Copyright law dust-up turns into a war of words

KiwiCoromandel · January 28, 2009

It's official, the Australian and NZ recording industries have thrown their toys out of the cot after critics have roundly condemned the controversial Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment (New Technologies) Act.

The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) Director, Anthony Healey has labelled criticism of the looming legislation as mischievous, saying accusations of the new legislation are "...a continued attack on our songwriters whose ability to make a living from their music has already been compromised by widespread illegal file sharing on the internet by those who believe that everything should be free and by the internet companies that profit from it".

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/artic...jectid=10553059

source:Pat Pilcher/NZHerald

image:uk.gizmodo.com...AUSSIE and NZ ISPs To Crackdown On Music Piracy... "Music has real economic value and our music writers deserve food on the table and a roof over their head."

vernarial · January 28, 2009

The rest of that article is very good. They make some of the same points I would have made in response to the APRA. Nice find on that article, Kiwibank!

KiwiCoromandel · January 29, 2009

UK backs down on three strikes - will sanity prevail in NZ?

As New Zealand edges closer to enforcing the controversial section 92 of the Copyright Amendment (New Technologies) act, the UK government has decided not to support a policy aimed at policing British digital copyright infringers.

Citing the impracticalities and complexities associated administering with a three strike policy, the UK Minister of Intellectual Property, David Lammy has been quoted by the BBC and in The Times as saying that the British government is no longer interested in making ISPs police file-sharing or disconnecting users as part of a three strike policy, similar to the laws soon to be imposed in New Zealand.

more here....

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/artic...jectid=10554151

source:Pat Pilcher/NZHerald

vernarial · January 29, 2009

Ah, some good news. When are these world leaders gonna stop taking cues from the media industry and start listening to the consumers? Sounds like some might be turning.

KiwiCoromandel · January 29, 2009

Gregg Gillis of ‘Girl Talk’ Talks Copyright....

Gregg Gillis is Girl Talk – a 27 year old former biomedical engineer from Pittsburgh who used to research such things as the effect of light on human circadian rhythms, in order to cure the symptoms of jetlag. These days, Gillis has his own jetlag to deal with, and the rhythms are more of the dancefloor variety. This week he played two sold out shows in New Zealand.

....................................................................................................

US academics like Lawrence Lessig ( who visited New Zealand late last year ) routinely cite Girl Talk as the leading example of a ‘mashup’ digital culture that is increasingly at odds with the ownership rules of current copyright

....................................................................................................

Today’s conflict between digital culture and copyright law are in fact, only the iceberg tip of a long, historical evolution. It was only 100 years ago, as Fitzgerald points out, that most of the music that people heard was what they made themselves. Initially, she says, the spread of technologies for music recording and playback didn’t democratise music itself – instead, it expanded the ability of the populace to hear professionals play, thus gradually transforming most people from producers into consumers....

read more here....

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/bizt...3423481609.html

source:Asher Moses/SMH

image:i.afterdawn.com....Internet Piracy...choose your weapons...

KiwiCoromandel · February 12, 2009

Posted by my ISP on their website this morning.....

Section 92A - what does it mean for you?

Tue 10 Feb 2009

We have been receiving a lot of questions from our customers about the new Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act, in particular the now infamous section 92A, which has some major implications for both New Zealand Internet users and copyright holders. We want to make sure you are up to speed with what this means for you, as well as making sure that you are aware that you have a chance to submit feedback on the way that this is going to be implemented.

What is this section 92A business anyway?

The Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act was passed in order to better protect copyright holders in our hyper connected world. Essentially it is intended to ensure that rights holders are able to effectively stop the infringement of their copyright.

Section 92A stipulates that they are able to do this by notifying Internet Service Providers like us when they believe their rights are being infringed. We are then expected to pass this notice on to users. If those users continue to infringe copyright then we are obliged under the Act to terminate their connection.

