MPs put brake on CD-copy bill

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In a victory for the recording and film industries, a select committee backed changes set out in the Copyright Amendment Bill that would impose stiff penalties on people who helped consumers to break digital rights management tools designed to prevent piracy - for example, by getting around safeguards built into a DVD to prevent it being copied.

"Format-shifting" music between different media, such as CDs and MP3 players, is currently illegal but is common practice.

The bill would make it legal to transfer a single copy of an audio track, if it was for the personal use of the individual who bought it, or for someone in their household, and that this was not banned by the copyright owner.

Helping people crack digital rights technology used to protect copyright would become a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to $150,000 or five years in jail.

But the commerce select committee said the penalties should not apply if the safeguard aimed to restrict the sale of DVDs to certain parts of the world by preventing them from being played elsewhere.

"We consider that the Copyright Act is not intended to protect access-control technologies that are used to price-discriminate or control the geographical distribution of works to the detriment of users in New Zealand," it said.

Despite this small victory, Jordan Carter, deputy director of non-profit society InternetNZ, said he was not happy with the select committee report.

InternetNZ previously described the digital rights rules in particular as a "toxic provision" that could be used to prevent consumers making fair use of works they had bought.

The society is also unhappy that Internet service providers would have to take down material that was posted by customers on websites they hosted and which breached copyright, if asked to do so by a copyright owner.

It argued ISPs that should not be dragged into such disputes.

- © Fairfax NZ News