Wow! The internet works
Filed under: Cost of living, Hubby's Views, Only in New Zealand
It’s been an interesting experience dealing with different internet service providers here in Wellington. Capital city, you’d think you could get a decent internet connection. We’ll skip the whole two pieces of wet string connecting NZ to the rest of the world, and Ultra Fast Broadband that the Govt is pumping Billions of Dollars into – ultra fast to where? Jeez, I’d go for an internet connection that doesn’t need resetting multiple times a day.
So it was with some trepidation that we decided to watch X-Men: First Class through iSky. This is the Sky thingy that allows you to watch movies and other box office stuff, through your internet connection. In this enlightened age, our ISP wont even charge us for the data downloaded, it’s gratis!!
Now, normally if we try watching a few minutes of something on YouTube (not breaching any copyright there naturally), we have to let the video stream down and then watch it. Rather than watch it there and then. It’s an inconvenience, but ho hum. You can hear the cogs whirring.
Two hours of a movie via the internet?? It seemed to be asking a bit much. Hamsters can’t run that fast!
So it was with some incredulity and surprise that we watched the whole thing, with some pauses for a coffee break, without a hitch. No pausing, no buffering, no glitches, no having to refresh the browser etc. While the download clearly didn’t like fast on screen action, with the picture jumping around a bit, it still worked.
Which got me thinking. Clearly it’s possible to provide a decent internet service capable of delivering 2Gb+ of data within two hours. So why did it take me over eight hours the other week to upload 3Gb of data? Why can’t the internet service be this reliable the rest of the time? We’re already paying for the internet connection, why is it we have to pay for extra content before we get a decent service?
Or perhaps it’s that the internet is being swamped by so many people watching (paid for and copyright respected) content, that the rest of us plebs have to make do with the left over bit of wet string.
And oh the irony. We finished watching the movie, went to check email, and the connection died.
Time for another reset. Should have kept the movie streaming…
The 47 Rules of money
Filed under: Avalon's Money Thread, Banks, Cost of living, General Budgeting, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
This appeared in the Herald on New Years Eve, written by Diana Clement. I really like her articles about personal finance, and shes well worth a read. Unlike Mary Holm, she writes about general finance and makes an awful lot of sense, rather than just bleating on about how wonderful Kiwisaver is and how bad eveything that isn’t Kiwisaver is.
She has written her 47 rules of money, apparently in line with 47 years of life. I have to agree with just about all of them – and actually practice many of them. So here they are – with an occasional comment!
General:
1 Track your spending. You can’t budget if you don’t know what you’re spending.
- Probably the single most important thing you can do with your money.
2 Needs and wants are often confused. This is perhaps the biggest financial mistake that people make.
3 Talk money with those linked to you financially. Whether it’s parents, partners, children, employers, or business associates, get financial discussions out in the open.
4 People are too quick to judge others’ financial decisions, me included. But that needs to be balanced against my next rule, number 5.
5 People will justify their bad financial decisions to the end of the earth. “I did all the right research,” one finance company investor told me as my eyebrows went through my hairline.
6 Monkey see monkey do. Children learn about finances by watching their parents, not listening to hypocritical lectures.
7 You can earn a good salary and still be poor. Budget advice services sometimes see people with six-figure salaries who still can’t make ends meet.
- This is one of the biggest fallacies many people believe about money – people who earn more cannot be poor. It just doesn work like that.
8 People can and do lose all their money. A couple of times a generation a collapse such as Black Monday arrives with disastrous effects for thousands of people. Others fall for tricksters such as the off-the-plan apartment salespeople or Ponzi scheme promoters.
9 Entrepreneurship is good. Grounded but entrepreneurial people do well financially. They may not succeed in making their fortune first time around, but often do if they persevere.
10 You can be a capitalist and still have a social conscience. I admire philanthropists.
11 You don’t have to have a high-paying job to get wealthy. I once interviewed a successful property investor who worked by day on the shop floor at Noel Leeming and made his real money after 5pm.
12 Don’t blame your parents, your children, your partner or your education. Responsibility is good when it comes to finances.
13 Even beneficiaries can save. Some people live within their means no matter how little they earn. Saving money is a choice.
14 Some people want to be poor. They think they’re poor and that they’ll always be poor and sabotage their financial future.
15 Pay your taxes on time. The IRD has a big stick.
- And endless funds (paid for by you) to chase you with!
Spending:
16 I regret frittering money on coffees and unnecessary eating out. It would be better to direct that money towards savings.
- Um, Ok – can’t agree with that one clearly!
