ANIME distributor Odex's website was defaced by an unknown hacker on Wednesday night, and is now down.

After breaking into the site, the perpetrator put up a note urging a boycott of the anime distributor's products, suggesting ways to continue downloading anime without getting found out. He also urged readers to 'trust' his allegations that the controversial company was 'bad and evil'.

An Odex spokesman said the company had taken down the site, and would make a police report.

Odex incurred the wrath of the Singapore online community - most of whom are pro-piracy, according to a government survey - after it sent out hundreds of letters to alleged anime downloaders, demanding they pay between it $3,000 and $5,000 or face further legal action.

Anti-Odex sentiment was further stoked when District Judge Ernest Lau turned down Odex's application for a court order to obtain get the names of alleged downloaders from Internet service provider Pacific Internet, on the grounds that Odex by itself could not sue infringers, even though it had the backing of the studios which did have the right to sue.

Users on sites like HardwareZone, sgCafe and Xedo Defense cheered the news that the site had been hacked.

The IT consultant running Xedo Defense, who declined to give his real name, said he 'cannot help feeling a sense of glee, but I would have to say I will not support such actions, even if Odex deserves it.'

Security expert Aloysius Cheang said the attack on Odex did not appear to be a very sophisticated one. It was 'probably the work of an individual, since no organised hacker group has claimed credit for it so far', he added.

From the language used in the hacker's note, Mr Cheang believed the perpetrator was someone living here.

As Odex's site is hosted locally, Mr Cheang said the company can make a police report. As all attacks leave digital trails, there was a good chance the perpetrator could eventually be identified, he said.

It is an offence under the Computer Misuse Act to access computers or modify data on them without permission, and those convicted face penalties of up to $15,000 and five years jail.