Aotearoa as Hobbiton

-

Commentary: Shiv Ganesh, University of Waikato

National Party MP Katrina Shanks announced in parliament yesterday that "It is really important to remember that file sharing is an illegal activity." Actually, Katrina, it’s not. And this poorly conceived new bill that was bounced into law yesterday makes it possible to punish file sharers before copyright violation has even been established. It’s perfectly appropriate to ensure we have a mechanism to protect the intellectual property rights of the creative classes in this country. However, it’s critical that we establish that violation has in fact taken place, but the new bill makes it possible for copyright holders to apply to shut down an alleged offender’s Internet account without any burden of proof!

It’s especially sickening that this bill was bounced into law yesterday under cover of Parliamentary Urgency, which was designed for the passage of important earthquake relief legislation. The only connection that this bill has with the Christchurch earthquake is that on February 22nd, a bunch of American and Kiwi bureaucrats were hammering out intellectual property issues related to the infamous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is an attempt to forge a free trade agreement between us and the U.S.

It’s not a coincidence that this new bill, passed under urgency and secrecy, resembles U.S.-style “three strikes” legislation regarding copyright. As part of free trade deals, the U.S. has pushed a number of other countries ranging from France and Spain, to Korea and Taiwan, into similar legislation. Ultimately, the bill we have will not protect the intellectual property of NZ-based artists, filmmakers and musicians. Instead, it will simply help U.S. based transnational entertainment companies like Warner Brothers make more money here, to the detriment of local creative industries, and at the expense of taxpayers, as three strikes bills are proving prohibitively expensive to implement.

It’s appalling—but maybe not surprising—that the NZ Labour Party supported the government in passing this ridiculous bill that helps transform Aotearoa into Hobbiton. It’s even worse that politicians used an emotive national emergency to create a law that had been pushed for by lobbyists rather than the NZ public at large. Anyhow, congrats everyone. We are now one step closer to a free trade deal with the US.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation Is Anything But Simple - It’s Time For The Left To Organise

-
Image
Interview with Joe Carolan by Jennifer Pannell. The sudden resignation of Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand and Labour Party Leader, on the 19th January this year was a shock to many around the world. She was held up by the global mainstream press as a beacon of strong and empathetic leadership in the face of numerous crises throughout her two terms. In her emotional resignation speech, she gave little hint as to why she was stepping down, stating “having reflected over summer I know I no longer have that bit extra in the tank to do the job justice. It’s that simple.” ' As a socialist, Joe, what’s your analysis of why Ardern resigned? There is a narrative that as a female Prime Minister, she experienced vicious, relentless trolling - death threats and attacks from a deeply misogynistic far-right led mob, who thought she was a dictator, a tyrant, a Communist. This is similar to the ideology used by the far-right in many other countries; in America, in Ireland, etce
Read more

Commentary fron an American member of Socialist Aotearoa

-
Image
My Two Cents By Laura Hardin As with any presidential election, the American pubic will once again be asked to head to the polls to test which campaign slogans proved more effective. We can either vote for the fairy tale of “hope and change” or we can cast our vote for the “Maverick’s from Main Street.” The McCain/Palin ticket has just recently been trying to lure the middle class with their new Main Street myth, an attempt to portray themselves as sympathizers who understand how this economic crisis is affecting the majority of America. In the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday Palin said that credit markets is where "mainstreeters like me" would feel the effects of the meltdown. And earlier last week, presidential nominee John McCain said of the bailout, “The first thing I’d do is say, ‘Let’s not call it a bailout. Let’s call it a rescue,’ Because it is a rescue. It’s a rescue of Main Street America.” You know what you’ll find on most Main Streets in most American towns
Read more

The Rainbow Rejects the Thin Blue Line

-
Image
While the French are rising up against their government and being confronted with armed police and tanks , Auckland’s queer community are in the midst of a small battle of their own.  Thursday December 6th saw the debate about whether or not to allow an oppressive force to march in full uniform in a parade commemorating the struggles of the queer community against a colonial state reach its zenith. Last month, after multiple opportunities for community consultation , the Board given the task of organising February 2019’s Pride Parade let police know that they are welcome to march alongside the LGBTQ+ community, under the one condition that, if they choose to do so, they are not welcome to wear their uniforms. This kicked off a series of melodramatic but necessary events which have seen the withdrawal of the Police, military, and several major corporate sponsors from the Parade .  For some reason, this is considered controversial. The culmination of this supposed crisis
Read more