Telcos want delay in law on net piracy

Telcos want the introduction of controversial new copyright laws delayed.

New Zealand telcos want to delay the introduction of new copyright laws to police internet privacy by up to two months while they iron out "controversial issues".

Section 92A of the Copyright Act requires internet service providers to act against their customers on copyright owners' allegations of illegal music and movie downloads from the internet.

The Telecommunications Carriers Forum - representing big phone companies such as Telecom and Vodafone - indicated it would not be able to negotiate a code of practice with the movie and record companies before the February 28 deadline set in the act.

Delays will add to growing tensions between the two industries over telcos' new role in guarding the entertainment industry's property rights.

The internet users group internet NZ made similar calls for a delay last week.

Chief executive Keith Davidson was angry about what he said was the entertainment industry's tough approach negotiating the new terms.

He said that the copyright owners viewed the new obligations as assured and were not interested in having a debate.

A working group of the TCF and the copyright owners - dominated by the Hollywood studios and international record companies - is due to release a draft code of practice on January 27 for public comment.

But TCF sources have indicated the working group will not meet the February 28 deadline for the new process to be established.

A telecommunications industry insider said that the big telcos accepted - some begrudgingly - that there would be new obligations under the Copyright Act. Vodafone is itself selling music downloads.

But a member of the TCF said telcos want the entertainment industry to tone down some of their more "draconian" demands under the new system.

A key issue is deciding how much the ISP's act on the complaints of the copyright owners - such as a record company or movie studio - and how much after initial advice to the customer it can leave the two parties to resolve issues.

Section 92A does not involve ISPs trawling their customers looking for breaches, but there are still potential issues.

Internet NZ's Davidson said that may of the problems were due to poor drafting of the Copyright Act.

Section 92A forces ISPs to terminate internet accounts on the basis of allegations of copyright infringement, a process that makes the ISPs liable for court action from customers.