MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - NZ's Stupidest Law. Did We Miss the Blackout?

Sonist · 03-03-2009, 08:44 PM

Apparently, NZ just postponed a stupid, but dangerous law from coming into effect. It would have allowed disconnection of service upon the accusation of copyright infringement: http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html

Quote from the above page:

"Reverses the presumption of innocence: Section 92A calls for punishment with internet disconnection before a trial and before any evidence has been held up to court scrutiny.
Censorship: While the target of Section 92A was probably illegal downloads of music and movies it infact covers all copyrighted material including quotes and other parts of social commentary. Associated Press (AP) say that 5 word quotes must be licensed for (US)$12.50. Groups such as the Church of Scientology have issued 4000 notices to YouTube videos, some of which were protest videos. Section 92A widens the definition of an ISP to include practically any shared internet connection, and asks thousands of untrained people to assess claims of copyright infringement and data forensics. With such a poorly designed justice system individuals should expect misuse."

I suppose, since I quoted more than 5 words, I could have been a criminal in NZ. Wow! And I thought the Millennium Act was idiotic.

How come nobody here blacked out?

Just think of it: In a world of laws such as this, saying "If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work" would not save you from having your connection pulled out.

03-03-2009, 08:44 PM	#1
Sonist Apeist Posts: 2,126 Karma: 381090 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: The sunny part of California Device: Generic virtual reality story-experiential device	NZ's Stupidest Law. Did We Miss the Blackout? Apparently, NZ just postponed a stupid, but dangerous law from coming into effect. It would have allowed disconnection of service upon the accusation of copyright infringement: http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html Quote from the above page: "Reverses the presumption of innocence: Section 92A calls for punishment with internet disconnection before a trial and before any evidence has been held up to court scrutiny. Censorship: While the target of Section 92A was probably illegal downloads of music and movies it infact covers all copyrighted material including quotes and other parts of social commentary. Associated Press (AP) say that 5 word quotes must be licensed for (US)$12.50. Groups such as the Church of Scientology have issued 4000 notices to YouTube videos, some of which were protest videos. Section 92A widens the definition of an ISP to include practically any shared internet connection, and asks thousands of untrained people to assess claims of copyright infringement and data forensics. With such a poorly designed justice system individuals should expect misuse." I suppose, since I quoted more than 5 words, I could have been a criminal in NZ. Wow! And I thought the Millennium Act was idiotic. How come nobody here blacked out? Just think of it: In a world of laws such as this, saying "If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work" would not save you from having your connection pulled out. Last edited by Sonist; 03-03-2009 at 08:50 PM.