BAZOMBO: a discursive miscellany of topics

A letter to Steven Joyce about S92A of the Copyright Amendment Act

Wednesday, January 28 2009

Dear Mr Joyce

I am writing to you in the hope that you will take action to prevent s92a of the Copyright Amendment Act from taking effect.

The law in question suffers from the following problems:
– it reverses the normal presumption of innocence
– it imposes no penalty for improper accusations
– it provides no easy remedy for people wrongly accused to have their access to an essential service restored
– it is likely to punish people who have done no wrong (for example, parents of teenagers, managers of organisations with careless employees, victims of viruses, flatmates who share an internet connection, etc).

In other jurisdictions, especially the US, recording industry bodies have been both aggressive and inaccurate in their attempts to pursue file sharers. In Australia they are suing ISPs who ask them to verify their accusations. In the UK, a parallel law has already been ruled out as being unworkable from the get-go.

Our government officials are on record as saying that laws against fraud will be sufficient to deter false accusations. This is clearly not so. The recording industry, unlike the typical citizen, is well-funded and well-advised by lawyers. It will be difficult for the police or for a private citizen to prove criminal intent for an incorrect takedown notice.

This law is ill-conceived, attacks the rights of ordinary citizens, and poses a real threat to the livelihood of anyone who depends on a working internet connection.

I look forward to hearing that this legislation from the previous government will be reviewed by the current one in the common sense manner prized by the National party.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Judd

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Tags: layer 8: politics

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