The slow trickle of leaked diplomatic cables from Wikileaks may not be in the headlines as much as it was when it started, but revelations keep pouring out of the website. Recently, new diplomatic cables published on the site revealed just how, not only influential the US was, but just how much control the US had over the passage of the three strikes law in New Zealand.
If there wasn’t any anti-American sentiment before in New Zealand, there certainly will be for some after new diplomatic cables were published revealing the role the US had in pushing for a three strikes law in New Zealand. The New Zealand’s new three strikes law was the most controversial copyright laws in the country and one of the most controverisal in the world. While the law was being proposed, debate was fierce. The law sparked repeated blackout protests where websites would black out their website logo’s in protest of the law since it is widely seen as a censorship law more than a copyright enforcement law. Last month, in spite of major opposition and protests, New Zealand passed the law anyway to the dismay of the New Zealand population. Now, thanks to Wikileaks, we can see just how far back the United States was pushing New Zealand to pass that law in the first place.
A diplomatic cable that was sent clear back in 2005 shows that the US was offering up money to put in new copyright laws. The cable was very detailed about the budget cost at the time:
Total costs: NZ $533,000 (US $386,158)
Start-up costs: NZ $78,000 (US $56,510)
Salaries: NZ $215,000 (US $155,768)
Operating costs: NZ $240,000 (US $173,880)
Start-up costs (NZ dollars):
Furnishings $25,000
IT costs (equipment) $45,000
Sundries $8,000
Salaries (NZ dollars):
Unit head $90,000
Intelligence and policy development $60,000
Licensing and enforcement officer $40,000
Administrative support $25,000
Operating costs (NZ dollars):
Accommodations (rental, utilities) $55,000
IT support $15,000
Legal costs (investigation, prosecution)$75,000
Training (internet piracy, law) $50,000
Travel costs $35,000
Employer liabilities $10,000
NOTE: In U.S. dollars, legal costs would be $54,338 and
training costs would be $36,225.
In another cable in 2005, we see the US saying that establishing fair use type laws being a bad idea:
The New Zealand government has proposed amendments to the Copyright Act 1994 that would allow format-shifting, or the duplication of sound recordings to another format for a purchaser’s private use without the copyright owner’s permission. The amendments also would extend to all communication works a provision in the Copyright Act that permits time-shifting, or the recording of a broadcast or cable program for private use solely for the purpose of viewing or listening to the recording at a more convenient time or for making a complaint. The amendments were proposed and released as a cabinet paper in June 2003, after a review of how digital technology had affected the country’s copyright law (see Paragraph 13). Legislation incorporating the amendments is being drafted and is expected to be introduced in Parliament in April. (ref D)
As the International Intellectual Property Alliance noted in its Special 301 submission, these exceptions to copyright protection would send the wrong message to consumers and undermine efforts to curb unauthorized copying of CDs in New Zealand. They would cost the industry in revenue and profits and discourage innovation. However, Associate Minister of Commerce Judith Tizard still is discussing the issue with the music industry and has expressed a desire for a solution that satisfies all parties, although the format-shifting and time-shifting exceptions remain for now as proposed in the cabinet paper. We will continue to work with the government and industry on this issue. In the meantime, with discussions ongoing, we believe a Special 301 listing over this issue would not be helpful.
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I bought this at Fushimi Inari Jinja (or is it taisha?). It struck me as the most perfect distillation of the souvenir: a bag of something essentially useless made special by the act of buying it in a certain location and it having that attested to by what was written on it. I bought three bags, for some reason feeling that it was very important that I give one to Meg Jamieson, one of my professors. I had a lot of those sourceless ‘this is very important’ sort of feelings in those days but I think it was more that when I saw it it was her voice explaining that ‘perfect distillation of a souvenir” in my head.
