Atrocious copyright law about to come into effect
There is a ground swell of opposition to section 92 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008 which is about to come into effect. This part of the law states that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are required to have a policy that provides for disconnection of users who repeatedly infringe copyright.
There is a lot of debate on this issue. I’m very frustrated when rights-holders try and paint the opposing side as those who want free-downloading for everyone. Lets be clear; I think it’s important for copyright to exist at this time, and we need to protect the rights of those who own copyright material.
I have two major problems with this law. Firstly, the act of terminating an Internet connection is a major step. I firmly believe that we have created an important tool for humanity. To deny our citizens the means to express themselves, to communicate with each other, to learn, to consume and interact with government is totally unacceptable. I don’t know what punitive measures should be taken against those who infringe copyright, but cutting off their access is a mistake.
The second is often overlooked and is rather subtle. The law requires that ISPs act as soon as they receive notice of infringement. In the case of a movie or TV show, this is fairly obvious. What would happen if you were told that the following snippet of text infringed copyright:
Section 92A requires that ISPs must develop a code of conduct to deal with copyright infringement.
That happens to be a quote from an NZ Herald article on the recent protests, so I think I’m safe. The Associated Press have recently taken steps to claim that even a five-word quotation from an article is copyrighted and you must pay a licence fee to use it. There is no fair-use legislation in New Zealand like there is in the United States. We have no case to argue against such insanity.
Small businesses that allow their staff to use the Internet may be considered providers under the law, and thus need to comply like regular ISPs. How are they going to be able to track and disconnect their staff? What would they do when rights-holders complain about emails with quotes from the Associated Press?
Copyright is not a clear-cut issue of stolen movies or music. It’s incredibly complex. I am very concerned that forcing ISPs, businesses, and schools to judge such issues is going to lead to major problems. The future already has enough uncertainty. Idiocy like this will just make things worse.
I urge you to contact our government and ask them to repeal section 92A. Do it soon, we don’t have much time.
For more information, check out the great work by Matthew and Bronwyn of the Creative Freedom Foundation.