National Government Plans To Go Ahead With The 'Guilt Upon Accusation' Law Section 92A

By /
This just in from the fine freedom fighters (I use the phrase cautiously but knowingly) of Creative Freedom Foundation:
Hi Mike Riversdale,
In this newsletter there are several stories but none as important as the news that National's Steven Joyce and Chris Finlayson say they plan to go ahead with the Guilt Upon Accusation law Section 92A that results in punishment before a trial and before any evidence has been held up to court scrutiny. This is obviously sad news but it isn't set in stone and since the announcement the UK have completely backed away from their S92A-like law due to "impracticalities and complexities", while in New Zealand many people have urgently written letters to their MPs.

Icky stuff for all of us.

What does it mean - if you are accused (whether you're guilty or not) by anyone/company of breaching their copyright they can have your Internet Service Provider (ISP) immediately cut off your Internet access and/or remove the material (ie, take down your website). 

Here's what the Creative Freedom Foundation suggest you're first action is:
What can you do? You can write a letter to Steven Joyce http://beehive.govt.nz/minister/steven+joyce and Chris Finlayson http://chrisfinlayson.co.nz/index.php?/pages/contact.html TODAY -- this is important so keep it polite and respectful, it's more persuasive that way. Of course this should be in your own words and it doesn't need to be a long letter. You could mention the number of people that you speak for and their interests, whether you condone copyright infringement that takes money away from artists, whether you think Section 92A is appropriate for New Zealand, and perhaps talk of alternatives to S92A such as new business models. This is urgent, have your say TODAY.


If writing is daunting then check out some letters others have shared to give you ideas ....

Comments

  1. HadynFriday, January 30, 2009 3:39:00 pm

    I suppose accusing Joyce and Finlayson and getting their ISPs to cut their service wouldn't be helpful either would it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFriday, January 30, 2009 10:41:00 pm

    Thanks Mike!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Be kind

Popular articles

Make Your Public Event Calendar Usable To All

Image
If you run a sports club, this post is for you. If you are on a community committee, this post is also for you If you host events, this is for you. If you put on shows, this is for you. In fact, if you do anything that has a date/time component that you'd like to share with people, this is for you . Yep, probably for all of us. Sharing calendars can be both: an effective way of letting everyone know a complete and utter technical pain in the bottomly region If you've posted up an events page onto your website you know how difficult it is to keep up to date, how the readers have to keep coming back to get the latest changes and don't even think about integrating with somebody else's "events page". Ok, so we all know the problem. What's the solution? iCalendar (normally shortened to iCal) ... yep, it's a geek word that you will come to know and love just as much as RSS. In fact, think of it as RSS for calendars. But that's enough geekery, if you want

The Difference Between One Million And One Billion

Image
It's feels like a billion is just a bit bigger than a million. Obviously it's bigger but it fits on the same scale as a million, surely. It doesn't. A billion is so so so much bigger than a million. I've trawled the internet finding graphics and videos that show the VAST difference between one million and one billion. Oh, and just to finish with a different misconception about space starting with the classic opening line from the great Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy : “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Zoom In For The Shocking Detail

Image
It's not often one comes across a blue plaque that sums up town life quite so aptly. I'm afraid you'll have to zoom in to get the full measure of the writing.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your day going?

Image
So many people have had me ask them this simple question, " On a scale of 1 to 10, how is your day going? (where 1 is as low as it can get)" Once the person responds, you then simply askm " Is there anything I could do to help move it from a 6 to a 7? " (or . . . "from a 3 to a 4" or "from a 10 to an 11"). Just reach out and ask ... I cannot recommend this highly enough as both for support people / friends / family that are keeping an active eye on someone in their life, but also just as a great way to connect not matter what the situation. So where did it come from - this is a technique that Jane McGonicall  ( @avantgame ) picked up from her friend Michael, a philanthropist and entrepreneur and uses in a Super Better "quest" called Plus-One Better - here are the complete instructions. QUEST: Plus-One Better Pick three people: 1. Someone who would like to hear from you 2. Someone you would like to hear from 3. Some

W. C. Fields quotes

Image
The office has all been moved around - new desks (with starter handles to raise and lower them), new high(er) speed network and ... the same old work. At least I have a differing view of the world, my team (well, the team I'm a part of not "my" team) is a lot closer - finally - and it's like an office from the 80's ... or even a classroom. But I still have time to move the crap off the PC : ------ Any man who hates dogs and loves whiskey can't be all bad. Anyone who hates Dogs and Kids Can't be All Bad. Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch??! Who stole the cork from my breakfast? Now don't say you can't swear off drinking, it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. Then quit, no use being a damn fool about things. Madam, there's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they alwa