By Dylan Moran
The Copyright Amendment Bill has been passed under urgency today, and it's already provoked a barrage of online discussion.
The bill was brought in for debate under urgency last night and was voted on this morning, passing 111 – 11. The Green Party and independent MPs Hone Harawira and Chris Carter voted against the bill – though Mr Harawira has entrusted his vote to the Green Party and did not want to give his opinion when we called him today.
Public reaction to the bill has been largely critical, with many New Zealanders upset with the way it was brought up for debate – while Parliament was under urgency to pass Christchurch earthquake legislation – and the bill itself.
Public Address blogger Russell Brown is claiming a victory of sorts, but is upset with the way it was brought about.
“It is an extremely substantial improvement on 92a, the fact there is now a copyright tribunal to see and adjudicate is a huge improvement. At least there is the ability to explain to the tribunal why the complaint is wrong. I still think terminating someone's internet account is an inappropriate penalty, as in order to be a citizen these days, you need internet. But at least the path to termination is far less straightforward and simple than it was,” he said to 3 News this morning.
“What I'm offended by is the way this was rushed through under urgency for a completely different bill. I think the means in which this has been done is odious.”
He is also concerned with the way New Zealand is heading and the message the bill sends to the US entertainment industry.
“There is a powerful and vocal lobby on behalf of copyright owners that doesn't particularly care on the civil rights of New Zealanders,” he says.
Green Party MP Gareth Hughes agrees that while the bill has improved, the inclusion of termination is a worry.
“We've got mixed views because the bill is a significant improvement, we just couldn't support a bill which supported termination,” he says.
“The next step is that we will work with any future government to repeal the termination clause.”
And he’s calling on Labour to make their stance public.
“Labour needs to come out and say whether or not if they're in government they'll take out that clause.
“I don’t think it’ll be quite on the level of interest-free student loans, but they could get a lot of support.”
But the movie industry says the 'three strikes and you’re out ' policy is the most effective way to run such a legislation.
“I think it is fair, I think there is a perception that we're talking about international movies, really what we're talking about is our own industry, and our own copyright,” says Robert Crockett, president of the NZ Motion Picture Distributors Association.
However, Mr Brown says the initial bill was supported by companies, but not the individuals the Government claimed it was protecting.
“I think that a lot of the musicians I know were appalled by 92a, I haven’t spoken to them about this, but I know they were against the original bill,” he says.
But Mr Brown and Mr Crockett agree that such a bill is necessary to protect the New Zealand creative industry, though they disagree on the final penalty.
“I think piracy is a big problem in New Zealand, and it's a big problem around the world. Piracy is a bypass of the creative process and it's virtually impossible to fight against it. Its impact is stronger than most consumers realise,” says Mr Crockett.
“People still download things that they could have bought on iTunes,” says Mr Brown.
“I actually think that downloading has forced even local broadcasters to change the way they do things, consumer priority does drive innovation, but if you're gonna have copy protection you do need ways for people to assert their copyright.
“There needs to be some form of remedy but it needs to be reasonable. We can’t go the way of the US where damages claimed were more than the entire music industry had earned from selling recorded music.”
But don’t expect a revolution in the New Zealand industry, with DVDs available immediately after their cinema release, says Mr Crockett.
“I think the process of subsequent formats and subsequent windows is a business model that will exist for a long period, and I think the even flow of those windows will be independent on negotiations.”
MP Clare Curran’s claims on Labour's Red Alert blog, that no New Zealander will have their access terminated under an arrangement made with the National Party, has been criticised by Mr Hughes.
“I think it's a bit of playing politics, no-one has seen the agreement, it was made [outside] of select committee, and National has said yes, they will bring in termination.
“I think in the tech community and the web geeks they're a bit disillusioned with Labour as they've reached a closed-door negotiation, we'll never know if this would have been taken out,” he says.
Mr Harawira and Mr Carter were unavailable for contact today, and Maori, National and Labour MPs 3 News contacted did not return calls.
But, while the industry can probe internet usage, journalists cannot probe MPs for the same as home internet connection for MPs is classed as a Parliamentary Services perk, so is exempt from Official Information Act requests.
3 News