17 Spending money on experiences is good spending. I am eternally grateful that I sold all but one of my shares at age 22 (by coincidence in August 1987) and went backpacking through Latin America. It’s good spending if the experience enriches life.
18 Braking wastes fuel. This was one of those wonderful chestnuts that it takes a few seconds to get your head around. If you drive too fast and brake regularly, you’re using petrol on wasted momentum. Driving well can save 10 per cent of your fuel bill.
19 It’s moronic to incur fines. Like the maniac driver in a big red American-style pickup truck who overtook me on State Highway 2 on December 17, just to be pulled over and fined.
20 You can get rich one dollar at a time. Every dollar is precious. Think before you spend it.
Debt:
21 Save before you buy. A bit of a radical concept in 2011, but it can change people’s financial future.
22 Interest-free hire purchase deals are for suckers. You still pay an establishment fee and the majority of people fail to clear the debt on time and pay interest anyway.
23 Credit cards make you look rich. Anyone can live well for a few years, but the debt catches up.
- I would add to this that often when you see people splashing the cash around, and you feel sorry for yourself because you can’t do the same – you might want to spend some time wondering if that’s really their money – or a credit card they can’t afford to pay off. They may not be as rich as they look.
24 The only “good debt” is mortgage debt. Provided you don’t over-leverage yourself.
25 Interest payments on personal loans, credit cards and HP are “idiot tax”. Why throw money away unnecessarily?
26 Having a credit card debt need not be the norm. A credit card limit is a safety net, not personal money to spend.
Investments and financial products:
27 Beware of investments discussed at barbecues. When the whole world is piling into an investment such as property, gold, tech shares and so on, you’ve almost certainly missed the boat.
28 Buy property young, preferably in your 20s. Move heaven and earth to get the deposit. Rent is wasted money.
29 Any offer that comes over the telephone isn’t worth having. Just ask the people who were cold called by Blue Chip, timeshare schemes, or horse betting scams.
30 Having life insurance is a good idea. Paying that monthly premium feels like dead money (excuse the pun). The payout when you die can give your beneficiaries choices at a difficult time in life.
31 An entire class of investment can crash and burn. Who remembers: Equiticorp, Chase Corporation, Renouf Corp, Judge Corp and more that collapsed like a pack of cards after the 1987 crash? Then there were tech stocks, mortgage-backed securities and finance company debentures.
32 Shares can be “safer” in the long term than bank deposits. The argument, which I first read on the Motley Fool website, is that over 10 or 20 years good share investments will keep pace with inflation, while bank deposits will be eroded.
33 KiwiSaver is good. This is a red rag to many readers. Government-led retirement programmes get people saving for their future.
- Ok – one point out of 47 – at least it’s in balance!
34 Insurance policies are full of gotchas. For goodness sake READ EVERY WORD of your policy.
35 Property investment isn’t always as safe as bricks and mortar. It can turn to custard. Mortgagee sales happen all the time – especially with investment properties.
- A lesson many people are learning the hard way – you still need to watch your money, be sensible, and understand the basics. It is NOT easy money, it is NOT guaranteed, and it is NOT always a fast road to riches. (You will also meet a lot of arseholes willing to screw you over (Mr Agile Property management AKA Eric Voice) among some of the friends you will make.
36 Markets overshoot and undershoot. If a market’s fundamentals (such as the yield on investment property) are out of historic kilter the market is probably brewing a bubble.
37 The best time to buy is just after a crash. Buy fundamentally good investments when everyone else is bailing out of the market.
- I so wish I was flush with cash right now. One of the painful side effects of buying property at the hight of the market is not having cash to buy in the crash!
38 Beware of investing just to save tax. Is the investment actually any good or is someone desperate to sell it to you?
Financial advice and salespeople:
39 Take your advice from people who have been through several cycles. Johnny-come-latelies going through their first financial cycle underestimate the risks.
40 Your money is your responsibility. Yes, employ a financial adviser, mortgage broker, accountant and other professionals, but make sure you understand what they tell you and double-check that your money is adequately spread.
- Abso-fragging-loutely. NO ONE will care as much about your money as you do. Unless they are looking to take it off you.
41 Seminar presenters aren’t always financial experts. They probably make their money from seminars, not from the actual investment they’re preaching about.
42 Credit rating agencies don’t always get it right. Some companies deceive the agencies, others are part of an industry that may not be well understood by the ratings agencies.
43 Don’t believe the get-rich-quick conmen. You should aim to get richer slowly, but steadily.
44 Government subsidies are a magnet for spruikers. Sharks swarm around government money. Just look at the people selling insulation, heating, and ventilation or those who have been caught selling KiwiSaver door-to-door.
