accusation

it's been a very quiet year, with very little travel and yet many new experiences.

We started the year living in that awful awful flat in Reuben ave. The floor was not level. The bedroom wall wasn't attached to the floor. It was freezing cold in december. It smelled really really bad and got no sunlight. Oh, and wetas liked to crawl into our bedroom and into the bed.

the only redeeming feature was the spare room, which became a music room and I got back into playing cello regularly. Cello, unlike flute, needs alot of space and i'm unlikely to do a quick practise if i have to set everything up everytime.

but there was a rather good pub round the back of the flat.

as pointed out by Creative Freedom, NZFACT^[1] have finally admitted Section92a^[2] of the copyright act means "guilt by accusation"

NZFACT were quoted on stuff.co.nz:

[NZFACT] envisaged ISPs would act on infringement notices generated automatically by copyright holders, who would identify infringers by tracking traffic on file-sharing sites."

So, someone automatically generates an accusation, and ISPs were expected act on them. That's accusation, swiftly followed by punishment explained.

Why would ISPs do that? becuase the original S92a made the ISP themselves liable if they didn't disconnect the accused, thanks to some vagues wording of "reasonable circumstances" (the whole section 92 is entitled "ISP Liabilty").

[1] NZ front of USA based lobbyists for extreme copyright laws.
[2] The Guilt by Accusation Internet Termination clause in New Zealand copyright law that was thankfully stopped by the blackout protestors and our new National government.

French pass "3 accusations and then no internet for you", but you'll keep paying for the internet access anyways.

France Passes “Three Strikes” Anti-Piracy Law | TorrentFreak

In an attempt to reduce piracy, the French have passed a new law requiring Internet service providers to cut off Internet access for repeat copyright infringers. Under the new ‘HADOPI’ legislation ISPs have to warn their customers twice that they are accused of infringing copyright. If both warnings are ignored, Internet access for that subscriber will be terminated for up to a year - and they’ll have to keep paying their ISP bill throughout this period too.

While Torrentfreak are concerned about the affect on piratebay, the larger concern is the affect on those who are *not* infringing copyright, but get accused anyways, due to either mistakes, or perhaps malicious intent.

The law goes much further than disconnecting alleged file-sharers though. In addition it is now possible to take “any action” in order to put a halt to copyright infringement. For example, websites can be blocked without having to provide hard evidence that they are engaging in illegal activities. The Pirate Bay has already been mentioned as one of the sites that could be easily taken out under the new law.

Wednesday, 11 March 2009, 2:56 pm
Press Release: LinuxChix NZ

New Zealand Linux Industry and Community reject guilt on accusation copyright laws Press release by LinuxChix NZ, Waikato Linux Users' Group and Wellington Linux Users' Group 11-March-2009

A new threat has emerged against Linux and other Open Source Software: New Zealand's new, ill-conceived copyright laws that pave the way for users to be disconnected on accusation of copyright infringement.

Copyright threats against Linux are nothing new. In 2003 The SCO Group, a commercial entity from the USA, falsely claimed copyright on parts of the Linux operating system. It took a long time, over four years for these claims to be declared as false by the courts and thrown out. Even though SCO Group's copyright claims were found baseless, the drawn-out legal process was prohibitively expensive and held the potential to severely damage the future of Linux.

Many New Zealand businesses and community groups fear the threat of false copyright accusations against Linux could result in internet disconnection and website takedowns without due process. There is no requirement under the new law to prove the accusations, nor are there any sanctions against those who make false ones.

Already, the country's third largest ISP, TelstraClear, has stated it will take down sites accused of hosting copyright infringing material without investigation or verification of the claims.

From computerworld.co.nz

A local website has removed recordings of the Conan novels under the threat of legal action from the US, despite the material being in the public domain in New Zealand.

New Zealand-based audio enthusiast website BrokenSea Audio ran into trouble with the copyright holders of Robert E. Howard characters and stories, primarily the stories about Conan the Barbarian, created by the Texan writer in the 1930s.

The material in question is in the public domain, the threat of "one accusation and you're taken down" has caused a host removecontent voluntarily, even though the content is in public domain and they have every right to distribute it.

BrokenSea decided to comply with the demands. All Conan audio dramas and audio books produced by its volunteers have been removed from the website, and a major project — a production of Howard's only full length Conan novel, Hour Of The Dragon, which Mannering had adapted into a full cast audio drama script — has been cancelled.

Under New Zealand copyright law, if a website is accused of copyright infringement, the webhost must take down the content. If the webhost does not, they could be liable for any copyright infringement, even though it isn't their actions that cause the content to be there.

This is in section 92C of our copyright (new technologies) amendment act.

i'm going to put the final fullstop on my submission this weekend.

here's the portions i'm working on.

