Tag Archive for 'government'

RE: Guilt Upon Accusation law Section 92A – Hon Nick Smith

Published on February 14, 2009 in General and Other. 0 Comments Tags: File sharing, government, guilty upon accusation, Hon. Nick Smith, law, letter, New Zealand, reply, section 92a.

I also sent my letter to MP Hon. Nick Smith as I know he is a man of the public and I respect his commitment to serve the people of New Zealand. He has kindly taken the time to investigate and respond with his understanding and view. Below is the letter he email to me on the 13th February 2009.

Dear James

Thank you for your email with regard to your concerns over section 92A of the Copyright Act 1994.

The amendment was passed through the House by the previous Government. The new National-led government understands that many people are concerned about the effect of the legislation and we will monitor the implementation of section 92A closely.

Section 92A will allow for termination of accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. A purpose of this provision is to provide an effective means for dealing with behaviour which clearly infringes copyright recognising that this behaviour can be costly for New Zealand’s creative industries. This is especially important given recent technological developments which now make it easier for online copyright infringement to occur. This amendment is not intended to deprive law-abiding businesses or private users of access to the internet.

Some media reports have interpreted this legislation to assume guilt upon accusation of copyright infringement. There are concerns that this could lead to the termination of an alleged infringer’s internet account without evidence or opportunity for a user to provide a defence. In order to clarify the operation of Section 92A, a code of practise is being developed by internet service providers in consultation with the public and copyright holders.

In brief, the code will likely outline that in accordance with section 92A; a user will receive fair warning regarding an alleged infringement. The user will then have the opportunity to refute any or all of the alleged infringements. As a backstop, section 92A only allows for account termination in appropriate circumstances. It is unlikely that termination will be appropriate where an alleged infringement has been disputed.

It is important that the Copyright Act achieves an appropriate balance between the interests of copyright creators, owners and users. Section 92A has been drafted with this goal in mind.

Thank you for taking the time to raise this issue with me.

Yours sincerely

Nick Smith
MP NELSON

Personally I think the law is to broad. When it is open to such different interpretation by different parties then perhaps you need to reconsider its purpose. I have not investigated, but would have thought that there were already laws in place to deal with copyright infringement.

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Guilt Upon Accusation law Section 92A – My letter

Published on January 30, 2009 in General. 0 Comments Tags: File sharing, government, guilty upon accusation, law, letter, New Zealand, section 92a.

I’m out of the country on business but I just received an update that the people to send the letters to are
Hon Steven Joyce – s.joyce@ministers.govt.nz
Christopher Finlayson MP – c.finlayson@ministers.govt.nz

Below is my letter.

Dear Hon Steven Joyce,

I’m writing in regard to Guilt Upon Accusation law Section 92A.

I’m an artist and I fully oppose the suggested law.

Please remember that we should all treat each other how we would like to be treated. The last thing myself or anyone else, and I’m sure yourself included likes, is to be accused of something, weather it is true or false.

Every person in New Zealand is currently entitled to a fair trial. This law removes this right. If it starts here, then where does it end?

This law is putting service providers in an uncomfortable situation. They need customers to survive. If they gain a reputation for banning customers unfairly then they are going to lose business. It was not their fault that the customer was banned, they will have been ordered upon accusation.

Please realise that it is not easy to know if a user is transferring data illegally. Many of the software systems used are designed to transfer data, not specifically to do illegal activity. I use the same software systems that are common to transfer illegal data to transfer my legal data. It does not make me a thief but this law makes it possible for me to be accused and punished with out any proof.

Please reconsider your actions. Please consider the actions of other countries that are realising this is an unjust ask of an industry that is reluctant to change with the times.

You see most industries move with technology or die. The industry people who are pro this law have done little to move with the fast changes of our time.

Please reconsider.

Thank you,
James Turner

James
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Stop NZ “Guilty Upon Accusation” law from being passed

Published on January 6, 2009 in General. 0 Comments Tags: File sharing, government, guilty upon accusation, law, New Zealand, section 92a.

Digg this story http://digg.com/tech_news/Campaign_to_Stop_File_Sharers_Being_Guilty_Upon_Accusation

Read about it here http://torrentfreak.com/campaign-to-stop-file-sharers-being-guilty-upon-accusation-090105/

Specifics here and sign the partition http://creativefreedom.org.nz/s92.html

Join the FaceBook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40731948387

As you know I have sent letters to the government before, and this time its about my fundamental right of ‘innocent until proven guilty’.

I will publicize my official letter to all members of parliament as soon as I have finalized it.

Until then I would like to share the copy and paste version from the Creative Freedom website.

