Online Protest Stops New Zealand Internet Copyright Law
By Morelli
The proposed changes to New Zealand’s Internet copyright laws in Section 92A which would consider file-sharers “guilty if accused”, were withdrawn for reconsideration by the country’s Government, as confirmed by an announcement made by Prime Minister John Key:
“Section 92a is not going to come into force as originally written. We have now asked the minister of commerce to start work on a replacement section.”
International efforts to resist the legislation proved fruitful. We reported that the Creative Freedom Foundation organized an “Internet blackout”, which encouraged Internet users to protest by replacing their Facebook, Myspace and Twitter profile pictures with plain black images.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) TelstraClear also made a full rebuttal of Section 92A, and Google argued that the legislation would not be useful, as “more than half (57%) of the take down notices it has received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998, were sent by business targeting competitors and over one third (37%) of notices were not valid copyright claims.”
Protests and petitions also helped to change the course of the “draconian” proposal, which would summarily cut Internet connections of accused file-sharers without appeal. Thankfully, the New Zealand Government has buckled under the pressure, making the decision a victory for “netroots” movements. However, the Prime Minister said that “there is a need for legislation in this area,” and the government will re-introduce a new law after a review.
The enormous response from the Internet community and IT industry had an impact on the outcome of Government actions. How will “netroots” movements affect other file-sharing laws?
Source: Slashdot
