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Internet service provider to turn in anime downloaders to studios

ICT Materials 30 January 2008 06:36 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa )- The Singapore High Court ordered Pacific Internet to turn over the names of those who illegally downloaded Japanese animated cartoons to the six studios behind the works, news reports said on Wednesday.

The studios - Sunrise Inc, Kadokawa Pictures Inc, TV Tokyo Medianet Inc, GDH KK, Yomiuri Telecasting and Showgate Inc - are the copyright owners of such popular anime cartoons as Gundam , Cowboy Bebop and Naruto .

Those who downloaded copyright online material cannot claim a "right" to privacy, said the ruling, according to The Straits Times.

The studios have the right to the names and even to sue individuals for infringing their copyright, said Justice Woo Bih Li in his decision on Tuesday.

But Woo rejected Singapore-based anime distributor Odex's appeal for Pacific Internet to release the name list to it.

The judge made it clear that Odex was not the rightful party to petition for the names, and ordered it to pay for Pacific Internet's legal fees of 20,000 Singapore dollars (13,000 US dollars).

Odex said the decision paved the way for legal action by the six studios and copyright owners of other anime titles, the report said. District Judge Ernest Lau turned down a petition from Odex last September for a list of downloaders .

Odex , seeking to crack down on downloaders , had previously won court orders to obtain the names of SingNet and StarHub downloaders .

Some cheered Woo's decision online. A Hardwarezone user declared it was "party time."

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