The Odex case

In case no one thinks that I read local news: I've been following the Odex case with great interest. This will prove to be a landmark case in Singapore's courts. In simplest terms, it is about copyright infringement. The Internet has truly changed the game. Savvy Internet users find a file here or their friends send them a link, they open Bittorrent and start downloading. It's so simple to them.

And because it's so simple, they continue doing it like there's nothing wrong. But it also means that they are taking what they haven't actually bought. That's piracy. Plain and simple. Singapore has strong laws and we must enforce them. If we let our children get away with stealing, then they'll become mafia thugs when they grow up. We can't allow that. Besides, there's the bigger problem that our laws will be made a mockery by these youngsters. That is something that we absolutely cannot allow, and we will clamp down hard if we have to.

But Odex... that's a tough nut to crack. On one hand, they have the right intentions, though their boss could learn some proper manners. On the other hand, they're not the original copyright holders. It's a grey area. To safeguard our interests, I've already called Abe to let him know that his country's intellectual property isn't being stolen from right under our noses. I can't afford to jeopardise our FTA with him.

However, we don't want what's going on in the U.S., where the RIAA is now seen as a gang of hoodlums taking advantage of poor young children. We must never go that way. If our children need to be punished, fine. But they must never lose faith in our justice system. It's all we have against the real criminals and libellous slanderers.

I'll let the courts work out the case. Let them set the precedent. In the meantime, I've directed Jaya to start looking over our copyright laws and find out how we can strengthen them further.

To get a youth's perspective, I also asked Hongyi what he thought about this. Since his last run-in with the power of the Internet, I thought that he would have a unique viewpoint. He agreed that what those downloaders were doing is wrong, but he said that if it's free for the taking, then the temptation could be so strong that a person could break. I understand what he means. And I wasn't taken aback by what he said either.

This doesn't mean that I'm throwing in the towel. Obviously, the HIP campaign isn't working. I'll need to talk to those people about it, get them to shape up or ship out. Singapore is run by results. If I don't get the results I want, then I'll replace you with the folks who can get it done right. It's that simple.