend living outside of Singapure, there's even no way anyone could see what your downloading. "
The hacker also repeats the calls of the anime community in boycotting of Odex "ODEX sure won't last long (I hope so). As far as I can see from the amount of users buying their stuff, I can predict that they'll end up bankrupt soon.This would be nice since bad companies shouldn't exist. However it's always up to you. There are plenty of companies which still exist, even if their behaviour is more than wrong (Microsoft to name the worst of them).Onegai, help boycotting ODEX for the sake of Anime!". As usual, hackers put in the Microsoft bashing which has absolutely no relation to Odex's actions.
The Odex hacking is a prime example of a failed public relations exercise that other companies should examine for insights. From the commencement of Odex's "enforcement" actions to the alienation from the anime community and hacking of Odex's website, Odex has appeared to be managing its PR with all the wrong approaches with respect to its target group of customers.
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