The New Zealand Internet Blackout was an online protest organised by the Creative Freedom Foundation NZ (CFFNZ) against changes to copyright law in New Zealand. It constituted two separate blackouts: one in 2009 to protest Section 92A of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008; and another in 2011 to protest the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011, although the CFFNZ did not take part in this one.
The protest originated at the 2009 Kiwi Foo Camp in Warkworth [1] and ran from 16 to 23 February. Internet users changed their avatars to black squares, to symbolise what opponents of Section 92A regard as guilt by accusation. In particular, they point to the clause in Section 92A which states "Internet service providers must have policy for terminating accounts of repeat infringers". Additionally, protesters were encouraged to sign a petition and/or write to their MP.
Notable supporters of the blackout campaign included Russell Brown, [2] Nathan Torkington, [1] Stephen Fry, [3] [4] [5] Neil Gaiman, [6] Cory Doctorow, [7] [8] Leo Laporte, [9] [10] and technology journalist Juha Saarinen [11] who asked Fry if he would help out with the protest.
On 19 February 2009 about 200 people, including internet service provider (ISP) representatives, artists, musicians, writers, and bloggers – most of them holding up plain black placards, and some with taped mouths – protested and presented a petition outside Parliament at lunchtime. Bronwyn Holloway-Smith of the Creative Freedom Foundation led the protesters. Wellington-based MP Peter Dunne addressed the protesters, announcing that on the previous day he had separate meetings with Commerce Minister Simon Power and Prime Minister John Key over the issue.
On 23 February, Prime Minister John Key announced that Section 92A would be delayed until 27 March. [12] Subsequently, on Monday, 23 March, it was announced that Section 92A would be removed and redrafted. [13]
The online petition maintained by the CFFNZ had over 17,000 signatures.[ citation needed ]
Anti-piracy legislation was re-introduced in April 2011 by the New Zealand Government under the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011. Although somewhat watered down from the original Section 92A legislation, it still contained forcible disconnection provisions, and was passed under urgency by all parties with the exception of the Greens and two dissident MPs, Chris Carter and Hone Harawira. This use of urgency was highly controversial, with many in the Internet community accusing the Government of invoking urgency to push through highly contentious laws. Additionally, many opponents of the new law called for a return of the 2009 blackout, who also ridiculed the televised performances of several MPs who defended the law. [14] [15] [16] The CFFNZ did not take part in this second blackout.
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of its licences for his books. Some common themes of his work include digital rights management, file sharing, and post-scarcity economics.
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RiP!: A Remix Manifesto is a 2008 open-source documentary film about "the changing concept of copyright" directed by Brett Gaylor.
The Copyright Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament passed in New Zealand that, along with its various amendments, governs copyright in New Zealand. It is administered by Intellectual Property Policy Unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
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The Copyright Amendment Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand which amends the Copyright Act 1994.
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The E-G8 Forum was an invitation-only summit of leaders in government and industry focusing on the Internet in the context of global public policy. The event was put on by Publicis Groupe and was convened by French President Nicolas Sarkozy from May 24-25th 2011, prior to the 37th G8 summit, and was held at the Tuileries Garden in Paris.
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Introduced on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), provisions included the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with infringing websites, and search engines from linking to the websites, and court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the websites. The proposed law would have expanded existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
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Bronwyn Holloway-Smith is a New Zealand artist and author from Wellington. She holds a PhD in Fine Arts from Massey University, and is co-director of Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand.
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