Despite some of our members’ pinko commie Chomsky-loving hippy leanings, Webstock is not a politicial beast. But sometimes a political issue comes to you and you need to say something.

Changes to the much debated Copyright Act have recently been passed into law. (The wonderful Peter Gutmann spoke at a Webstock Mini last year on the (then) proposed changes.) Of particular note, and not in the good use of “particular note” way, has been a last-minute change to include Section 92a of the act, saying, in effect, “that ISPs have to have a policy to implement cutting off people’s Internet if they are accused of repeatedly infringing copyright.”

Others have written more eloquently and knowledgeably about this change and the process by which it occurred. Please go read these posts, we think it’s important.

Colin Jackson has a series of three posts:

• Cutting off your Internet if you are accused of infringement
• Ministers: why we changed the Copyright Act
• Weightless economy? Yeah, right.

and Mark Harris has started a blog focusing on copyright and intellectual property.

Webstock believes the internet and the web has fundamentally and irrevocably changed things.
There’s a real and exciting opportunity for New Zealand – as a nation – to benefit immensely from this change. We’re committed to helping in our own way and like to think that by learning from and connecting with some of the best in the biz’ (both the amazing speakers and the super smart attendees), bold and inspired ideas with the potential to immensely benefit our community and NZ, can come out of Webstock.

It’s sad and it’s wrong that our elected representatives in parliament fail us and remain wedded to outmoded models and beholden to opportunity-limiting dinosaur industries. It feels like fiddling while Rome burns. Boo Politicians boo.