New Zealand Copyright Laws

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Master Geek
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# 242798 5-Aug-2009 07:02

Thanks again everyone.

LennonNZ: Yes, a copyright holder can track you down, and take you to court for breach of copyright, but most companies wouldn't put in the time and effort to do so.

Jordan

Ragnor

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# 242899 5-Aug-2009 11:00

Do you think New Zealand’s internet piracy laws should be harsher?

The question is flawed copyright infringement is not the same thing as (physical) piracy or theft. If I steal your car's tyres you no longer have your car's tyres (theft), if I download a copy of you new song you still have your original song (copyright infrigement).

I think society rates copyright infringement for personal use about the same as jaywalking.

So no.

Why do you think someone would illegally download a file, rather than purchase it legally?

The internet revolution is as significant as the industrial revolution. Old business model that rely on charging for distribution are redundant and non sustainable.

Consumers are not stupid, they realise a digital copy of a file is an infinite good and has a marginal cost of production near 0. In a "free" market a good with a marginal cost of 0 will tend to be priced at 0.

Consumers resent the artifical scarcity (eg: drm) imposed by a state mandated monopoly (coypright).

Do you think the government’s new policy on termination of internet accounts will work?

No chance.

Do you pay attention to the copyright notices on content, and do you follow the correct procedure to get authority of usage? (by contacting the license owner, or company representing the owner)

If I need to use an image for an article or docuement I will tend to look for one licensed under creative commons. In general I would say sometimes.

Thank you for your help,

No problem

tonyhughes

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# 242906 5-Aug-2009 11:19

dman: no to all your questions :P

O rly?

Jordanthenerd: Why do you think someone would illegally download a file, rather than purchase it legally?

dman: no

???

LennonNZ

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# 242915 5-Aug-2009 11:27

JordantheNerd: Thanks again everyone.

LennonNZ: Yes, a copyright holder can track you down, and take you to court for breach of copyright, but most companies wouldn't put in the time and effort to do so.

Jordan

So why don't they? and why do we need a new law ? What does the new copyright law give the copyright holders that the old one doesn't?

JordantheNerd

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Master Geek
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# 242917 5-Aug-2009 11:28

tonyhuges: Lol.

Just wondering, why do you all say that the governments policy won't work? Do think that it will just stop piracy, but ex-illegal downloaders will not buy the software / media.

Jordan

EDIT: Well, the new copyright law will not make it easier for the companies to track you down and charge you, but it will mean that there won't be many (or hopefully, any) illegal downloaders.

patatrat

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Ultimate Geek

# 243065 5-Aug-2009 15:47

Another big clue about the OP's bias:

"but it will mean that there won't be many (or hopefully, any) illegal downloaders."

Stopping all illegal downloaders will also remove any business reason to change the existing model. Basically what you are proposing is that the Government prop up a business model that is currently failing. We've all given a number of reasons that it is failing (high cost, paying twice, DRM, release dates etc) and the companies responsible have not changed their model. Instead, they are asking the Government to stop what is essentially their failure to adapt.

SepticSceptic

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# 243406 6-Aug-2009 11:35

Behodar:

2. Many points already raised. I for one would love to have a legitimate download service, when the DVD is released we should be able to download the movie and have no restrictions over those present on a real DVD (eg. can only be played within NZ, but not limited to a certain number of computers). I would also pay for a streaming movie service at the same time as the theatrical releases.

Ditto this - even for TV shows that have long gone, and the USA studios wont allow downloads outside of the USA.

My thoughts are no longer my own and is probably representative of our media-controlled government

JordantheNerd

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Master Geek
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# 245080 11-Aug-2009 09:14

Thanks guys for your answers. Anyone else got anything to say? This information is very important for my research.

Thanks

Ragnor

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# 245245 11-Aug-2009 15:58

History Repeats Itself: How The RIAA Is Like 17th Century French Button-Makers
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070110/004225.shtml

Step One To Embracing A Lack Of Scarcity: Recognize What Market You're Really In
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070125/004949.shtml

I'd recommend reading the entire series of articles if you want to understand the issues with Copyright, DRM etc from an economic point of view.

