New Zealand will bring landmark copyright protection law in to effect by March

Nick | 17 Feb 2009, 10:25

A new law that will require ISPs to develop a code to deal with alleged repeat copyright infringers is expected to come in to effect by February 28th, 2009. Section 92A of the Copyright Act will result in repeat offenders ultimately being disconnected by their ISP.

The issue - dubbed the “Guilt Upon Accusation” law - has already resulted in fierce lobbying from both the copyright industries and the internet service providers and has now led to an international social media protest, organised by New Zealand group Creative Freedom NZ.

The New Zealand Herald writes:

“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 it everything should be free and by the internet companies that profit from it.“

The controversy highlights the legal and practical complexities presented by copyright enforcement in the digital age and the scarcity of precedents which successfully strike the right balance between the interests of producers, distributors and consumers.