Hi,
I’ve just become aware about some major proposed changes in NZ law that will have a huge impact on artists, businesses, and general members of the public: basically anyone that uses the internet, and I thought you should know about them.
The proposed Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act assumes Guilt Upon Accusation and forces the termination of internet connections and websites without evidence, without a fair trial, and without punishment for any false accusations of copyright infringement. We should speak out against injustices like Guilt Upon Accusation being done in the name of artists and protecting creativity.
The countdown is on: we have until 28 February 2009 to influence government.
An organisation called the Creative Freedom Foundation has been set up to specifically represent artists voices on these issues. Check out their website: http://www.creativefreedom.org.nz , sign up and help our MPs make an informed decision about S92!
Thanks,

Make your voice heard! Don’t let them do this!

Thanks,
James
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RE: Earth Day – My Call

Published on September 1, 2008 in General. 0 Comments Tags: eco, environment, government, letter.

On the 11th of August 2008 I received a reply to my Earth Day Call. Below I have typed out the letter and you can also see the attached pdf document if you would like.

Dear James Turner

Thank you for your email to my office, dated 22 April 2008, regarding energy efficiency and renewable energy. I admire your resolve to make New Zealand a more sustainable place.

The government is committed to ensuring the country has a reliable supply of low-emission energy. In fact, the recently released New Zealand Energy Strategy sets the target for New Zealand to use 90 percent renewable electricity by 2025. The New Zealand Energy Strategy can be downloaded from www.med.govt.nz.

As you also mention in your letter, solar water heating has the potential to significantly contribute to household energy savings. The government currently offers grants of up to $1000 to install solar water heating and other energy efficient water heating systems in both new and existing homes. To find our more about the governments solar water heating grants please visit www.energywise.govt.nz/solar.

Additionally, the government is committed to improving the energy efficiency of New Zealand homes, enabling the introduction of alternative vehicle technologies such as electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids and continuing the uptake of renewable sources of energy generation, including wind, hydro, bio energy and geothermal. To find out more about these initiatives and about the range of grants and other forms of support that the government offers please visit www.eeca.govt.nz.

I am proud of the steps that New Zealand has taken so far and of our well deserved reputation as a world leader when it comes to addressing both sustainability and climate change.

Yours sincerely

Hon David Parker
Minister of Energy

PDF Version

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Earth Day – My Call

Published on April 22, 2008 in General and Other. 0 Comments Tags: Earth Day, email, energy, environment, government.

Today is Earth Day (EDN) and I love our home planet earth and know we have the ability to be more respectful to our home. We just need to work together more. Earth Day is about taking action to make a difference.

Here is my email to the New Zealand Government.

Dear Government,

Thank you for your time on the phone this morning and passing on my ideas.

The reason I picked up the phone and made the call was today is Earth Day http://ww2.earthday.net/ and they suggested I call my local government and make a difference.

There are many things we can do as a nation and I feel New Zealand is in a unique position in the world to be a leader in the area of energy and other environmental projects.

An ambitious but highly achievable goal for New Zealand is to become 100% renewable in its energy. We are so close, up to 70% already is. Lots of countries want to achieve 30% renewable energy in comparison.

This doesn’t just have to come from installing more forms of power generation. New Zealanders need to become more energy aware and responsible. We also need more help from the government.

Solar water heaters. New Zealand could save a huge amount of energy by taking more advantage of this. The government should look at helping to make them more “affordable” in some manner.

You say the power companies and others are going to cry about lost business, well maybe they need to rethink their business models in this changing “environment”. Maybe they need to start providing more or different services. If they want to play ignorant like the music industry then they will be left behind while the people move. Or they can be proactive and start providing new technologies like solar water heaters, be the leaders, innovate and stay ahead in these times of required change.

The people are moving, we are thinking, talking and acting. Take Kev the electric car guy, www.kiwiev.com as an example. He is making a difference, and more people are doing the same everyday. The people are leading and sharing the information required to make the difference on their own.

Listen up government, New Zealanders need your support to change the way we think and act about energy as many big business don’t want to know about it.

There is no shortage of New Zealanders who are more than capable of making this happen. Nurture them!

Everyday there are new advancements in the technology required to make a huge difference. I watch it and read about it on the internet everyday. Mainstream media no longer provides information that I am interested in. I have discovered a whole new world of proactive new thinkers who are making a difference.

This is an opportunity for the New Zealand government to expand and be seen, not only for its anti nuclear stance but its goal to become the leader in renewable and efficient use of energy!

I have tried to keep this short while still pushing some simple yet I hope powerful ideas. I have also forwarded this email to Earth Day Network and Meridian Energy as I feel that they are listening and will also appreciate the ideas in this email.

Thank you for your time.
I hope it has provided more food for thought.

James Turner
New Zealander

My 10 cents!
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