Tunk

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# 245849 12-Aug-2009 22:12

Do you think New Zealand’s internet piracy laws should be harsher?

No, they are already quite adequate.

Why do you think someone would illegally download a file, rather than purchase it legally?

Lack of well advertised, easily accessible alternatives WITHIN NEW ZEALAND with a variety of ways to pay and lack of peering for free bandwidth usage (download a movie? +$1 to $10 on cost at the moment).
Eg, bank deposit, paypal, credit card, cash, txt debit or voucher/pre-paid card.
txt debit/premium txt is a major one as it targets quite a large group of those who are likely to pirate (12-24+ yr olds), and I have seen it used quite sucessfully in online games as a alternative to paypal/credit card.

International restrictions are a pain in the butt, and a major reason for piracy.

Additionally DRM free would go a long way, who wants to use a specific codec or program just to use media they decided to buy (and should own) which could possibly become inaccessible in future due to DRM servers falling over or the rights holder deciding you cant any more?

Do you think the government’s new policy on termination of internet accounts will work?

No.

Do you pay attention to the copyright notices on content, and do you follow the correct procedure to get authority of usage? (by contacting the license owner, or company representing the owner)

Only if I plan on using the works commercially or in public.

CYaBro

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# 245860 12-Aug-2009 22:42

I think the main reason for illegal downloading is time. People don't like to wait for things anymore.

I think of my situation, my wife & I run two businesses and we have a 15 month old son.
We don't have time to go to the movies to see the latest releases so have to wait for them to come out on DVD so we can watch at home in our own time.
We often start watching something and only see half of it one night then we might watch the rest the next night or even a few nights later.

If there was a paid download service where we could download the movie at the same time it is released in theatres, for the same cost of going to the theatre or less :), and watch at our leisure then we would do that.

Another reason, which I guess relates to the first reason, is the delay here in NZ of some TV shows appearing on TV, if ever.
A good example of this recently is Dexter. That first aired about 3 years ago in the US and has only just started here in the last month or so.
Why should we have to wait that long to see it?

JordantheNerd

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Master Geek
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# 245888 13-Aug-2009 06:45

Thanks guys.

Dharil

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Geek

# 249507 21-Aug-2009 17:50

Just an aside - does anyone know of a legal (pay) download site that New Zealanders can access without breaching copyright. I would never breach copyright, but would love to be able to pay for and download movies legally.

For some reason many of the movies/tv shows I would like to buy aren't available in New Zealand or are so difficult to obtain that I have to spend hours searching the shelves for them. For someone like me, who doesn't like crowds, this can be a nightmare experience which ruins the whole movie experience. If NZ had a pay to download legally site this would save the torment.

That said, along with the download ability, there would have to be the ability to burn this to a disc/drive without breaching copyright so that it could be treated as a standard personal use DVD (eg. played for personal use).

JordantheNerd

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Master Geek
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# 249598 22-Aug-2009 09:02

Hi Dharll,

The members in this discussion may have some better ideas, but the iTunes store is a great place to download music and movies, all you have to do is download iTunes (for Windows or Mac) and sign up an account (requires a credit card) and then you can access a world of media at your finger tips!

- Jordan

freitasm

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# 249607 22-Aug-2009 09:46

Dharil: Just an aside - does anyone know of a legal (pay) download site that New Zealanders can access without breaching copyright. I would never breach copyright, but would love to be able to pay for and download movies legally.

Apple iTunes Store. I have an account and we download a lot.

Dharil: For some reason many of the movies/tv shows I would like to buy aren't available in New Zealand or are so difficult to obtain that I have to spend hours searching the shelves for them.

In this case you will want a U.S. Apple iTunes account - but you only get those with an U.S. credit card and IP address when opening it. I have one and you get TV episodes for major series as soon after they screen. You can also buy "Passes" that gives you automatic download of all episodes as soon as they are available.

Dharil: That said, along with the download ability, there would have to be the ability to burn this to a disc/drive without breaching copyright so that it could be treated as a standard personal use DVD (eg. played for personal use).

Not with iTunes. Backup, backup, backup to make sure you don't lose your content.

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