InternetNZ welcomes changes to Criminal Procedure Bill

InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) has welcomed changes to the Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill recommended by the Justice and Electoral Committee.

InternetNZ had strongly opposed section 216 that sought to introduce a new criminal liability on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for breach of name suppression by their customers. The Committee has recommended “that clause 216 be deleted, as we do not consider it an effective mechanism for policing breaches of suppression orders on the internet”.

The Committee has also recommended a new clause 215(3) “which would ensure that internet content hosts were not liable unless they knew or were aware of a risk the information was suppressed”.

InternetNZ Chief Executive Vikram Kumar says “In our submission to the Committee we had said that there was a false presumption that something had to be done. Rather than trying to make ISPs liable and going down the dangerous path of making them an arm of the State, we are pleased that the law will penalise those who breached a name suppression order in the first place”.

“It’s also good that the Committee has recommended changes to the offences and penalties in section 215. If a person comments online in a way that breaches a name suppression order, the right approach is to hold that person rather than the content host liable. Otherwise, content hosts would be in an impossible position of trying to police and make judgement calls about every comment on their websites.”

“This shows an appreciation by the Justice and Electoral Committee of the reality of the Internet and a willingness to listen to people’s views. Both of these changes are therefore very welcome”.