"Throughout the final stages of the law's (near) implementation, the Embassy continued to met with IPR stakeholders and GNZ officials to ascertain progress and encourage resolution".

Apparently the government met with the Americans but certainly didn't hold…

Thanks, Leon.

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5769/125/

Link or citation please

I beg your pardon? That's like saying that the minister of defence is not elected. Of course our AG is elected, just like…

Given that on almost any given Friday this channel is pitched as a hub for the dissemination of copyrighted info and in light of Russell finding comparative positives in this legislation whilst…

File sharing is not illegal per se. It's only illegal when the creator of the work asserts copyright and the person sharing the file doesn't have the right to do so.

This isn't a great law — and the circumstances of its passing are odious — but it's considerably better than it might have been.

I've pondered this for a while and I'm not quite clear, Russell are you for or against the right to share files?

Sounds like Jones is starting to step up, and ask some intelligent questions in the House. Auckland…

Really? I think most people thought the Bill was being left to sleep for a while. I certainly did. And short-circuiting parts of the process removes some of those months.

Labour's been very crap at communicating, and we're all agreed on…

Parliamentary debates are hardly the best place for that. They had months to do so through other channels. Just try asking most voters what the opposition would have done differently. Then consider if that might have something to do with their…

Transport Blog discusses Joyce's latest fact-free tarmac-licking government policy statement (or "GPS") which proposes spending even more public money on motorways like the essential Cambridge to Taupo route. Comments have useful links including RNZ interview and the GPS doc itself.…

See what I wrote about how Urgency changes the equation. Under ordinary circumstances, yes, totally agree. But this Bill did not pass under ordinary circumstances. Labour actually did speak quite effectively in the House about why termination…

Yes, and that thought did cross my mind as I was typing.

I'm pretty damned sure they're concerned about what opinion polls say, and therefore Labour's message should not be pitched at…

Their way IS the highway, according to RadioNZ this morning.

Not convinced that that's completely off the agenda, though. It was also 18 months ago, and the "Our way or the highway" attitude has become a lot more obvious in the intervening period.

Mining national parks?

An Opposition is meant to try and limit the government-of-the-day's power, and that's what…

Good point. How could Labour possibly have avoided being forced into that position?

Both parts of that statement are assertions without a shred of evidence to back them. Perhaps they achieved nothing that National would not have done anyway, as soon…

National didn't so much win the last election as the voters got sick of Labour. They sure as sh*t haven't brought anything new and refreshing to the table with the same old tired stable…

I agree with the former. The second is a pretty hard question to know yes or no, and I have no doubt…

In 2008, DHS was concerned that:
"some possible outcome…

If a change that Labour managed to get through *was* so attractive as to seriously reduce the impact of the act (for…

Which is great if the government needs Labour's votes to pass the Bill. Except that, well, it doesn't. So Labour could table amendments that would end global poverty and hunger for no cost…

This. And surely Labour has to worry about the ambiguity it casts over its positions.

But I think it speaks to a larger…

Their current actions just show that they have almost as much contempt for open…

I just have no idea if this is just because the dialogue here trends left, but all the opinion expressed or implied here about the Christchurch bill seems to be…

True. But I suspect there's a lot of people who get into parliament to make things better. And they might not be going…

+ 1
I really don't understand what the problem is with calling a spade a spade. I get the feeling Labour isn't telling…

Well, as it stands, Labour are stating that they achieved concessions in both the CERA and file-sharing bills by agreeing to vote for them. In the case of CERA we don’t know what they are, but one assumes that…

Meh, sometimes things aren't as complicated as they can be made to seem.

why not? It's not hard. They have the votes to do anything they want, and we don't know which sections were amendments inserted at Labour's behest.…

Fair point.

Plus, in Labour's current situation it would be a hard…

Which…

Say what you really feel!

It’s possible that if Labour hadn’t voted for it, the government would have pulled the improvements and due to them voting against it would be worse law.

