RIANZ welcomes Government's Further Commitment To Tackling Online Piracy

24th March 2009


The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) backs the government’s firm commitment to improve new legislation requiring action by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to help protect creators’ rights.  The industry will work with government and other parties to amend the new law to ensure an effective and reasonable approach.


The government announced yesterday that it will amend new section 92a of the Copyright Act to engage ISPs in tackling online piracy.  This follows the failure to achieve a private-sector agreement between rights holders and ISPs on a Code of Practice that would set out the process for implementing section 92a.


Campbell Smith, chief executive of RIANZ, says: “The government acknowledges that New Zealand’s creative industries are suffering because of the impact of online piracy and it recognises that ISPs should play a key role in helping to address the problem. 


“The delay required to implement the government’s decision to amend the law is obviously disappointing but that’s a price worth paying if the result is clear legislation that effectively addresses the problem.


“The recording industry worked hard with its partners in the technology sector to supplement the current version of Section 92a with a fair and transparent code for its implementation.  The government remains committed to tackling unlawful file-sharing and has decided that it should mandate such a process through legislation.  This means we can have a comprehensive approach that covers all players in the telecoms market.” 


Background for Editors:


  • Ø  The Government announced yesterday that it would be not implementing Section 92a of the Copyright Amendment Act as originally written.  Prime Minister John Key told a press conference that “there is a need for legislation in this area” and Minister of Commerce Simon Power stated that “this behaviour is very costly to New Zealand’s creative industries and needs to be addressed”.


  • Ø  Section 92a required ISPs to terminate, in appropriate circumstances, internet accounts that are repeatedly used for infringement, but did not set out the process by which this was to be implemented.  The recording industry and representatives of the telecoms industry therefore discussed implementing a code of practice to complement to the legislation.


  • Ø  Under the code of conduct, rights holders could have provided evidence alerting ISPs to serious infringement taking place through particular subscriber accounts.  ISPs would have then sent education and warning letters to the holders of those accounts, notifying them that they were breaking copyright law.  A system would have been set up for appeals of any errors in the notices.  Only if a subscriber ignored repeated warnings would they have risked losing their internet account.


  • Ø  The government decided to step in after legitimate concerns were raised about how the law would operate in practice as right holders and the telecoms industry had not reached a full voluntary agreement to deal with these issues.  The government has undertaken to commence a review of Section 92a immediately.


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