Controvesy Over New Zealand’s ‘Three Strikes’ Copyright Law

ZD Net reports on the new bill that has citizens in an uproar:

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Bill gives media companies the right to accuse people of infringing copyright, with offenders to be fined up to NZ$15,000 (US$11,904) by a new Copyright Tribunal.

The “three strikes” bill replaces the abandoned Section 92a of the Copyright Act, devised by the former Labour government.

Campaigns, including an Internet blackout protest from people angry that the early legislation would have allowed Internet users to be cut-off, led the current government to work out a compromise.

A new bill, which began its parliamentary process last February, allows copyright owners to send evidence of alleged infringements to Internet service providers (ISPs), who will then send up to three infringement notices to the account holder.