The Short Unhappy Life of Section 92 of the Copyright Act 1994, As (Was) To Be Inserted by Clause 53 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008

Abstract

The Government’s first attempt to regulate to make Internet Service Providers adopt and enforce a policy for the termination of the accounts of internet users who repeatedly infringe copyright was a failure. The policy development process undertaken did not examine the issue and when provision was made in an amending Bill for a termination of accounts clause it lead to its removal by a Select Committee before reintroduction into the Bill by Supplementary Order Paper at a later stage. The fact that the reintroduced provision did not address the concerns of the submitters meant that the legislation itself was destined to fail before it was bought into force.