David Farrar at Kiwiblog has reviewed the new report saying that there are many improvements, but that he hopes they can make further enhancements, “they have recommended that an allegation from a rights holder will constitute burden of proof which must be rebutted. This is dangerous. Google has given evidence that around 30% of the notices they have received in the US are false or incorrect. I think the Copyright Tribunal should be left to its own devices to decide if an infringement notice from a rights holder meet burden of proof. Different rights holders may establish different levels of reliability. I hope the Government will consider amendments to this”
Creative Freedom Foundation Newsletter, 3rd November 2010
Newsletter inside…
Media Release: New Copyright Bill A Return To Guilt Upon Accusation
The Creative Freedom congratulate the Commerce Select Committee on releasing their report on the draft Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill earlier today
CFF Director Bronwyn Holloway-Smith says “It’s great to see further progress on this Bill, however, we’re disappointed to see that Internet Termination is still making an appearance, and there is an alarming return to the Guilt Upon Accusation.”
Prime Minister John Key described the former Guilt Upon Accusation law as “draconian”.
Select Committee Report on Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Bill Just Released…
After the earlier hearings the Commerce Select Committee have now reported back on the draft Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill [PDF]. We’ll be analyzing this report throughout the day but from an initial reading they have recommended that Internet Termination be temporarily disabled until it’s deemed necessary. This isn’t a solution, and infact it’s a massive problem because there are no government statistics about infringing internet downloading in New Zealand so it would have to be based on lobbying, and Internet Termination could be enabled in cabinet, without a vote in parliament.
TechLiberty aptly say that “Account suspension is still included but suspended until rightsholders complain that notices/fines haven’t eliminated all sharing”
Holloway-Smith to Give Reading at Enjoy Public Art Gallery
CFF Director, Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, will be giving a reading at 12.30pm tomorrow, 3 November 2010 at Enjoy Public Art Gallery, L1/147 Cuba St, Wellington. The reading is from the Casco Issues: Past Imperfect, as part of the current exhibition Charming the Snake of Reason, curated by Marnie Slater.
The piece is a witty investigation of Bill Gates and his hypocrisy in relation to open content, Microsoft, and Gates’ subsequent corporation – Corbis – a large digital rights-holding company.
Announcing Mix and Mash: The Great NZ Remix and Mashup Competition
Calling all remix and mash-up proponents – NZ digital content and data wants YOU!
This November New Zealand will see the biggest push ever to get people using NZ digital content and data, with the launch of Mix and Mash: The Great NZ Remix and Mashup Competition. www.mixandmash.org.nz
Internet a Necessary Lifeline in Christchurch
Our thoughts are with Cantabrians amidst the chaos, devastation, and upheaval of this life-changing disaster, where the Internet (through Twitter) is replacing the radio. Christchurch art historian, curator and writer Cheryl Bernstein writes about her experience of the earthquake(s):
For a couple of days, our legs were rubbery, our knees wobbling. The floor rose to meet us. We weren’t sure at times if the shakes were real or imagined. After some of the real aftershocks, ones in which the house banged and rattled and mortar rained down the roof, my hands were trembling so much it was difficult to hold my mobile phone, which didn’t leave my hand or my pocket for five days straight. When we lost coverage for an hour or so on the first day when the emergency batteries ran down in the cellphone towers, I knew to expect it—and that it would be temporary—through what I’d read on Twitter. Twitter was an immediate source of necessary information, reassurance, companionship. Critically, my phone felt like a lifeline to the outside world, to places where the lawn wasn’t covered in bricks and entire shop-fronts hadn’t fallen into the street and the river hadn’t changed its course and cracks so big a man could stand waist deep in them hadn’t appeared in the roadway. A line to the old real life.
Youth Parliament Release Report On File Sharing
In late June the Creative Freedom Foundation spoke at Youth Parliament on the topic of “Inquiry into whether copyright infringement is hurting New Zealand music; how can artists use new media to get their music sold rather than stolen”. Two government spokespeople from the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage as well as CFF’s Bronwyn Holloway-Smith were questioned in person on the topic.
CFF Speech to Commerce Select Committee on Copyright Infringing File Sharing Bill
Last Thursday CFF Director Bronwyn Holloway-Smith spoke with the Commerce Select Committee about their s92A submission and gave the following speech. After the talk she spoke with bFM about the process.
TechLiberty explains the new Copyright Bill works (flowcharts)
TechLiberty have posted Flowcharts for the new Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Bill: “Chris Esther has created some useful flowcharts that help explain some of the processes included in the new Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Bill. He has very kindly allowed us to repost them here.”
