NZ Copyright Amendment

If you have noticed black squares invading profile pictures on Facebook and Twitter over the past week and were wondering what they were all about, it has to do with copyright and freedom of speech in NZ. It is a protest against the amendment to the Copyright Act which has gone into force over the weekend.

The whole problem with this amendment is that it has been interpreted as meaning that your ISP will terminate your internet connection if you are accused of downloading copyrighted materials without any hard evidence. Thus taking away a person's right to be innocent until proven guilty.

But...

Due to the ambiguity of the wording, there is some disagreement as to what constitutes an ISP. Many think that they include libraries and internet cafes. If this is the case, it would mean that they would have to keep the details of anyone using their services. I really don’t think this is right and this part should be made clearer to distinguish the definition of an ISP as they will be the ones policing the new law.

The most contentious part of the amendment is the fact that many people do not like the word termination in the context of the act. But according to the recording industry they will get four warnings before any drastic disconnection takes place.

In my opinion this amendment is fair, but I can see why there is a movement against it. It seems to be unfairly skewed towards the recording industry without much thought for the common man. Remarkably, it has even got international attention with Stephen Fry speaking out over it, and blacking out his profile picture on Twitter.

Hopefully this will be sorted through soon, and the sooner the better I say.