What 3410 said. It seems an unlikely scenario to me, that…

They need to communicate well before that. You do not need to wait to do stuff.…

..and due to National being far better right now at political strategy and communication than Labour – despite their own manifest failures that would provide ample fodder for any half-competent…

Yes, it would be worse law, but not "due to [Labour] voting against it"; due to National introducing it and garnering enough support…

That…

Well sometimes. But the proposed legislation might be something that you’re not happy with, but which…

Yes, that's particularly true if these good faith negotiations involve their Opposition voting how they are told to by the government. Extremely effective. So effective, that any party that could swing that would…

Yeah but nah – that’s a peculiarly FPP view of government.
In the MMP environment, parties can govern very effectively by __negotiating in good faith with other…

That may be so,…

On the one hand, it gets you a few meagre compromises from the govt. (and they'll very quickly learn to factor such "compromises" into future legislation).

On the other hand, you've just pissed away any legitimacy in complaining…

What I'm picking up, notably from Lianne Dalziel's comments on Red Alert, is that Labour's Chch MPs got some sort of concession they felt was vital for their constituents, in return for voting with the Government. What I'm…

Technically, yes. But if it's failing to pass legislation, it is usually because its coalition is falling apart or it's internally divided, even.

I take 3410s point as hinting that failing to…

Okay, sure, it's possible, but in the normal state of affairs a…

uh, no. Only if the government fails to get a majority on a confidence or supply motion is that true. It's possible…

I keep hearing this argument, but I just do not get it.

For starters, if ever that were not the case, the govt. would therefore no longer have the confidence of the House and would have to call an election.

Coherent, well-crafted communication would be useful, yes

I think Pagani's stuff is extremely ropey, but I can also see the argument that Labour would be making…

It surely is that.
To quote an FB exchange with my brother yesterday:

Brother – "I would really like the [Labour] Party to actually stand for something other than being re-elected" – Dimpost comments section.

Me – __ Even if that's…

Apparently Labour's craven behaviour over CERA and suchlike is *not* evidence that they have been following Pagani's advice for the last 20 months while he has been Goff's main comms advisor.

If Pagani has been giving such advice they haven't been listening. If they had…

Well, John, until a few short weeks ago (apparently) you were a senior advisor to the leader of the Opposition in our House of Representatives — and I presume you weren't…

We do not have this “linkwhoring” concept here. I find it kind of silly. If you wrote something you think is interesting, link away.

Had to agree with you that his punchline was jawdrop genius:

If only I could silence them.

Pagani also had a crack at me in his post. At the risk of linkwhoring here's my exasperated response.

Danyl also posted "The blogger’s reply to the strategist" earlier, but his other thread seems better.

Discussed by Danyl's commenters. Pagani even joins in:

But the hard issue for Labour is that pubic opinion iapproves of the Government’s direction. I’m not seeing your commenters engage with that , other than to assume it’s all because Labour hasn’t whacked the Government hard enough. I think…

Essentially we couldn’t vote for Gareth’s amendments when we had agreed a compromise on the bill with the government.

Rick Shera has just confirmed for me that Russell is right about this.

Nothing on TPMs in new Act but under #TPPA breaking a TPM would count as a strike even if underlying material out of #copyright

Seriously I'm not sure my irony gland can handle this so early in the morning.

Yes, I’m sure she does know that.

The party has,…

'Forgive my suspicion, but we all know that “we’ll consider it” is soothing politician-speak for FOAD'

And I’m sure we’ll all be eagerly awaiting a clear, unambiguous statement of policy from Labour’s communications and IT spokeswoman before the election. Won’t we?

BTW, Russell, I…

You're commenting about one theme of Dalziel's post (second sentence quoted below). I'm talking about the other (first sentence):
But…

I've seen that quoted in one article. One. Not said anywhere on her own thread on Labour's own blog despite repeated invitation to do so. And Curran supposedly has a comms background? Pffft

To be fair, Curran has already said she'd recommend a repeal bill to her caucus if the government enacts the termination provisions.

FFS, nobody I’d take at all seriously is saying Labour should engage in knee-jerk opposition for the sake of it and not even David Farrar and Grant Robertson (who’ve done an excellent bipartisan attack on abuse…

Is it? The distinction between bills that have been through the select committee process (the Copyright stuff) and bills that have been rammed through without (CERRA) seems important to me. I actually feel a bit misled by the news…

Ta. Quite possible that's what I was reading about

I recall reading somewhere in the lead-up that our recently-passed law makes it illegal again to avoid regional encoding of DVDs (which like staggered release dates brings only harm for consumers). Progress?

