The Government is supportive of adjustments to copyright legislation which will save some offending users from getting their connections terminated.
The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill aims to provide more effective means for copyright owners to take recourse against those who illegally share such material on the internet, and Commerce Minister Simon Power said changes recommended by the commerce select committee were welcomed.
The Bill provides for a three-notice regime to deter illegal file sharing, and extends the jurisdiction of the Copyright Tribunal, enabling it to hear complaints and dish out penalties.
It initially included power for the District Court to suspend an internet account for up to six months in appropriate circumstances.
The committee said while power to suspend should be included in the Copyright Act, it shouldn't be brought into force unless the notice process and the remedies in the Copyright Tribunal were considered ineffective.
"This will enable the Government to work with stakeholders to monitor and review the situation and determine when a further deterrent may be needed," Mr Power said.
Labour's communications and IT spokeswoman Clare Curran said the change was the result of a compromise between Labour and National.
"This compromise means that termination of internet access as an ultimate penalty for repeat copyright infringement remains in the Bill, but cannot be enacted unless the minister makes the decision to do so."
She said the (commerce) minister would have to enact the termination clause by Order in Council, which put onus on the creative industries to prove there was a case to terminate access, for the ISPs to ensure that the system of providing deterrent notices to copyright infringers worked, and on the minister to ultimately make that call.
The Green Party said it was pleased that some compromises were made, but that the termination aspect of the Bill should have been removed altogether.
"Termination for people caught file sharing is disproportionate to the problem it causes and will not stop the pirating of copyrighted material," said the party's ICT spokesman Gareth Hughes.
Among other recommendations supported by the Government was one that the notice regime would not apply to cellular mobile networks until August 2013.
"This position is likely to change in the near future as technology advances and mobile broadband prices go down," Mr Power said.
Internet NZ said the changes were a win for the public, but would also have preferred for the termination legislation to be discarded altogether.
NZPA