As reported a year ago today, the Aotearoa (formerly known as New Zealand) government conducted an internal inquiry into reputed backroom deals between the recording industry and the National Party, which was the sitting government at the time the controversial Section 92 Copyright Amendment Act 2008 was enacted.

The news media reported today that the inquiry is to be shelved, citing lack of evidence and the inability to extradite key figures for questioning.

In an unrelated development, the RIANZ today released a statement applauding the success of S.92.  Spokesman for the RIANZ, Mega Bucks Snr, stated:

“Statistics show that copyright violation and internet piracy is no longer a problem amongst the 5,000 Aotearoa internet users. The copyright legislation in Aotearoa is a wonderful example of what can be achieved in a private/government partnership and is an example that we work hard to emulate in other countries around the globe.”

In the press conference that followed this release Mr Bucks Snr became flustered and finally left the conference after journalists demanded to know if music and movie sales had increased.

In other news, the country’s only internet provider, Vodatelxtrorcon, reports that its earnings are stable, despite recently increasing broadband charges to US$1,000 a month.

According to a spokesman for Vodatelxtrorcon, “customers appreciate the services we provide and former customers report that they are enjoying the lifestyle change brought about by not having access to technology”.

“Since Aotearoa became a free trade partner of the United States of America and changed its currency to the US dollar we have had access to cheaper hardware. This has allowed us to significantly reduce costs, which has benefitted all AmeriKiwis.”

Vodatelxtrorcon played a key role in drafting the European Unions S.93 MMXIII legislation which saw 14 million internet users lose their connections.  “Plans are well advanced in the mother country, the USA, and we expect their new S.92 to pass in the House within the next six months”, Vodatelxtrorcon says.

On February 16th, 2009, the world of the now-defunct social networking giant, Twitter, was darkened as people everywhere replaced their avatars with black images. This action was in response to a “call to arms” by the people of Aotearoa (which was then called New Zealand) to protest the Copyright Amendment Act, 2008.

The movement began on http://www.geekzone.co.nz/juha/6247 and quickly spread. Within a matter of hours the hashtag #blackout became the number one trending topic on the erstwhile Twitter site.

If you cast your mind back to 2009 you may remember the campaign:

An organisation representing thousands of artists, called Creative Freedom NZ, was busy promoting

“Internet Blackout NZ – A Week of Action Against Guilt Upon Accusation Laws in NZ. Join The New Zealand Internet Blackout to protest against the Guilt Upon Accusation law ‘Section 92A’ that calls for internet disconnection based on accusations of copyright infringement without a trial and without any evidence held up to court scrutiny. The word is already out and hundreds of people are learning about this law (even Stephen Fry).

- http://creativefreedom.org.nz/blackout.html

Blog entries quickly found readers:

• http://coffee.geek.nz/node/22680
• http://lynnepope.net/internet-blackout-protest

A facebook group was launched and had over 300 members in a matter of a few hours. Sites such as SearchEngineWatch asked if the protest would be the first true test of the power of social media. And it was.

However, despite the letters that New Zealanders sent to politicians, despite the petitions, and the internet blackout protest, the New Zealand government ignored the wishes of their people and the S.92 of the Copyright Amendment Act went into action on 28th February 2009.

In late 2011 the government responsible for implementing the S.92 clauses was ousted from power in a landslide election win by the NZ Greens Party.  Unofficial party spokesman, Mr I.M. Soylent, announced today that the new government is launching an inquiry into the National Party‘s election expenses, which have come under scrutiny by the internet community after allegations of paybacks and financial support by media moguls.

I will be watching this issue closely and will faithfully report on the outcome.