Anime distributor Odex may be offering amnesty to downloaders if they stop illegally downloading Japanese animation, or anime, by Monday, Sept. 3.

Odex recently sent out letters, which threatened legal prosecution, to illegal anime downloaders if an out-of-court settlement of $3,000 to $5,000 was not reached between the company and the offenders. Odex managed to obtain downloader information from internet service providers SingNet and StarHub through court orders. However, Odex lost its application for Pacific Internet’s compliance to disclose downloader information.

A notice posted on Odex’s forum by the username “Administrator” stated, “Anyone who has stopped downloading our licensed content as of Monday [Sept. 3, 2007] will not receive a settlement notice.”

The post, entitled “3rd September,” was made on Tuesday afternoon in the announcements section of the Odex forum. The main Odex website also contains a link to the post in their “Latest News” section.

This announcement follows an earlier post by Odex director Stephen Sing on the Odex general discussion forum on Monday afternoon. In a discussion thread entitled “The Odex Letter,” username “xysing” stated, “As long as you stop downloading now, regardless of what ISP you're using, there will be no letters knocking at your door (not from us anyway).”

“Xysing” is a username that Sing previously used in other forums, most notably SCORD, where he made his now-famous “66” comments. “66,” pronounced “gee-gee” as it resembles the letter “g,” is a gaming term for total domination which Sing used with reference to illegal anime downloaders. “Xysing” is also a moderator and an administrator of the official Odex forums.

The topic on the Odex forum in which Sing apparently promised amnesty has since been locked and “stickied,” or placed permanently on the top of the general discussion forum, under the header, “The Odex Letter.”

“We will have an official statement sometime soon. Meanwhile I'm [afraid] this post is all you guys have, print it, capture it and bring it to us (and the press) if you find us lying,” wrote “xysing” in a subsequent post.

The posts were made around 1 p.m on Monday afternoon.  “Xysing” also posted messages encouraging readers to spread word of the amnesty to other forums such as “Hardwarezone.”

The offer of amnesty is Odex’s latest response to the growing criticism from anime fans about Odex’s tactics in its fight against illegally anime downloading.

However, not all anime fans are appeased by Odex’s actions. Some see it as a cost-cutting measure that will also revive fans’ goodwill amidst its flagging popularity.

“I believe they know that with the public awareness of their failed legal attempt to make PacNet reveal names, [more] people will now be willing to contest their letter, and their costs will definitely increase,” said Foo Maw Jiun, a fourth-year law major. “It might not be efficient to start suing people, smarter to take the high road.”

Others think the amnesty is unfair to those who have already paid the settlement.

“It seems as if those who paid the settlements were just the slaughtered lambs to scare the rest,” said Daniel Soh, a second-year literature major. “There should be equal treatment for all involved in the issue.”

Odex could not be contacted for comment at press time.