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News 10:10am 4th February 2010
According to people on Twitter
(who are never wrong) the Judge has ruled that iiNet were not guilty in the landmark case about Guilt Upon Accusation in Australia. In 2008 AFACT, a cousin of NZFACT, accused iiNet of allowing infringement, saying they “had ignored requests from the companies to discipline its customers for breaking copyright laws" iiNet said that they "cannot disconnect a customer's phone line based on an allegation. The alleged offence needs to be pursued by the police and proven in the courts" The Judge has been quoted saying that "I find that iiNet simply can't be seen as approving infringement" and "the mere provision of access to internet is not the means to infringement". AFACT has been ordered to pay iiNets court costs. The EFA say that this decision protects internet users whereas others simply say that Film industry's case was torn to shreds . →12:34pm 31st January 2010
Michael Geist reports : "The summary statement from the Mexico ACTA talks has been posted online. As predicted, it is a bland statement confirming discussions on civil enforcement, border measures, and Internet issues. It also includes the usual discussion around transparency and the desire to conclude ACTA in 2010." The CFF have been told that New Zealand has called for more transparency, joining the UK Government, the EU Parliament, Australia, and Canada. However, while there's a lot of talk about transparency, we have yet to see any serious moves to inform the public.8:53pm 25th January 2010
Today the CFF is joining hundreds of other organisations around the world taking another look at ACTA - the treaty that seeks to change international copyright. Negotiations begin again today in Mexico , with the next meeting, in April, being hosted by New Zealand. Most international copyright treaties have some level of transparency - you can see discussion documents, draft texts, meeting notes, and information on delegates. This is done to help inform the public so that they can participate in the process of democracy. With ACTA however the text is unusually secretive. Infact if you compare ACTA to any other IP treaty such as those in the WTO, WIPO, WHO, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, UNCTAD, or OECD then you'll find that ACTA is uniquely closed to the public it will affect. Although the public don't have access Hollywood lobbyists do and so they can participate more effectively and with more authority. Some policy analysts who have seen the text say "If Hollywood could order intellectual property laws for Christmas, what would they look like? [ACTA] is pretty close." Will this treaty see the return of Guilt Upon Accusation as the local branch of Hollywood want? →2:43pm 11th January 2010
InternetNZ's press release reads, "InternetNZ Policy Director Jordan Carter says the proposed approach set out in the Government’s discussion paper deals with many of the concerns that InternetNZ and others had with the previous Section 92a of the Copyright Act. InternetNZ’s submission highlights some issues of detail and offers a set of suggestions for improvements that are consistent with the overall approach set out in recommendations agreed by Cabinet. Key issues in InternetNZ’s submission include timings of notices and counter-notices, the distribution and recovery of costs to ISPs, sanctions for rights holders and ISP safe harbour.". The submission can be read here (PDF)6:22am 7th January 2010
Joining NZ politicians, and the NZ coalition focusing on ACTA, the UK Government now calls for greater transparency in the treaty negotiations. Michael Geist reports : "The UK Government discusses the lack of transparency in an EU access to information request: "More broadly with respect to ACTA the UK considers that transparency is crucial to ensure the legitimacy of the agreement and to stop the spread of rumours. We believe the lack of transparency is unhelpful and do not believe that it is in the public interest." The NZ Government, courtesy of MED, recently held an ACTA briefing where they stated that NZ is part of a group of countries involved in the ACTA negotiations who are calling for greater transparency around the process. The powerpoint presentation given at this briefing can be read here . NZ will host a round of ACTA negotiations in April this year .8:20am 21st December 2009
InternetBlackout.com.au launched recently say that the Australian Federal Government is "pushing forward with a plan to force Internet Service Providers to censor the Internet for all Australians. This plan will waste millions of dollars and won’t make anyone safer. It won’t protect children: The filter isn’t a “cyber safety” measure to stop kids seeing inappropriate content such as R and X rated websites. [...] Under this policy, ISPs will be forced to charge more for consumer and business broadband. [...] We stand to join a small club of countries which impose centralised Internet censorship such as China, Iran and Saudi Arabia"5:20pm 19th December 2009
In this issue: CFF: 1 Year Old!; Just in Time for Xmas: New s92A Proposal; Kiwiright.com Documentary Recounts s92A Battle; NZ Hosts International ACTA Meeting in April 2010; Politicians Call for Transparency; →
