Copyright Law

New Zealand Three Strikes Law Moves Ahead

By Drew Wilson

After a major public outcry over the last time New Zealand mulled its own three strikes, the three strikes law, also known as s92a in the country, has been revamped by the government and released to the public.

“Mr Power announced the release of a Cabinet Paper that outlines the basis of new legislation,” the government press release states, “which will be introduced to Parliament early next year. This follows a review of section 92A of the Copyright Act 1994.”

The model appears to be pretty much a copy of Frances three strikes law where after a third notice, a court must order the disconnection of the alleged copyright infringement.

Local digital rights advocacy organization Creative Freedom had some concerns for the revamped law. A big concern was that there was no system for a counter notice in the event a false accusation is made. In some respects, the revamped law maintains the guilt upon accusation all the way up to the third strike. Another flaw is that there are no repercussions for making a false accusation.

One additional criticism one might make is that this does nothing to foster any legitimate marketplace. What has the industry done to create an attractive alternative to file-sharing? From what is immediately obvious, it seems nothing is being done about it, so the real choice for consumers is either an old, outdated, expensive and restrictive system or a system that has next to no restrictions, is free and in the now. In the end, this is a futile law as file-sharers will either ignore the law or find ways of circumventing the law to get what they want. The only thing this law still creates is more criminals and civil disobedience.

Have a tip? Want to contact the author? You can do so by sending a PM via the forums or via e-mail at drew@zeropaid.com.

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).