US Offered To Draft NZ 3-Strikes Law, Fund Copyright Initiative

An anonymous reader writes "Wikileaks has just posted hundreds of cables from US personnel in New Zealand that reveal regular government lobbying on copyright, offers to draft New Zealand three-strikes-and-you're-out legislation, and a recommendation to spend over NZ$500,000 to fund a recording industry-backed IP enforcement initiative. The funding raises the question of whether New Zealand is aware that local enforcement initiatives, including raids and court cases, have been funded by the US government."

Comments

See ?

[unity100]

I told before that, if you allow private interests take helm in one country, they spread their filth EVERYwhere. see there's the proof.

Re:See ?

[cpghost]

The US Government is the best government (RIAA-)money can buy. Nothing new here...

Re:See ?

[TubeSteak]

The US Government is the best government (RIAA-)money can buy. Nothing new here...

Never forget that there are many tech/financial/multi-national companies that could buy the American record & movie industries outright with their spare cash.

Never stop asking "why can such a relatively small industry punch so far above its weight?"

Re:See ?

[jpapon]

You can't really measure the size of the movie industry by just looking at the size of the big Hollywood studios. First of all, they hide all their profits, so who knows how much money they REALLY make. Secondly, even if you bought a studio, you wouldn't get the people who actually MAKE the movies, ie actors and directors. Finally, their industry pulls so much weight because of the influence they have over the minds of people all over the world. If the government pisses off Apple, nothing of consequence is lost. However, if a politician pisses off a major studio, the studio could start producing movies/tv shows which bash the hell out of said politician, and millions of people would see it. It's just like bashing a newspaper, except that the studios can call it fiction and avoid defamation suits.

The studios wield power because they control what the general population sees, and to a large extent, thinks. They also have done a fantastic job of Americanizing the world.

Re:See ?

[Luckyo]

Most people seem to miss the reason why this will NEVER be allowed and nipped in the bud.

Entertainment is the best, most functional propaganda arm of both capitalist system, and "american way". Abroad it has successfully advertised US system as working and US itself as a desirable. At the same time at home keeps US population itself pacified when its right are being trampled.

Do not underestimate the power of projected crowd control that entertainment industry is generating. For that reason alone, both government and current powerful interests will make sure key companies in entertainment industry will always remain in hands of those who will use them for their interests.

Glad I am not a kiwi...

[jonwil]

Glad I am not a kiwi...
Oh wait, this kind of crap is probably going on here in Australia just as much as it is across the pond.

The real trick is to vote for people who DON'T support the ever increasing power of big content companies. And unlike the USA, here in Australia such people actually stand a chance of getting elected (and in fact a number of such people are currently in parliament, including the Australian Greens)

No idea whether such parties or politicians exist in New Zealand but if they do, vote for someone that isn't going to bow down before SONY or Warner or News Corp or Disney.

I'm from New Zealand

[lul_wat]

We recently had a 3-strikes law rushed through parliment by the current government (which is a gross mis-use of power).

I'd like to share this video which demonstrates the level of understanding our MP's have

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJdPkrpFXBM

Democracy

[symes]

This might be interpreted as a serious attempt to undermine New Zealand's democratic processes by a foreign power. While I think people should be expected to pay for what they use, my feelings are that it is a broken business model that encourages most people to download and that this incessant criminisation of mostly young internet users can only lead to alienation and profound long-term problems. The creative minds that produce the output should be perhaps given more room to develop novel ways to distribute output rather than leaving everything to a bunch of accountants and lawyers who are just nasty.

Re:Democracy

[mcgrew]

While I think people should be expected to pay for what they use

I don't. I don't expect you to pay for the most important thing in your life -- air. I don't expect you to pay for the rain that waters your grass (although I expect people who dirty them to pay for cleanup). I don't expect you to pay for sunshine. I don't expect you to pay for Linux or BSD. I don't expect you to pay for the free music from the radio, nor do I think you're obligated to listen to the commercials. And you have the (still legal in most places) right to be able to record that radio. I don't expect you to pay for over the air TV (yes, I know Brits pay). I don't expect you to pay to read a library book, or a newspaper McDonald's sets out for customers to read.

I have dozens of books that I'd would never have bought had I not previously read the author's other books for free at the library.

I don't expect you to pay for 90% of the music that's recorded; indies who WANT you to share their music. The indies have the correct business model -- give the music away and sell CDs, tickets, T-shirts, etc.

