AUCKLAND – The first New Zealander to be convicted of illegally sharing music online – a woman who has not been named – has been fined NZ$616 by the country’s copyright tribunal, more than 18 months after anti-piracy legislation with a three-strikes-and-out clause came into force.
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| Image credit: Music Piracy.com |
The legislation stipulates that anyone found guilty of three or more illegal downloads must be charged, and can be fined up to $15,000.
The tribunal found the unnamed user’s account was used to download one song twice, and another song illegally, using peer-to-peer software.
The tribunal fined the defendant, who acknowledged downloading one of the songs, $6.57 to cover the cost of buying the infringing songs from iTunes, $250 to recoup costs incurred by rights holders in bringing the case, and a further $360 as a deterrent.
