It’s 2009 all over again, and all over the internet profile pictures have been replaced with solid black, in protest of the The New Zealand Government’s sneakily passed law changes to the Copyright Act. When the amendment comes into effect on September 1 2011, we can all be found guilty until we can prove otherwise!
The New Zealand Herald reports:
The legislation seeks to tackle illegal file sharing, including unauthorised movie and music downloads, with illegal file sharers receiving warnings for their first two infringements. A third infringement will see the owner of the copyrighted material able to seek a court order to suspend the offender’s internet account.
Any notice from a copyright owner to the tribunal will be ‘presumed’ to be correct. The copyright holder will not have to prove they are correct, unless the accused gives evidence or reasons showing otherwise.
The tribunal will also be able to award penalties of up to $15,000 based on damages sustained by the copyright owner.
The threat to the freedom of the New Zealand people has not gone unnoticed, and now Anonymous has picked up the cause!
While I perhaps don’t agree with Anonymous’s methods + actions, I do agree that guilty until proven innocent is not cool. I’m so disappointed in the NZ government right now