11. CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) Link to this
to the Minister of Commerce
Will the Government support the policy of amending section 92A of the Copyright Act 1994 as set out in my Copyright (Internet Service Provider Account Termination Policy) Bill; if not, why not?
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Commerce) Link to this
No, not as set out in the member’s bill. The Government’s policy is to give Internet providers and right-holders 1 month to come up with a code of practice. That time frame has yet to expire, and although there are some challenges I am not prepared to prejudge the outcome.
How does the Government expect section 92A of the Copyright Act to be able to come into force given that TelstraClear has vetoed the code of practice being developed by the significant stakeholders?
I am advised that the rest of the Telecommunications Carriers Forum, the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand, and other right-holders are making real progress on the code of practice. If TelstraClear wants to be excluded from the arrangement, that is its choice. I met with right-holders as recently as 7 o’clock this morning, and according to the member’s press release yesterday, her bill requires ministerial approval of any code before section 92A comes into force, meaning that it still relies on the parties coming to an agreement first.
Will the Government establish an independent adjudicator to resolve copyright disputes; if so, who; and if not, why not?
I am not prepared to prejudge the outcome of the negotiations that are continuing at the moment. I find the Labour Party’s position on this issue rather confusing. The member wants to keep section 92A but amend it; the former Minister, Judith Tizard, said that it should come into force as it is, explaining that it was left deliberately vague as “at no stage did I think … I had the answer to the process”; and the Labour candidate for Hunua, Mr Jordan Carter, is the contact for yesterday’s press release from InternetNZ that said that section 92A should be dumped. Maybe Labour needs its own code of practice.