VZCZCXRO2276
PP RUEHNZ
DE RUEHWL #0807/01 3130256
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090256Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4878
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 5030
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND PRIORITY 1538
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY 0195
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WELLINGTON 000807 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR, STATE FOR EAP/ANP, EEB/IPC JCHAMBERS, 
INR, PACOM FOR J01E/J2/J233/J5/SJFHQSTATE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN ETRD KIPR PREL NZ
SUBJECT: STATUS UPDATE OF NEW ZEALAND COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT 
BILL 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  New Zealand's 2007 Copyright Bill as 
amended by the Parliamentary Select Committee falls short of 
international standards set by the World Intellectual 
Property Organization's (WIPO) Internet Treaties and is out 
of step with the standards set in the domestic legislation of 
New Zealand's major trading partners.  Two issues of 
particular concern to the copyright industry enumerated in 
the Bill - technological protection measures (TPMs) and the 
issue of Internet Service Provider (ISP) liability - are core 
issues of copyright protection crucial to stake holders 
throughout the world.  The U.S. position is that the 
copyright legislation be in line with the same levels of 
protection set by the U.S., EU, Australia and other countries 
with thriving intellectual property industries.  If the Bill 
is enacted in its current form, New Zealand will not be able 
to provide the legal certainty needed for the development of 
on-line products and services, and risks becoming a haven for 
internet piracy.  End su 
mmary. 
 
GNZ Parliament's Controversial Draft IPR Bill 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ambassador and Econoff met on October 30 with NZ 
Minister of Trade Phil Goff, his staff, and Ministry of 
Economic Development (MED) officials, to discuss the status 
of the NZ Copyright Amendment Bill and to bring to the 
Minister's attention shortfalls in the legislation initially 
highlighted by both USTR and the major U.S. intellectual 
property (IP) trade associations (IIPA - print, MPAA - film, 
RIAA - recordings).  The Ambassador's message not only 
touched on the specific technical corrections needed to bring 
several provisions of the Bill into conformance with 
international standards but also to explore with the Minister 
the effects a substandard copyright regime could have on 
trade.  We discussed NZ's profile as set out in the U.S. 
National Trade Estimate (NTE), which recounts the slow 
progress to date that NZ's has made in modernizing its IP 
laws and explored the negative impact a poorly drafted law 
would have on the IP industry.  We brought to the Minister's 
attention some of the problems the draft Bill would create, 
especially the chilling effect the new criminal sanctions 
that could be brought against a copyright holder if he/she 
provides misleading information against a perceived 
offense/infraction caused by an internet service provider 
(ISP).  The Ambassador explained that the focus of the Bill 
is overly biased in favor of consumers rather than the 
copyright holder.  Econoff asked the Minister directly why NZ 
had not yet adopted the WIPO Internet Treaty as have NZ's 
major trading partners, to which he replied, "we are 
attempting to move in that direction."  His response 
contrasts sharply to an earlier response given by MP Tizard 
(whose office drafted the copyright bill) who tersely 
responded, "we have our reasons for not joining." 
 
¶3. (SBU) The meeting with Minister Goff ended with his 
reassurance that he would raise our concerns in an upcoming 
Cabinet meeting.  He assured us that the Prime Minister was 
aware of USG concerns regarding the copyright bill, and had 
heard directly from members of the IP industry in her 
capacity as the Arts Minister.  We stressed that it would be 
better to get the provision of the Bill sorted out first 
rather than to force it through a hasty second reading.  When 
pressed, the Minister would not say if Labour felt confident 
the party had the votes to pass the legislation in its 
current form.  The Embassy arranged to hold a follow-up 
meeting with the staff of MED and Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
and Trade (MFAT) to help resolve the differences. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In earlier consultations with the GNZ, Embassy's 
Political/Economic Counselor met with Labour MP Tizard 
(responsible for the bill's development), and with attorneys 
from MED responsible for drafting the legislation, to share 
U.S. concerns about the bill's shortfalls.  Ambassador 
McCormick also raised concerns about the bill's deficiencies 
with Labour MP Maharey who also has responsibility for the 
copyright bill.  (Note: Since assuming responsibility for the 
Bill, MP Maharey announced he will vacate his seat in 
Parliament at the end of the current term. End note).  The 
DCM also met with United Future leader, Peter Dunne who 
confessed that he was unaware of the deficiencies in the law 
 
WELLINGTON 00000807  002 OF 002 
 
 
and promised to make further inquiries.  In follow-up to 
meeting with Trade Minister Goff, Emboffs met on 31 October 
with Mark Talbot, Senior Policy Officer for Trade 
Negotiations and Wendy Matthews, Legal Advisor from MFAT 
along with Bronwyn Turley, IPR Policy Advisor and Silke 
Radde, Senior Advisor at MED to explain in detail the 
concerns we have in the Bill's deficiencies.  We were told 
that our message to the various ministers had been heard and 
MED was drafting new policy guidance to be discussed in 
upcoming Cabinet meeting.  To date we have learned through 
local industry contacts that MED is reconsidering its 
position on ISP provisions but has not given adequate 
attention to the TSP provisions in the draft Bill. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Post has held regular meetings with the Motion 
Picture Association's (MPA) local representative, Tony Eaton, 
who has had extensive discussions with Silke Radde at MED, 
and learned that the Labour Party does not currently have 
enough votes to pass the Copyright Bill in its present form. 
Opposition National Party's MP Chris Finlayson has officially 
registered his objection to the Bill during the second 
reading and canvassed other minority parties like NZ First 
and ACT to seek their support.  Finlayson has also said he 
proposed to other parliamentarians to withdraw the bill until 
2009 (after elections) or make the required technical 
corrections to make the bill suitable to industry.  Following 
a two-week recess, Parliament resumed on November 6 to 
continue deliberations on various legislative measures but 
Copyright Bill remains low on the Parliament Order Paper.  We 
will continue to track MED's work on the draft copyright bill 
until Parliament recesses for the Christmas holidays (i.e., 
December 11 through early February). 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  With an estimated turnover of NZ$2.6 billion in 
annual sales generated from copyrighted materials in the NZ 
market, it makes little economic sense for the GNZ to adopt 
standards of copyright protection that are out of phase with 
international IP treaty levels, and especially those of its 
major trading partners (U.S., EU and Australia). 
Furthermore, any consideration of future free trade 
discussions would at least require NZ to adopt IP protection 
that conforms to the ISP liability and TPM protection 
measures that feature in all U.S. free trade agreements. 
Post will continue to engage with the MED, MFAT and NZ 
parliamentarians to ensure that the New Zealand IP regime 
better conforms to international standards. 
McCormick