Round 2 in copyright fight

Hostilities are expected to resume this week between internet advocates and the music and movie industries after the Government releases details of controversial changes to copyright law.

A working group of copyright experts convened by the Economic Development Ministry is expected to release its recommendations today or tomorrow on how to replace Section 92a of the Copyright Act, which was scrapped in March after a wave of protests.

Section 92a, which never came into force, would have obliged internet providers to terminate the accounts of repeat copyright infringers "in reasonable circumstances".

The main target of the law change was the growing number of tech-savvy internet users who download music and videos, often pirated, through peer-to-peer file-sharing services, such as BitTorrent.

Despite speculation of a division in Cabinet on the issue, the working group is expected to back a reworked Section 92a that would be more specific about how the extra-judicial termination policy should be applied.

The recommendations were due to be released last week, but were delayed as Commerce Minister Simon Power was on leave.

Sources say an independent arbiter will be empowered to rule on disputes. That may be the Copyright Tribunal, which would require new powers and legal protections.

Section 92a was scuppered after the Creative Freedom Foundation co-ordinated a "blackout" campaign that saw protesters, including British actor Stephen Fry, replace their photos on networking sites with blacked-out rectangles.

Foundation director Bronwyn Holloway-Smith is unsure if the same campaign would be repeated, but says the foundation will be vocal in its opposition if the Government persists with a plan to disconnect the internet accounts of copyright infringers. That might involve finding a fresh approach to drawing attention to the issue.

Disconnection would be a "disproportionate" penalty that would affect people sharing internet accounts and would lead to people who relied on internet telephony being cut off from using the phone, Ms Holloway-Smith says.

A survey in Britain concluded most people viewed the internet as an essential utility.

Ms Holloway-Smith agrees with Labour communications spokeswoman Clare Curran that fines would be a better sanction.

InternetNZ spokesman Campbell Gardiner says the society also believes termination should be off the table.

Tony Eaton, director of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (NZFact), which is a branch of the United States' Motion Picture Association, hopes further protests can be avoided.

Mr Eaton says NZFact agreed with the Telecommunications Users Association, an industry body, prior to the scrapping of Section 92a, that infringers would be able to sign up with another internet provider the day after their accounts were terminated. NZFact had not formed a view on whether they should be allowed to sign back up with their original provider.

"It is not like the French law; they can go back the very next day and re-sign."

Disconnection would nevertheless be preferable to fines as it would be an inconvenience, he says.

AROUND THE WORLD

FRANCE

The French Government will next week debate a tough "three strikes" law that would let judges terminate internet accounts or impose stiff fines or jail terms on internet users who repeatedly infringed copyright. Trials would be simplified with one, rather than the usual three judges presiding. The Constitutional Court shot down an earlier proposal that would not have required a judicial process, ruling that internet access was a "human right".

BRITAIN

Britain's Culture Secretary, Ben Bradshaw, ordered a clampdown on illegal file sharing last month, but his proposal for written warnings was berated as toothless by copyright owners. Regulator Ofcom could order internet providers to block users from certain sites or decrease the speed of their connection, but only a year after a written warning and only if the warning regime failed to stem overall piracy by 70 per cent.

SWEDEN

Internet traffic plummeted 40 per cent after Sweden ordered internet providers to hand over the internet addresses of suspected copyright violators in April. The four founders of a peer-to-peer file sharing site Pirate Bay were later arrested and sentenced to jail terms. A backlash saw the establishment of the Pirate Party by internet rights' advocates. It won 7.1 per cent of the vote in Sweden and a seat in the European Parliament at elections last month.

AUSTRALIA

In a widely watched test case, Australian internet provider iiNet has been prosecuted by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, which alleges iiNet ignored requests from its movie company members to discipline customers for breaking copyright laws. The case is due to go to trial at the Federal Court in October and has all Australian internet providers on the hop.