New Zealand's Section 92A

The last few months have seen interesting developments in New Zealand in regard to controlling copyright infringement on the Internet. New Zealand's 1994 Copyright Act was amended last year to accommodate new technologies, with the most controversial amendment being the new Section 92A, which states, "An Internet service provider must adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides for termination, in appropriate circumstances, of the account with that Internet service provider of a repeat [copyright] infringer."

Originally the new law was scheduled to take effect on February 28, but objections from Internet service providers (ISPs) and alliances of creative artists (but not from New Zealand's creative industries, which generally welcomed the law) forced a delay. ISPs noted that the law did not require proof of infringement, just an accusation of infringement, before an account is disconnected. Libraries pointed out that, as written, the law would require ISPs to disconnect them from the Internet if a number of rogue library users abused copyright restrictions. The Creative Freedom Foundation called for a nation-wide Internet blackout to protest Section 92A, which they referred to as the "Guilt Upon Accusation" law.

The law is now due to take effect on March 27 if two non-governmental groups—the Telecommunications Carriers Forum and selected copyright holders—agree on a policy. One of the largest ISPs, TelstraClear, has withdrawn from the negotiations protesting the law as unworkable.

UPDATE, March 24, 2009. Yesterday the New Zealand government decided to rewrite this legislation. Commerce Minister Simon Power said, "Allowing section 92A to come into force in its current format would not be appropriate given the level of uncertainty around its operation."