Not the filesharing bill, no. That's in the US position on TPPA. I don't think there has…

Unless Labour gets over themselves right now, everyone else is due for another three years of being dicked over by a government that any competent opposition would be ripping to shreds. Pathetic.

Worth a read IMHO.

The US, silly. No-one else gets any benefit at all.

Good to know, I think. I still struggling to see who exactly the TPPA is supposed to benefit though...

Um, no? I don’t know which part of the law you’re thinking of but that’s not my understanding at all. As long as it’s for your personal use, you’re free to watch it, and even copy it across…

I believe that would count as circumventing TPMs, yes. One of our friendly local IP lawyers might want to confirm or correct that.

This is where I start getting confused. As I understand the law, it’s perfectly legal for me to…

Quite. It's adapting business models in ways that did not require a law change – and it shows up the industry's refusal to do it more widely.

I recall reading somewhere in the lead-up that our recently-passed law makes it…

I found it rather odd, however that (I think) Paul cited Doctor Who as a case study in old media fail,…

This month in Germany the Greens have overtaken the SPD to become the largest opposition party. My understanding is that the nuclear disaster in Japan had a lot to…

Thank you Sacha.

Labour should have said: ‘we want special legislation and a commission for Christchurch but this law is a naked power grab beyond any justification. We have been lied to repeatedly through out this process,…

Yeah, see, this bugs me a little. The question in the area of copyright is how to look after the makers of content and the public, which in a capitalist system will likely mean some sort of commercial intermediary…

No, but at least their business models are from this century.

pervy

I hadn't thought about it like that, but you're right :)

It's what happens when you get laws made by people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

Next, cost-benefit assessments determining police pursuits as in George Lucas's first movie…

It's more that Google will give stuff away in return for being allowed to watch you use it. Which you may or may not find pervy.

Yes, because Google is the Friend of the People, eh?

Rumours about Google's music service have been swirling for a while now, but…

I actually got a bit annoyed with Twitter exploding with people who'd found their issue, at the same time as the legal aid changes will impact very vulnerable people. The Farmer case would not and…

And then, it appears, termination would have been available to the copyright tribunal as…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCyszmeqK3c

That was admirably clear about the politics, and she's one of the few who impressed me.

However, Ardern still minimised the 'guilt on accusation' aspects (note the use of "infringers" rather than "accused"). She also had an overwhelming focus on the…

The fact is that any changes…

Not really Grant. The bill is sent to the car owner. If you can prove…

And as Liam Dann wrote in his article, it's a clash between the 'property rights' old economy and the 'weightless'…

Thanks for pointing it out – it's something I should have known, but didn't.
I don't watch Parliament – you probably guessed that -…

You may not like it, or believe it, but that's what Labour said __in the House **on…

anyone notice the URL from stuff.co.nz

hehe funny

Well if I ever saw a law that had…

Oh yes. Melissa Lee makes our nation famous on the world stage (in tech publication terms).

Watching that Katrina Shanks video on the other thread actually makes me incredibly pissed off when I think about the days I spent crafting an extensive, thoughtful, nuanced argument — from the point of view of…

Not much of an article but the url says it all.

Apparently wanting movements or organisations to be actually competent is not acting in their interests. Best never challenge the poor dears. If only some of the tunnel-vision tosspots could see how patronising that is – and really very unsupportive in a more mature sense.

Ah, didn't know that about Cunliffe. I knew there had to be some reason I didn't skim past his utterances chortling to myself though. Thanks.

Good grief, castigated for debating the facts* "...rather than offering solidarity..."

It's an aspect of the "Hitchens syndrome" ((c) me, since we're swinging that way now :-P)

Cross to our side of the debate and you're an enlightened, open-minded hero.…

The Crimes Act sez:
For the purpose of jurisdiction, where any act or omission forming part of any offence, or any event necessary to the completion of any offence, occurs in New Zealand, the offence shall be deemed to…

Dave Cunliffe is a Fulbright Scholar with a Masters from Harvard. And Dave Parker…

Intellectual property = intellectual property. You seem to be assuming that if I use an analogy that's broken some identifiable respect that I'm using a broken analogy. Every analogy is broken, because the real world is the only thing that maps to the real world.

I'm merely…

Anderton became general manager of an engineering firm, I believe. He's a dirty capitalist at heart.