Others:
45 Passive cash-flow rules. Finding ways to make money that don’t need your hourly input makes sense.
46 Telling the truth infuriates some readers. Suggesting that people can change their financial ways brings in a flurry of outraged emails.
47 You can learn more about money. The easiest and cheapest way to improve your knowledge is to get a book out of the library.
- Or – ahem – buy mine!
And I’m adding one of my own:
48. Have a Sanity Allowance. Pocket money is not just for kids, and it will save you a whole heap of money and arguments. Along with tracking our money and actively managing the money – this would be the most useful thing I ever learned about dealing with finances.
Charging for Bonus Fly Buys
Filed under: Avalon's Money Thread, Cost of living, General Budgeting
Fly Buys – the ubiquitous “loyalty” scheme that gives you points for spending money, that you can then in theory swap for flights. You need to spend about $25 in New World to get 1 fly buy – which is worked out generally to be worth 15-20c, depending on what you buy. If you get the new Fly Buys cards you can actually get the points put directly through to Air New Zealand Airpoints.
You get $1 of airpoints for every 6.25 Flybuys. So you need to spend $156.25 at New World to get $1.
Checking how much it costs to buy the flights – on 25th April 2012 you can get a flight only (no check in bags) for 363 Fly Buys (which takes $9075 spend at New World).
Using Airpoints $ it cost $69, or the equivalent of 431 FlyBuys or $10,781.25 spend at new world.
Now I am actually on the scheme that converts directly to Airpoints Dollars – basically because I just cant be bothered with the faff and hassle of FlyBuys. The scheme is actually pretty complicated, and seems to con a whole load of people into paying more for stuff by sending them to retailers who will give them “bonuses”.
Well, last week we spent just short of $300 at New World Oriental Bay on wine. (For clients – not actually for us!)
When we got home, we noticed on the receipt an extra charge of 1c under the heading of NW Wine Bo.
Now no mention of any extra charge was ever made, and I was curious as to what it was. Besides – why is any company charging 1c for anything? I didn’t buy anything for 1c. So why am being charged for something I didn’t buy, don’t want, and didn’t get a choice about?
I emailed New World.
I was ignored.
I was now pissed.
So the next time I went to the store, I went to Customer Services and asked. It seems that among the bottles of wine we bought were 3 bottles from the New Zealand Wine Awards and NW were offering 10 bonus fly buys. Their “system” “can’t” just work out that I bought the three bottles and give me the fly buys, so they have to scan a bar code for it. And the “system” also “can’t” scan a bar code without a charge, so the “have to” charge 1c for the 10 bonus fly buys.
I asked for a refund.
New World also “can’t” refund to my credit card. And there is no longer any legal tender for 1c, or 5c. They ended up refunding me 20c.
Why bother asking for a refund of 1c?
Because they bet on you not doing it. There is no rhyme or reason for charging people for bonus flybuys. Other retailers manage it all ok, and New World having a crap system does not constitute a reason to charge you for something that is supposedly “free”.
However the main reason for doing it is that what New World is doing is blatantly dishonest and I feel they should not be allowed to get away with it.
And if they didn’t know full well they were scamming people – they would tell their customers up front that any bonus fly buys would be charged for. The amount is irrelevant. Just because they aren’t stealing $10 a time doesn’t mean they aren’t stealing – and they should stop. I would start by replacing whoever programs their till systems and finding someone who can get it to automatically give bonus fly buys. After All, if the “system” can work out that I have bought 2 bottles of Coke and automatically knock of $1, I fail to see why it can’t register buying 3 bottles of wine and adding on 10 fly buys.
How far would you go to save money?
While browsing the online Dom Post last week and reading the articles about Occupy Wellington, I saw a comment that talked about the protesters running a workshop on how to make your own Moon Pads.
For those who need to ask – those are Sanitary Towels.
Which got me thinking – as much as I love saving money – I do think there comes a point when you can go too far. Dealing with periods is bad enough- without having to go back to medieval personal hygiene methods and making my own supplies.
I take my hat off to anyone who goes to those lengths – either for monetary or environmental reasons. I am definitely in the camp that money saving shouldn’t be that hard and that there are indeed some benefits to having some money in the bank!
Buying Soho
Back in September I blogged about the possibility of buying SoHo, a new pay tv channel from Sky.
Well, we did. At and extra $10 a month on our Sky Subscription.
