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.

NBR reports

Prime Minister John Key has announced that the government will throw out the controversial Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment (New Technologies) Act and start again.

Chance of copyright solution 'fluffed' - New Zealand's source for technology news on Stuff.co.nz

Judith Tizard sez:

"It is not going to get us any further forward. While I understand the concern of internet users who think that their rights to free music and free films are threatened, the right is not to steal New Zealand music and film makers' work. The right to use the internet is a vital one, but libraries can provide it."

  The expected implementation of the law is: ISPs will disconnect apon accusation by a small group of rights holders.

Tizard still reckons we're protesting because we're criminals.

The blackout protest had nothing to do with any "right to free music" - it was the right to impartial review, evidence requirements, and, to a lesser extent, privacy.    

1. new copyright act proposed
2. select committe talks to stake holders, removes section 92 (disconnection if accused) from copyright act.
3. final (3rd) reading of copyright act, section 92 has mysteriously reappeared, and is voted into law (only greens and maori party voted no).
4. internet industry concerns lead to delaying section92a until 28th February 2009
5. copyright act comes in effect on 1st November 2008 (including section 92c, which is more draconian than s92a)
6. government change, National government announces no intention to stop section 92a.
7. Monday last week (16feb): #blackout protest starts.
8. Blackout protesters arrive at parliament, presents petition signed by 10,000 including 4,000 artists.
9. Monday 23rd: hundreds of New Zealand website take down their whole website in protest.
10. Monday 23rd: Prime minister announces s92a delayed again until 27th March.

... and now you're up to date.

Submissions on the TCF code are due on the 6th of March. I personally think the TCF code is a red herring, and feels more like an agreement between some large media companies to not inflict lawsuits on some large ISPs if they adhere to the code. It won't necesarily protect you or your ISP when accusations (and threats of lawsuits against your ISP) come from copyright holders who are not in agreement with the TCF code.

Nat Torkington is at post cabinet meeting press conference and reports that section 92a is delayed until 29th March.

If no agreement, will suspend.

That's pretty much all the info you can put in a tweet.

From @gnat:

announced delay in impl until 29th mar. if no agreement, will suspend. #blackout

even if agreement reached, govt to monitor first six months & review #blackout

asked why hiatus rather than abolish? both parties say close to agreement #blackout

why cop instead of good legislation? lot of steps, diff poss, too much for legisln #blackout

do you share objectors views? both sides have merit. not wild west but diff from newsp. give and take on both sides. #blackout

mentioned FTA. answered q: not blacked out face book page. #blackout

pm questioning why it was added after taken out. his view is that voluntary COP indicates they're happy. #blackout

indicated nats had chance to rethink their support of 92. #blackout

sorry, voluntery COP agrred to by both parties would indicate that it's okay law. disagreement ... #blackout

Computerworld were the first to publish
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/86D681292534A2CCCC25756600143FD1

...the government may suspend the controversial S92a if no agreement is reached between the parties on how to implement it.

Scoop: Dylan Horrocks Cartoon: S92A Copyright BlackoutSource: www.scoop.co.nzAn Important Message From The Global Entertainment Industry - This cartoon is not Copyright - By Dylan Horrocks '09

New Zealand Goes All Black Against Three Strikes | Electronic Frontier FoundationSource: www.eff.orgWhether you're following a New Zealander on Twitter, or have friended a Kiwi on Facebook, you will not have missed Net users from that country protesting Section 92A in NZ's new Copyright Act. Thousands are turning their sites and their icons black to mourn the coming enforcement of the provision, w...

My photos: http://flickr.com/photos/taniwha/sets/72157614045293527/
Maurico's Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/freitasm_xtra/sets/72157614096433368/
Jo's Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/mangee/sets/72157614118908120/
Blackout tag on Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/tags/blackout/

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

Computerworld > The Fry effect: 'blackout' protest goes viralSource: computerworld.co.nzBlackout campaign gets boost from NZ retweet

Public Address | Hard NewsSource: publicaddress.netYou may have noticed that something has happened to your friends' avatars on Facebook, Twitter and Public Address System: they've gone black. You're seeing The Blackout, a netroots protest against Section 92(A) of the Copyright Act, which comes into force on February 28.

#blackout is now a top trending term on http://twitter.com

From Stephen Fry:

http://twitter.com/stephenfry/status/1213861623
Thoughtcrime in NZ. Make you weep. I HATE pipline throttling in the name of (c) protection. cf comcast.

From Leo Laporte:

http://twitter.com/LeoLaporte/status/1214144033
Blacked-out avatar coming up. If it can happen in NZ it can happen in the US.

Prominent NZers galore have joined the blackout

So have telcos:

@vodafonenz joined early this morning before it was even cool.

http://twitter.com/vodafoneNZ/status/1213610639
blacked out to support opposition to section 92

@orcon joined, with the following statement:

http://twitter.com/Orcon/status/1214232835
Would like to point out that we do still support the intent of Section 92A

@telecomnz made a statement but didn't blackout their icon:

http://twitter.com/TelecomNZ/status/1214050384
We recognise the importance of protecting individuals' copyright. However we don't believe #s92 in its current form is the best solution

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 ...