InternetNZ welcomes Government decision to abandon Copyright Act clause
22 Mar 2009
Executive Director Keith Davidson says “This decision to change the law
will be a relief to those who have valiantly opposed Section 92A and all
that it stood for - the way it necessitated termination of Internet
accounts based on mere allegations, imposed compliance costs on all
sorts of businesses and organisations, and failed to protect these
businesses and traditional Internet Service Providers who were caught in
the middle through no fault of their own.
“Terminating an Internet account was always a disproportionate response
to copyright infringement and to force ISPs and other organisations to
be copyright judges and policemen was never an acceptable situation.”
Davidson says the trend internationally is away from attempting to
legislate for termination of Internet accounts for those alleged to be
infringing copyright.
“New Zealand has narrowly escaped being the global guinea pig for this
approach and precedent setter for its advocates.”
Davidson says there are very good judicial, practical and ethical
reasons for rejection of 92A, articulated in the submissions to the
Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum (TCF) Copyright Code of Practice.
Section 92A was opposed by the overwhelming majority of these
submissions and by the earlier Commerce Select Committee’s opinion.
“It was unfortunate that it was reinserted into the Act at the last
minute, leading to incredible wastage in people’s time and effort over
the past year. On the upside, New Zealanders are now far more aware of
the importance of protecting the openness of the Internet.”
Davidson also says New Zealand should not have contemplated trading the
public’s unfettered access to the Internet as part of international
trade treaties without consulting the wider public.
“Access to the Internet is very important to our economic future,
bringing New Zealand ‘closer’ to its trading partners and markets. We
fully support the Government’s fibre-to-the-home initiative and
anticipate that more and more online services will be crucial to
businesses and consumers alike.
“We are grateful that the Government has pulled back from allowing the
Internet to be compromised on the basis of the narrow commercial
interests of global entertainment industries trying to shore up failing
business models. Those industries should focus on educating their
customers not threatening them. Government may like to consider the
Notice and Notice approach to such education advocated by InternetNZ, an
approach that has been successful in both Canada and Japan.”
InternetNZ will continue to work with the Government and all interested
parties to put in place better Copyright law that takes account of the
realities of the digital age and all it has to offer, says Davidson.
For further information contact:
Keith Davidson
Executive Director
InternetNZ
021 377 587
exe.dir@internetnz.net.nz