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New Zealand Passes Internet Copyright Bill

New Zealand's Parliament voted on Thursday to pass The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill. The law, which passed by a 111-to-11 margin, will go into effect on September 1 and will allow the government to monitor the file-sharing activity of more than three million Internet users.

The law repeals Section 92A of the current Copyright Act and replaces it with a new three-notice system for alleged copyright infringement.

Internet users caught downloading movie and music downloads without authorization will be given warnings on their first two acts. On the third act, users can be penalize by up to NZ$15,000 (about US$10,539) and/or a six-month Internet suspension at the request of copyright holders.

Commerce Minister Simon Power introduced the bill in February of 2010. According to The New Zealand Herald Newspaper, Power said, "Online copyright infringement has been damaging for the creative industry, which has experienced significant declines in revenue as file sharing has become more prevalent. This legislation will discourage illegal file sharing and provide more effective measures to help our creative industries enforce their copyright."

Internet users responded in opposition to the newly passed bill by donning blacked-out avatars and making the #blackout hashtag a global trend on the Twitter service, in reference to the 2009 "blackout" Internet protest against earlier legislation on file-sharing. Additionally, over 10,000 users expressed their support for the "Opposing The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill" group on the Facebook social networking site.

Thanks to JK for the news tip.

Source: New Zealand Herald