Record industry lobby says it no longer supports 3-strikes copyright termination laws

Following a UN report condemning laws that require ISPs to disconnect households accused of copyright infringement, the Australian record industry lobby has declared that it does not support the practice anymore.

Speaking with SMH, MIPI general manager Sabiene Heindl, today said that while MIPI supports "mitigation measures" for dealing with persistent illegal file-sharers, "such measures would not include termination of Internet accounts."
Heindl's statement represents quite a turnaround for the recording industry. MIPI has dozens of member labels on board - including the all-important EMI, Universal, Warner and Sony - and although delivered in Australia, it would be difficult to see how the Big Four could pursue different anti-piracy strategies in major markets elsewhere.

Recording Industry Steps Back From Piracy Disconnections

(Image: hadopi_logo, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from 30468198@N08's photostream)

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Anonymous

Now they should pay the bill of French taxes that were spent introducing HADOPI. Word.
Ambiguity

…and although delivered in Australia, it would be difficult to see how the Big Four could pursue different anti-piracy strategies in major markets elsewhere.

Really?

I think what he have here is a failure of imagination on the part of the author :(
- Rob
  
  I don’t think so.
  
  How well do you think headlines around the world of “RIAA supports Human Rights violations” would fly with their PR flacks?
Anonymous

Great that this comes after we in New Zealand have already been saddled with this legal atrocity…
Anonymous

Step 1: Get disconnect laws passed for downloading music/movies
Step 2: Turn around and say you actually didn’t support it after all so now you can’t hate us.
Step 3: The laws are already on the books and no attempt is made to remove them
Step 4: Profit!
- kiwidebz
  
  Some New Zealanders are acutely aware that this is our usual lawmaking process and outcome. It seems others either don’t know, can’t understand, or don’t seem to care.
  
  It’s just a pity that the first bites of the worldwide recession led to a voter knee-jerk reaction resulting in the election of our current (right wing) “National” party led by Prime Minister, John Key, who has been referred to in his former corporate life as “the Smiling Assassin” because of his casual and unsympathetic attitude while informing workers of their impending redundancy. That should tell you much about the Thatcherite social responsibility of the current government.
  
  It’s about time New Zealanders had some confidence in courageous and visionary thinkers. The problem is that anyone who would make a stellar politician is also likely smart enough to avoid a career that typically attracts those with a massive ego and little in the way of morals or conscience.
  
  The saying goes that if you don’t vote, you get the government you deserve. The problem is the flip side of that; still voting and often ending up with the government you *don’t* deserve and certainly would never have voted for. There is a minimum age for voting; there should be a minimum acceptable intelligence level as well.
arikol

…and it only took a UN condemnation of the idea for the copyright munchkins to get it. I mean, it’s not as if anybody has pointed out the problems with the three strikes concept before. It’s not as if the media companies have had any time to reflect on any possible issues with their own wishes and plans….
lasttide

Please note: Labels have not come out against 3 strikes. This is just a statement by a guy from Music Industry Piracy Investigations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Industry_Piracy_Investigations), not from the actual industry.
kiwidebz

This just in – “Govt won’t revisit copyright law”:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10730807

There is a general election in November this year. It will be interesting to see if people will continue to tolerate this erosion of their rights.
Daniel Friesen

Even if this ‘were’ the actual industry saying it you could easily cynically dismiss it as “Disconnecting people from the Internet doesn’t give us any money, we’d rather just continue using lawsuits to extract cash from them.”