The Peer-To-Peer Dilemma: Creating a Workable and Effective Deterrent to File Sharing under the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill 2010

Abstract

With the advent of the internet and the digital age, technological advances have upset the traditional copyright balance between copyright holders, the creators of new works and the direct users of the copyright material. Peer-to-peer (P2P) technology has been one of the more problematic advances for copyright holders, with P2P networks now allowing access to an unprecedented library of works. These works are, the majority of the time, subject to copyright and shared without the copyright holder's consent. P2P networks have become overwhelmingly popular and consequently the scale of copyright infringement taking place is having a real impact on entertainment industries. The problem which copyright holders have had to face in the midst of this is how to enforce their rights under traditional copyright laws which have not been updated to deal with P2P technology. Over the last decade copyright holders have gone from attacking the P2P providers, to Internet Service Providers, (ISPs) to end users in a search for the most efficient means to uphold their copyright. It has not been until the last few years that legislatures have moved towards making ISPs more responsible for infringement by their users and more involved in the prevention of copyright infringement. In this paper New Zealand's move to deal with P2P copyright infringement will be examined by focusing on the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill 2010. This Bill seeks to introduce a graduated response regime for copyright infringement via P2P networks and gives copyright holders a realistic and less costly means of enforcing their rights. In analysing the Bill several recommendations are made for its improvement with a specific focus on the remedy of terminating a users account and whether this is needed to achieve the overall purpose of deterring file sharing. The conclusion which this paper comes to is that the graduated response regime is necessary, unique and something which could lead the way internationally in dealing with P2P copyright infringement.