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Internet Blackout vs Guilt Upon Accusation laws

Posted on February 17, 2009 by swiggs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday 17 February, 2009

CFF announce Internet Blackout against Guilt Upon Accusation laws


Today the
 Creative Freedom Foundation announce a nation-wide Internet Blackout Campaign against Guilt Upon Accusation laws in NZ. The blackout, taking place from 16-23 February, is a reaction to Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment Act, due to come into effect in NZ on February 28 unless the Government suspends or repeals the law.

The controversial law reverses New Zealander’s fundamental right to being presumed innocent until proven guilty, punishing internet users with disconnection based accusations of copyright infringement without a trial and without evidence held up to court scrutiny.

The blackout has already drawn international support: world renowned actor, comedian and author Stephen Fry has blacked out his twitter profile stating that “Stephen Fry is blacked out: Stand up against Guilt Upon Accusation for New Zealand”

The movement is rapidly growing, with thousands of people in New Zealand modifying their websites, blogs, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and Bebo accounts to show their opposition to the law. Instructions on how to take part in the blackout can be found onwww.CreativeFreedom.org.nz

The blackout is part of a week of action against S92. A S92 song remix challenge will be announced tomorrow, and various other initiatives including video commercials and radio broadcasts will follow.

The week will culminate in a major web blackout on Monday the 23rd seeing blogs and websites “dimming the lights” as a means of drawing attention to the issue that could leave New Zealander’s in the dark when they face having their internet cut off. Hundreds of confirmed participants include Kiwiblog, Zoomin and Public Address with more to be announced over the coming week.

Creative Freedom Foundation Director Bronwyn Holloway-Smith says “If the government choses to keep this law, they will be going against international trends, treating NZ as an international lab-rat for this kind of legislation”. Similar legislation has recently been proposed and rejected in other countries: Germany said Section 92A-like laws were ‘unfit for Germany, unfit for Europe’. The UK rejected them due to “impracticalities and complexities” and the EU rejected them saying they were against “a fair balance between various fundamental rights”.

But its not all gloom: one popular solution to the problem of illegal downloading is a Copyright Court. Operating similarly to the Disputes Tribunal, this would be a fast and cost-effective way of resolving disputes while preserving public justice and therefore public respect for copyright.

Over 5600 people, including over 2700 artists, have signed theCreative Freedom Foundation’s petition against Guilt Upon Accusation laws in NZ. The petition can be signed by artists and the wider public at http://CreativeFreedom.org.nz


ENDS

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6 thoughts on “Internet Blackout vs Guilt Upon Accusation laws”

  1. Niche Marketing for Newbies says:
    February 18, 2009 at 3:25 am

    Tons of useful info here – will grab your feed!

  2. Margaret Wilson says:
    February 18, 2009 at 7:30 am

    I have a different spin on this, My broadband at home is painfully slow and is not much faster than dialup. The bandwidth usage by people downloading illegal movies limits what I can do with the internet. I think it will be quite easy for the IP’s to govern illegal activity and the need to go of to some other authority to prove they are doing wrong is a waste of time. the IP just needs to follow the links of people suspected of doing wrong to govern if what they are doing is wrong. I think this rule will at least get it out in the public that downloading movies is illegal.

  3. Miami Beach condos says:
    February 18, 2009 at 10:07 am

    Great post, I signed the petition.

  4. Deon says:
    February 18, 2009 at 5:09 pm

    Margret – I just feel its going the wrong way about it. There are better ways to work this out.

  5. Matthew says:
    February 23, 2009 at 8:37 am

    Margaret – So its okay to monitor somebody’s private communications?

  6. Matt says:
    February 23, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    Margaret – that is NOT because of illegal downloading. That is because the ISP you are with is overselling, without providing a reasonable level of broadband bandwidth for it’s customer base.
    Whether or not people download movies, the internet has changed forever – rich media content is everywhere, and people regularly use more than their puny allocated monthly bandwidth allowance on perfectly legal surfing, such as youtube and myspace.
    Presumably you’re with Xtra?
    Change ISPs. Consumer magazine agrees.

Comments are closed.

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