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New piracy law for South Africa?
2011-04-20
New Zealand lately created a law against online robbery on Thursday which outlaws file-sharing and threatens repeat offenders with having their web access cut off. The new law allows for penalties of nearly US$12,000 to be paid to the copyright owner and if this is ineffectual, offenders can have their web account barred for as much as half a year. This revelation follows a press release by the Dutch administration they're considering suggestions for new laws to put pressure on online robbery. The Dutch will however not follow a 'three-strike' rule difference like in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and France. The increased anti-piracy legislation internationally and stronger lobbying from groups trying to defend the rights of copyright holders ignores the question of whether SA could also see new laws at once addressing online robbery. Online piracy and legislation in S. A. Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions director Dominic Cull explains that a 'three-strikes' rule isn't a system which could be implemented in S. A. without the introduction of new rules or an amendment Act which would particularly create such a mechanism. Now the ECT Act creates a take-down process as the avenue for handling illegal content, but the copyright associations appear disinclined to utilize this, Cull points out. Cull related that there were some initiatives in SA, but declared that there's nothing concrete on the table at this time. There also seems to be a difference in opinion between the copyright associations in SA regarding whether any farther legislation is required or whether the present framework is sufficient, related Cull. The Net Service Provider's organisation of SA ( ISPA ) concluded with Cull, asserting that there's not a lot more to contribute to the discussion.
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