Education

The ongoing theme/goal of this debacle is "education" of Copyright Infringers. Many professional educators will tell you that you can't teach by saying "Don't do that" and expect someone to just stop.

For example, you can try telling a child to "Stop running" but you'll have much greater success if you tell the the child to "Walk, don't run." Instead of saying: "Stop eating with your hands", you ought to say "Use your knife and fork".

The same holds for "eduction notices". Don't say "Stop downloading Regina Spektor", but instead say "Go buy Regina Spektor's music on CDbaby.com, emusic.com, audiogalaxy.com, or Apple iTunes".

Once you have positive actions included, then the notice actually becomes a "education notice".

False accusations

It has been suggested that those that make false accusations of copyright infringement (repeatedly) should get their internet cut off -- i propose a compromise -- if a issuer of infringement accusations is shown to be making false accusations repeatedly they must lose their right to make further accusations.

This is inline with the intent of the copyright act, because it would be completely unreasonable to cut off someone based on the accusations of someone who has been proven to not be careful in their accusations.

Copyright Adjudicator

The Creative Freedom Foundation has teamed up with Mike Corb and Luke Rowell / Disasteradio to produce the Guilt Upon Accusation anthem: The Copywrong Song.

The song is part of a week of action, launched by the Foundation, against Guilt Upon Accusation laws in NZ. The campaign, taking place from 16-23 February, is a reaction to Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment Act due to come into effect in NZ on February 28, and has already seen thousands of people, organisations, and major companies "blackout" their websites, blogs, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and Bebo accounts to show their opposition to the law.

Lyrics: Matt Hunt, Mike Corb, Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, Luke Rowell/Disasteradio
Music: Mike Corb
Produced by: Luke Rowell/Disasteradio
Vocals, guitar, guitar synth: Mike Corb
Synths and programming: Luke Rowell/Disasteradio

DOWNLOAD THE MP3
Info on the Remix Challenge

it.gen.nz » Blackout: Say no to Guilt upon AccusationSource: it.gen.nzYou may have noticed sites turning black today. Black is what the New Zealand Internet could become if we don’t act now. Parliament has sold New Zealand Internet users down the river, and only Parliament ...

Dunne: Repeal ‘guilt by accusation’ internet piracy law | United FutureSource: www.unitedfuture.org.nz“All of us who brought in this Act last year believed we were protecting artists from piracy and illegal downloads. However, it is now clear that we have a situation where internet users are vulnerable to the mere accusation of piracy, and that is simply neither fair nor just,” Mr Dunne said.

“In...    United Future declares that section 92a needs to be repealed and suggests a three to six month timespan to fix this draconian law    

APRA and RIANZ Seek Power To Judge Copyright InfringementSource: holloway.co.nzTypically a wrongly accused person would respond with what’s called a Counter Notice saying that they reject the accusation and an ISP would judge that, but with the RSCN Procedure the accuser is empowered to decide whether the accused’s Counter Notice is valid, not the ISP.     Instead of your ISP judging your guilt, how about the person who accussed you gets to judge it?

The TCF invite your feedback. http://tinyurl.com/tcf-draft-homepage    

i don't think APRA actually realise they're shitting all over the NZ internet industry and users rights to preserve their traditional revenue.

Spending a moment trying on their shoes - it would look initially like a glorious new world under new legislation. Wearing their shoes, i can see how *angry* the "theft" of their member's work via blatant sharing without permission feels.

They can take down these "thieves" using this law. But are they really so selfish they can't see all the casualties caught in the cross fire?

How can we explain it to them?

This new copyright law threatens the livelihood of those that work on the internet.

This law tramples on New Zealander's rights (artists included).

This law discriminates against those doing business on the interent - if you're accused of copyright in print or broadcast then you need proof, right to a trial, and you don't get summarily punished immediately. They don't remove a TV stations ability to broadcast, or a Magazine's right to publish immediately apon infringment accusation. The new copyright law will remove an internet business abiltiy to do any business immediately apon accusation.

This law discriminates against New Zealanders - we're left with the extra costs passed on by ISPs who become an unpaid copyright police force - we're also left with the threat of summary disconnection, website takedowns, and for some businesses the expense of a secondary connection just in case someone makes an accusation.

New Zealand Gov't Refuses To Remove 'Guilt Upon Accusation' Clause In Copyright Act | TechdirtSource: www.techdirt.com

Stuff.co.nz - Poll ResultsSource: www.stuff.co.nz    STUFF POLL: Are you concerned by new 'guilt by accusation' internet copyright laws?

No, responsible users won't be affected (242 votes, 8.4%)
Yes, it assumes guilt rather than innocence (2216 votes, 77.3%)
Let's wait to see how it works in practice (407 votes, 14.2%)