This video "discusses the Senate version of the PROTECT IP Act, but the House bill that was introduced TODAY is much much worse.
It'll give the government new powers to block Americans' access websites that corporations don't like. The bill would criminalize posting all sorts of standard web content –– music playing in the background of videos, footage of people dancing, kids playing video games, and posting video of people playing cover songs.
This legislation will stifle free speech and innovation, and even threaten popular web services like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
The bill was just introduced: We need to act now to let our lawmakers know just how terrible it is. Will you fill out the form above to ask your lawmakers to oppose the legislation?"
(Fight for the Future, 2011)
[Another naive effort by government & big media to re–conceptualise their economic models in the face of profound change.]
"When awarding any penalties or damages, the Tribunal must consider whether or not at the time of the file sharing and copyright infringement the material in question was freely available for sale in New Zealand for New Zealanders.
If the material wasn't available for sale in New Zealand at the time the infringement is said to have occurred, the rights holder cannot claim a loss due to losing out on one or more sales.
If the download caused no loss to the rights holder, the Tribunal cannot award penalties against the person accused of infringing."
(Juha Saarinen)
1). public submission by Juha Saarinen to the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development regarding the Aotearoa New Zealand Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act.
"(Apr. 18, 2011) On April 14, 2011, the New Zealand parliament passed the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill. (Press Release, Hon. Simon Power, New Regime for Section 92a Copyright Infringements (Apr. 14, 2011) [Press Release 1]; see also Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill, New Zealand Legislation website (last visited Apr. 14, 2011).)
The bill establishes a new three–notice regime that seeks to deter illegal online file–sharing, replacing the previous approach that was set out by section 92A of the Copyright Act 1994. Section 92A, which was enacted in 2008 but never brought into force, would have required internet service providers (ISPs) to have, and reasonably implement, a policy for terminating the accounts of customers who repeatedly downloaded pirated material. (Press Release, Hon. Simon Power, Government to Amend Section 92A (Mar. 23, 2009); Press Release, Hon. Simon Power, Section 92A Bill Introduced to Parliament Today (Feb. 23, 2010); see also Press Release, Hon. Judith Tizard, Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Comes into Force (Oct. 3, 2008).) ...
This regime will come into force from September 1, 2011, although it will not apply to cellular mobile networks until October 2013. (Press Release 1, supra.)"
(Kelly Buchanan, Global Legal Monitor, USA Law Library of Congress)