Oh-oh. No time and I'm away for the evening. Will have a look tomorrow. (Ever the procrastinator!)

Sadly that's still regarded as being class traitors by some.

Hmmm... The Chinese government is pretty good at that internet policing thing...

Patents != copyrights.

Check their own blog and tell us what you think they're saying. I'm unclear beyond some general mumble about compromise. They're drawing a fair caning about it.

So if use of a VPN is going to force an ISP to work very hard to track down the illegal downloaders (and clearly its already hard enough even without a…

Heh...you should hear the Speaker on the tabling of quotes from blogs. He can barely bring himself to say the word.
Of course there is the youtube of him floating about wherein he promises to resign from…

And into which box of fruit loops would we jump, exactly?

Unless Russell's up for forming a PAS party, in which case I'm ready with my sub :-) Because there's a…

No. But that model certainly is being exploited by patent trolls far and wide.

Hah! Takes me back to my first arrest... or was it my second? Anyway, a long time ago as shall become apparent.

Mr Plod storms into the interview room and tells me my friend is next…

Not really, no.

I heard him on bFM about an hour ago. He's very clear, very forthright, and I believe, will some day be PM. Quite the most intelligent speaker on this subject, from Parliament, so far. But that…

Oh thank god someone else has come to that conclusion! Yes.

Also:

Yes, if you were torrenting kiddy-porn, then the authorities would really want to know who exactly was responsible. But that's not going to be of interest to…

You can watch Youtube on it though. Amazon have a…

Including this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJe7vk-GgvQ

we all need to become journalists or teachers

At the very least, he has much better taste in colleagues.

Can’t stop the signal.

Or take the Sky (content)? ;)

This distraction into Firefly/Serenity matters is somewhat appropriate given the means by which I first encountered the programme.

For me, that's actually an excellent…

Yes, come to think of it, you're right.

This distraction into Firefly/Serenity matters is somewhat appropriate given the means by which I first encountered the programme.

Moving back on topic...

Nah, I think Young’s the narc they dumped in the first episode.

Jayne's way smarter than that.

#serenity

Jonathan Young = Jayne Cobb on the intelligence scale?

Can't stop the signal.

And so they can't lay criminal charges, but only fine the account holder/impound the account. Much like they do with vehicular offences. You do get fined if somebody else parks your…

I’d be a bit pissed off if…

I consider it very, very telling that Farrar is objecting publicly to National's abuse of urgency.

Even conversations around P2P are becoming irrelevant.

Streaming content isn't P2P, and is advanced as a method of content control.

It's one the primary method of illegal sharing of content we have.

Careful disclaimers on Youtube's part shift liability…

Brilliant – had never heard that one.

Yet I'd have to say her speeches during the session were rambling and overly engaged in the pettiness of the House. Jacinda Ardern and David Parker were far better and clearly understood what they were talking about.

I understand Labour may…

That might be an unconscious goal, sort of an immune system response from a beast that doesn't want to change to match…

Even if they did push that…

Apparently so. It’s being pushed by Grant Robertson and David Farrar, curiously enough.

Melissa Lee explains herself:

I just had one of those “…you don’t know anything…

Whole conversation right there.

_connection drops_

_picks up netbook and walks to nearest Starbucks_

Right there.

No, I certainly wasn't trying to imply that. More that if you want to be certain that justice is done, don't rely on others doing something that,…

I mean, if they *start* sending a letter and take ages to print and mail it, so you end up getting three…

I was thinking today about this idea that all file sharing was by…

Yeah he could at least share them with you

I’d be a bit pissed off if…

"Rather than oppose it outright, we preferred to compromise to ensure New Zealanders are not denied access to the internet."

hmmm

and the "111-11 vote against Gareth Hughes’ amendment to the…

I think that's unfair. Even if you think they should have voted simply against the bill — which would have passed anyway — rather than doing the deal to require specific enactment before termination is available, Clare Curran has been highly engaged…

That would be a wet dream for a lot of companies that have been hurt by file sharing. Can't see it ever happening, though.

That's priceless.

A millipede with OCD and a gatling gun couldn't shoot itself in the foot more often

I had a conversation with a local Labour Party committee member in Auckland who is in despair at the leadership. When grass roots members don't see leadership that is a huge problem.…

Noting of course that such tighter rules could themselves be easily changed