The proposed Copyright Amendment Bill has recently come to my attention. It strikes me that a number of the proposed amendments mirror very closely the current Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) legislation in the USA. You may be aware of significant difficulties raised by the DMCA, leading to the requirement for exceptions to be made to this legislation to allow for non-infringing circumvention of DRM: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005021.php

Additionally, there have been a number of reported cases where the anti-circumvention provisions of the current DMCA legislation have been invoked not against pirates, but against consumers, scientists, and legitimate competitors (see http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/unintended_consequences.php). I would ask that you review these cases to ensure such legislation is not used in the same manner in New Zealand.

I am also very worried about some of the proposed amendments because of the way they may restrict my personal use of purchased content that is covered by DRM. For example if I purchase music for a device that uses DRM, and this device becomes obsolete, how am I able to circumvent the DRM such that I can access my legally purchased music, if I am not able to purchase software to circumvent the DRM?

In a broader context, I am disappointed that the government is proposing such draconian measures that to my mind assure that a small number of corporations have the rights to lock up a majority of our content in proprietary DRM systems. This makes the assumption that the proponents of any particular DRM systems know the best way to protect our content and will do so in perpetuity. An ivory tower mindset if you will. I believe this is a naive, anti-competitive, and commercially unhealthy approach. There are most definitely ways to protect content that rely on open, yet secure, methods. In fact it makes more sense that the Copyright holder, rather than a third-party DRM system, should be in control of the way their content is restricted.

Id also make a final comment that you are no doubt aware of: the only people that DRM encumbers are the honest users. Dishonest users and pirates will *always* find ways to circumvent DRM technology, and in fact will do so purely for amusement, rather than a desire to access the content.

Please reconsider this legislation. Move away from supporting the current blame-first business model pushed by major music labels, and make New Zealand a beacon for more open, inclusive copyright legislation that truly fosters growth in arts, technology and commerce.