A book publisher recently discovered that piracy sells books! It takes a few weeks for a newly published book to hit the internet, so he commissioned a study to find out how much the piracy was hurting sales. He was amazed when the results came back -- rather than the expected drop in sales, there was a sales spike.

Who was it that said "letting you light your candle from my flame costs me nothing and doubles the light"?

IMO file sharing should be legal; it should be illegal for me to sell you a pirate copy, but not to give you one.

Our money-obsessed, money-worshiping society is sick.

Re:Democracy

[SuricouRaven]

Actually, in some places, you *are* expected to pay for that rain. It's not even that uncommon for states to sell exclusive rainwater collection rights to a water company, granting them and them alone the right to rainfall within a specified catchment area. If you live in one, then it is indeed an offense for you to collect your own rain and water your garden with it. You're expected to pay for it from the tap, like a good consumer should.

Re:Democracy

[xMrFishx]

What, seriously? Good god...I presume this is somewhere in America right? No other sane country would ever do anything like that, I hope...

Re:Democracy

[SteveTheNewbie]

Bolivia is one such incident. It was put in place by the world bank who demanded as part of a loan to get them back on their feet they privatise the water system and used to charge people up to 1/4 of their income on water. It was illegal to collect rainwater.

Not the first time the world bank has royally screwed up a country. Just ask Jamaica how that's working out for them..

Sorry for the wikipedia links, I'm sure people can find other examples, consider these starters.

Re:Democracy

[baKanale]

The state of Colorado (along with some other western states) forbids collection of rainwater without a permit. While this seems insane to those of us from areas with frequent rain, this is largely due to the general scarcity of water in these areas and the system of allocating water rights due to this fact. Water is such a contentious issue that the state of Wyoming took Colorado to the Supreme Court over Colorado's plans to divert the Laramie River, which they claimed was a violation of their water rights, and Arizona and California have gone to court nine times over the last 80-odd years to determine Arizona's cut of the water from the Colorado River.

Re:I'm outraged!

[f16c]

Corporations are NOT people.Corporations may be made up of people acting in concert but are a legal construct and should be treated that way with legal rights limitations. Corporate bullshit seems may be running the country only because the nobody pays attention to this stuff which is broadcast here but mostly ignored by TV (corporate sponsored) news outlets. Our ignorance is gonna kill us.

Re:Come on.

[Ant P.]

What makes you think america gets to be imperialists? You are just another land the corporations own.

Re:This is the second way America tries to invade

[Anonymous Coward]

It's amazing, really. Not only did they insist that the NZ government keep ACTA a secret from its people (all attendee's people, actually)

But they stepped in to assist in re-drafting the bill to make it more palatable & passable, for NZ legislators

and instructed the government to implement a new security force to enforce it, even offering to assist in its initial funding. All that's missing is an offer to have American troops enforce the law for them.

Wow!

[DaMattster]

There are citizens suffering here in the states from unemployment and inept government that hasn't been able to turn the country around. The ineptness is both democrat and republican alike. The government is under a budget crunch and we are spending money in New Zealand over something so stupid as copyright law when research to show that major media companies were losing money over piracy. This whole thing makes me sick. Perhaps, the U.S. is now going to meet the same fate as Rome. Be ready for the dark ages.

Re:Wow!

[SuricouRaven]

Of course it won't be enforced. Microsoft is too sensible for that. They'll just use it to harass small companies who can't afford a decade-long legal battle.

This has been going on for decades

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a New Zealander and the lobbying from the US isn't a recent issue, in fact it has been regularly reported in the mainstream press for as long as I can remember and not only for copyright reasons. I think the worst part is that the US diplomats have at times threatened us with economically damaging measures for not playing ball (NZ does export a lot to the US and being a small country makes us vulnerable to change). I feel that we've actually done an OK job of pushing back in the past, but the US is both patient and happy to keep trying until it finds an administration that gives it favour, as has happened here.

To be honest I think that Australia is worse off from this sort of lobbying though. They haven't had an anti-nuclear past and this has led them to 'enjoy' a closer relationship with the US than we have(!)

Re: Enforce them for you

[Seumas]

You spelled 'liberation' wrong. :P

Re:I'm outraged!

[clang_jangle]

Corporations ARE people. They are deemed artificial persons with all the Constitutional protections and rights of 'real' people (and the added benefits of a corporation, to boot). The SCOTUS has upheld this in their previous decisions.

Words on paper do not have the power to redefine reality. Corporations are *not* people. SCOTUS is corrupt and their rulings mean nothing IRL. The fact that so many people tolerate this kind of silly word juggling doesn't help, either.
***glare***