Blogs and websites against Section 92A of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act blacked out their sites on Monday morning.

The Creative Freedom Foundation says the law "reverses New Zealander's fundamental right to being presumed innocent until proven guilty, punishing internet users with disconnection based on accusations of copyright infringement without a trial and without evidence held up to court scrutiny." They want Parliament to either repeal Section 92A or delay it from coming into force on February 28.Blogs and websites against Section 92A of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act blacked out their sites on Monday morning.

The Creative Freedom Foundation says the law "reverses New Zealander's fundamental right to being presumed innocent until proven guilty, punishing internet users with disconnection based on accusations of copyright infringement without a trial and without evidence held up to court scrutiny." They want Parliament to either repeal Section 92A or delay it from coming into force on February 28.The Creative Freedom Foundation says thousands of sites were blacked out this morning, including Public Address, Scoop, Kiwiblog, Throng, GeekZone, and Street Talk. Some websites will continue the blackout all day.

"Internet Blackout Week NZ" started last week on Feb 16 to 23 with blacked out photos on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. It has also drawn international support with actor, comedian and author Stephen Fry blacking out his twitter profile. On Thursday last week, about 200 people protested at Parliament and presented an online petition, signed by 10,000 people, to United Future leader Peter Dunne.

The law was passed in 2008 by the previous Government. The clause was originally removed by a select committee but was re-inserted by the minister in charge of the legislation, Judith Tizard, when it returned to the house.

Commerce Minister Simon Power said last week he was mindful of the concerns expressed by the public and said a code of practice being developed by internet representatives would help implement the law.

The draft ISP Copyright Code was released on February 4 by the Telecommunications Carriers' Forum (TCF).

TCF said the Copyright Act was amended in 2008 to include s92A which requires Internet Service Providers to have a policy to terminate the accounts of repeat copyright infringers in appropriate circumstances.

Forum CEO Ralph Chivers said the Draft Code is intended to be a template policy for ISPs, to assist them in meeting their obligations under the Act.

RIANZ and APRA have been engaged in dialogue with the TCF about the draft code.

APRA's Director for New Zealand Operations, Anthony Healey said: "We recognize that ongoing public discussion has identified some concern regarding the content and operation of a code, particularly with regard to a user's right to object to a notice of infringement.

"Contrary to reports and concerns we have never been opposed to the idea of an independent third party considering objections and adjudicating where necessary. We are not opposed to this approach provided the process is fair and timely. This is one of the issues we have been discussing with the TCF this week."

APRA and RIANZ said in a joint statement that online copyright infringement is doing serious harm to the creative industries in New Zealand and around the world. 'For example, it is estimated that 19 out of every 20 downloaded songs infringe copyright. No legitimate business model can compete with that scale of infringement and loss and nor should it. At the same time we recognize that any process established to deal with this infringing activity must be reasonable and fair.'

RIANZ Chief Executive, Campbell Smith said "We are confident the concerns that rights holders have had with the draft Code of Conduct, including issues such as counter-notice procedures and costs, will be satisfactorily resolved."

"Dialogue we have had with the TCF this year has been constructive. We have worked together to try to resolve points of difference and I believe we will achieve a positive result before Section 92A is due to come into force on 28 February 2009. We are confident a code that is both reasonable and effective can be agreed between us prior to 28 February."

The Creative Freedom Foundation says the TCF policy will not be agreed on and in place by February 28 - and the deadline for public submissions on the draft is 6 March "By most guesses it won't be out until April at the earliest, although this could be further delayed due to disagreements given how the negotiations between RIANZ/APRA/NZFACT and the ISPs have been progressing so far."