New Zealand Adds Mediation, Tribunal to 'Three-Strikes' P2P Law

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 14, 2009 - 11:30am.

Auckland, New Zealand - The government of New Zealand has introduced a revised version of its controversial "three-strikes" law, which now includes a mediation and tribunal process before repeat file-swappers would potentially see their Internet accounts suspended, according to published reports.

The law initially passed in 2008, but was delayed after outcry from citizens and resistance from ISPs to cooperate.

Under the revised law, ISPs would send a notice to subscribers after receiving a complaint from a copyright holder.

A second offense would trigger a 'cease-and-desist' notice sent by the ISP.

Should a subscriber be found to be file-sharing after receiving a cease-and-desist notice, the copyright holder may then apply to New Zealand's Copyright Tribunal to compel the ISP to reveal the suspected file-swapper's identity.

At this point, a complaint may be filed by the copyright holder against the file-swapper -- who may request a government-approved mediation process.

If found guilty at a Tribunal hearing, the subscriber would then be subject to a range of penalties, including fines or potentially seeing his or her Internet account suspended.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/n8ml9 (Billboard)

http://snipurl.com/n8mp0 (TorrentFreak)

http://snipurl.com/n8nu0 (DMW previous coverage)