The issue of online infringement is a highly contentious one. On 23 February 2010 the NZ the Government introduced the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill. The bill will amend the Copyright Act 1994. It will bring in significant changes. One of the key changes is the “three strike” rule, whereby ISP’s are required to give alleged infringers notices to cease their activities and if they fail to do so the third time round, the copyright owner will be able to apply to the Copyright Tribunal for damages of up to NZ$15,000.

Watch this space for further developments.