While it is fair to say we are not exactly over the moon about this process, we do recognise that it is important to uphold rights holders rights. We have been hard at work with the rest of the industry as part of the Telecommunications Carriers Forum (TCF) working party. They have just released a draft Code of Practice, and are inviting submissions.

What is the gist of it?

The draft Code of Practice sets out the following basic process:

1. If a Copyright holder identifies an infringement of their Copyright by an Orcon customer they notify us in writing.

2. We ensure that the notification meets the requirements set out in the code, and provided it does, we then send the customer identified an 'education notice'. At this point the customer is able to challenge the notice by completing a counter-notice that they send to us, and provided it meets the requirements, we then forward on to the rights holder.

3. At the end of the month all those customers that have received education notices during that month will be sent a Copyright infringement warning notice. This is the official notice (and counts as a 'strike').

4. If we continue to receive notification of Copyright infringement from rights holders about a specific user, that user will receive a total of 3 warning notices (always at the end of a month). Your 3rd notice is a final warning.

5. Should we receive a notice after you have already received 3 warnings we will send you a termination notice. This notifies you that your connection will be terminated in 48 hours.

Other important notes....

Downstream ISPs

This Code introduces the concept of 'downstream ISP's'. Under the Code a downstream ISP is any organisation that provides Internet to others. Obvious examples are businesses such as Internet cafes. However the concept also applies much wider than that. If you are a business that provides Internet to your employees then you are deemed to be a downstream ISP. Libraries and Schools are also counted as downstream ISPs - anyone that provides Internet service to others. This means that if we receive a notice about someone infringing copyright from your connection we will forward this notice to you, and you will be responsible for warning (and potentially terminating access) for those responsible for infringement in a manner that complies with the Act.

Thus it is extremely important that you have read and understood implications of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act, which requires you to reasonably implement the provisions of the act (i.e. terminating the connections of those who are breaching copyright). You are free to choose how you do this, provided that it ensures that you comply with the Act.

We are not the police

One thing we want to point out is that we do not take responsibility for investigating whether or not a copyright infringement has or has not occurred. Essentially we act as a go between between the rights holders (or their representatives) and users.

Rights holder approval process

Under this code of practice the intention will be that rights holders will need to be pre-approved (by the TCF) in order to lodge infringement notices. This pre-approval process is intended to ensure that rights-holders are complying with a reasonable standard of evidence, and not just making unwarranted or vexatious accusations.

Fees

There will be a fee for rights holders lodging infringement notices to offset the work that we will have to undertake in order to process the alleged infringement. There will be no additional fees or charges for customers.

We will be updating you again once the Code of Practice is finalised. Until then we encourage anyone who is interested to read more about it on the TCF website.

image:embeddedsystem.net....the ISP police...

KiwiCoromandel · February 17, 2009

Internet: Blackout Against Guilt Upon Accusation Laws....

Today the Creative Freedom Foundation announced a nation-wide Internet Blackout Campaign against Guilt Upon Accusation laws in NZ. The blackout, taking place from 16-23 February, is a reaction to Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment Act, due to come into effect in NZ on February 28 unless the Government suspends or repeals the law....

The controversial law reverses New Zealander's fundamental right to being presumed innocent until proven guilty, punishing internet users with disconnection based accusations of copyright infringement without a trial and without evidence held up to court scrutiny.

The blackout has already drawn international support: world renowned actor, comedian and author Stephen Fry has blacked out his twitter profile stating that "Stephen Fry is blacked out: Stand up against Guilt Upon Accusation for New Zealand"

more here....

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0902/S00171.htm

The movement is rapidly growing, with thousands of people in New Zealand modifying their websites, blogs, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and Bebo accounts to show their opposition to the law. Instructions on how to take part in the blackout can be found on.....

www.CreativeFreedom.org.nz

image:Guilt Upon Accusation Laws...."If the government choses to keep this law, they will be going against international trends, treating NZ as an international lab-rat for this kind of legislation".

KiwiCoromandel · February 28, 2009

http://www.beatking.com/forums/index.php?s...mp;#entry177921

Copyright law dust-up turns into a war of words

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