Telcos ready for 'three strikes' law tomorrow

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act comes into force tomorrow and telcos have said they are ready.

The Amendment Act introduces a ‘three strikes’ process for alleged copyright infringement, where rights owners may send a series of three warning notices to internet account holders, ultimately resulting in a hearing before the Copyright Tribunal.

Under the Act, IPAPs, usually Internet Service Providers (ISPs), are required to match an identified IP address to an account holder if a copyright owner sends the ISP a notice alleging infringement. 

ISPs must then send an infringement notice (either a detection, warning or enforcement notice, depending upon the number of notices received by the account holder previously) to the account holder within seven days of receiving the infringement notice.

Ready for the Act
Orcon head of brand and communications Quentin Reade said the company was ready for the act coming into force, but that it would be a manual process to begin with.

He said Orcon would not be monitoring user activity as this was not required by the Act.  “All we have to do, and I say all we have to do, is make sure we know who’s using what IP address at any one time, which we do anyway, it was already in our system.”

A TelstraClear spokesman said it had put a significant amount of time and effort into putting in place a process to deal with the receipt of notices, and was prepared to receive them from September 1. 

The company did not monitor downloads, and took no part in the process that enabled copyright owners to track IP addresses, he said, and pointed NBR to TelstraClear’s Facts and Questions page.

Senior media and communications consultant retail Anna Skerten said Telecom would be ready to comply with its obligations under the Act but that it was a manual and labour intensive process.

“Given the time constraints, we have set up systems that are as cost effective as possible.”

She said Telecom did not monitor customer downloads, since its obligation under the Act was to keep track of which customer had a specific IP address at any given time in the last 40 days.

Controversial Act
The Act is controversial, with claims including it favours a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ approach, that there is no legal provision detailing when rights owners must accept a challenge to an infringement notice, and that people who use peer-to-peer software legally can still incur a notice, despite never having illegally uploaded or downloaded a file.

Rights owners argue that the legislation will help deter copyright infringement and will protect New Zealand’s creative industries.  These industries provide 22,000 jobs and contributes more than $2.5 billion to the country’s economy, New Zealand Film Commission chief executive Graeme Mason said in an New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft (NZFACT) release.

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) managing director Chris Caddick did not wish to comment.

The Ministry of Economic Development said its website had detailed information to ensure all parties had the necessary information and were prepared for September 1.

"This includes information for account holders, Internet protocol address providers (IPAPs) and rights holder; detailed information about the infringement notice process; and the process for challenging an infringement notice."

NBR is seeking comment from NZFACT.