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.

Gaurnim · 03-04-2009, 04:58 AM

We have a similar law being prepared in France.
There was a blackout on some French Internet sites to protest about it.
Let's hope the law is dropped, because it's totally stupid.

They even propose to limit public WiFi accesses to a white list of sites ...

Sweetpea · 03-04-2009, 05:32 AM

Not only France. But in the entire EU (or rather, France is trying to get the EU to follow their lead on the "three strikes and out" policy...)

Note: France = those high up politicians that have no idea what their normal fellow country(wo)men want...

cerement · 03-04-2009, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Note: France = those high up politicians that have no idea what their normal fellow country(wo)men want...

Since when has ANY politician payed attention to what their country's citizens want? Most extreme case I've seen so far is Cambodia where (to the untrained eye of a tourist) it seems the country is composed of two completely separate and incompatible races: the (very corrupt) politicians and the (extremely friendly) locals ...

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.

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03-04-2009, 04:58 AM	#2
Gaurnim Final Five n°42 Posts: 789 Karma: 3599 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lyon, France Device: Cybook Gen3	We have a similar law being prepared in France. There was a blackout on some French Internet sites to protest about it. Let's hope the law is dropped, because it's totally stupid. They even propose to limit public WiFi accesses to a white list of sites ...

03-04-2009, 05:32 AM	#3
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	Not only France. But in the entire EU (or rather, France is trying to get the EU to follow their lead on the "three strikes and out" policy...) Note: France = those high up politicians that have no idea what their normal fellow country(wo)men want...

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