The New Zealand Internet Blackout was an online protest spearheaded by th
Creative Freedom Foundation NZ
against changes to copyright law in New Zealand, most notably Section 92A of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act.

Origins

The protest originated at the 2009 Kiwi Foo Camp in Warkworth and ran from 16 to 23 February. Internet users changed their

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to black squares, to symbolise what opponents of Section 92A regard as guilt by accusation. In particular, they point to the clause in Section 92A which states "Internet service providers must have policy for terminating accounts of repeat infringers". Additionally protesters were encouraged to sign a petition and/or write to their MP. Notable supporters of the blackout campaign included Russell Brown, Nathan Torkington, Stephen Fry,

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

, Cory Doctorow, Leo Laporte, and technology journalist Juha Saarinen who asked Fry if he would help out with the protest. On 19 February 2009 about 200 people, including

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

(ISP) representatives, artists, musicians, writers, and bloggers – most of them holding up plain black placards, and some with taped mouths – protested and presented a petition outside Parliament at lunchtime.

Bronwyn Holloway-Smith Bronwyn Holloway-Smith is an artist and author from Wellington, New Zealand. She holds a PhD in Fine Arts from Massey University, and is Co-Director of Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand, a research initiative based at Massey University's ...

of the Creative Freedom Foundation led the protesters. Wellington-based MP Peter Dunne addressed the protesters, announcing that on the previous day he had separate meetings with Commerce Minister Simon Power and Prime Minister John Key over the issue. On 23 February John Key announced that Section 92A would be delayed until 27 March. Subsequently, on Monday, 23 March, it was announced that Section 92A would be removed and redrafted. The online petition maintained by the Creative Freedom Foundation has over 17,000 signatures.

Second blackout

Anti-piracy legislation was re-introduced in April 2011 by the New Zealand Government under the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill. Although somewhat watered down from the original Section 92a legislation, it still contained forcible disconnection provisions, and was passed under urgency by all parties with the exception of the

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and two dissident MPs, Chris Carter and Hone Harawira. This use of urgency was highly controversial, with many in the Internet community accusing the Government of invoking urgency to push through highly contentious laws. Additionally, many opponents of the new law called for a return of the 2009 blackout, who also ridiculed the televised performances of several MPs who defended the law. The Creative Freedom Foundation did not take part in this second blackout.

References

External links

{{Commons category, New Zealand Internet Blackout
NZ Legislation Online - Section 92A of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008Creative Freedom NZ Blackout information pageTechsploder - Join New Zealand Internet blackout protest against insane copyright lawPat Pilcher: Guilty by accusation copyright protestors paint it black
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The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

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The Register - Kiwis go all black over copyright enforcement laws"The lights are going out all over Twitter" - The Guardian, 17 Feb 2009
Blackout Internet Blackout Internet Blackout New Zealand copyright law Internet-based and online protests Internet-related activism Internet blackout

Origins

Second blackout

See also

References

External links