Now to be perfectly honest – if funds are tight, then pay TV is one of the first things that I would generally consider getting rid of. But we seem to have got through the worst of our financial tightness, and on the balance of all spending figured $10 a month was actually not a bad price.
Why?
Well, it got the 1st December, when the channel kicked over from the free trial to being chargeable, and we couldn’t access the programs we had saved on our MySky box. We figured the $10 was worth paying when we realised that out of the 75% of the hard drive used, 70% was made up entirely of programs saved from the SoHo channel.
I guess that says if we are going to pay for any channels, then that’s the one we should pay for.
Besides – no adverts! Yep – no having to muck about with the remote trying to miss the adverts, and a 45minute program actually takes up 45 minutes of space on the hard drive.
The funny side of catching up on several seasons of Mad Men without ad breaks just makes it more worthwhile.
So good on Sky TV – you managed to upsell me. Not an easy task.
Another Vodafone Overcharging scam to watch our for.
We have blogged about issues with charging for Data use on a smartphone - when we don’t actually use the phone for internet use. We still havent got to the bottom of that – but primarily because we couldn’t be bothered to get the service switched back on, and faff around trying to “help” Vodafone figure it out. It was costing us about $7 a month (which we got refunded). The commerce commission are however investigating this and other issues.
But this latest one is a bit more serious. Not least because it has happened on a PrePay phone – so you put cash on the phone – and then it starts disappearing.
So what happened.
- My parents bought a SupaPrepay sim card from Vodafone Lambton Quay on 17th October with a $20 top up
- The phone isn’t used – it’s for the emergency kit, so was just left around.
- They noticed on Tuesday that there were several text messages from Vodafone saying that there were chargeable text messages waiting to be picked up and they needed to top up the phone.
- There was a number to ring, so they rang the number – which gave them the option to Unsubscribe by saying the word “unsubscribe”- they did that and asked for a refund and for someone to call them back.
- After an hour with no callback – they phoned Vodafone customer services and found there was only $2 left of the $20 top up- Vodafone told them it had gone on messages from a website called Mobile Hits run by TimWe and that they had subscribed at some point.
- No one has ever subscribed to anything it just not something any of us does. We are by nature and training very wary of scams and have exceptionally cynical approaches to any company asking for private details.
- Vodafone at first refused to deal with the issue or unsubscribe the phone, insisting that my parents had to send a text to TimWe to unsubscribe.
- Vodafone however refunded $18 to the phone. Note – not to the credit card – so now there is still $20 of my parents money available for nicking.
- Mum refused to text TimWe as they had not subscribed to the service and told Vodafone to sort it out. It’s worth noting that a lot of phishing scams or spam scams actually work by getting people to first of all confirm that a mobile number or email is a real one – so this is actually the last thing you should do.
- Another text – about a game service, came through later, and mum checked the phone to find that the balance was only $11 – not $20 which it should have been if Vodafone had refunded the full $18.
- On phoning Vodafone – it appeared that another 2 texts had taken another $9 off the prepay balance while mum had been on the phone to them. Vodafone again insisted that we must have subscribed to these services.
- Thursday – TimWe contacted mum and have told her the number was subscribed to their service via a Website on 16th September.
- That is 1 month before the Sim Card and top up was purchased.
- So: either Vodafone (or one of their staff) subscribed the Sim prior to selling it to my parents and without telling them (Vodafone are a client of TimWe who provide add on services to Vodafone) – or it is a recycled number that was not cleared by Vodafone prior to sale, and reused rapidly.
- Either way – Vodafone are and always were 100% responsible for the charges and the subscription and are being blatantly dishonest and underhand in blaming their customers.
Vodafone sold us a “brand new” sim card that was already subscribed to a Text Message service that costs $4.50 per text to have spam sent to the sim. I have a feeling we are probably not the only people to have been caught out like this.
Be Aware.
And if this has happened to you – and you know damn well you did NOT subscribe to a service – take a stand. Do not be bullied by Vodafone staff in to accepting that this must have happened because you subscribed to a service and are just too thick to remember.
This has been reported to several agencies – and will be investigated to found out what Vodafone are playing at.
I will blog about what to do if this has happened to you as a separate blog coming next.
Would you spend $30 to avoid losing $16.
Filed under: Cost of living, Exchannge Rate & Currency Transfers, General Budgeting
I hope not.
But that’s what the people at ThinkGeek were expecting me to do, and as I am sure you can imagine I was a bit peeved.
So whats the deal?
Well, Think Geek is one of my favorite online stores. They sell Lightsabers. And a myriad of other geeky good things: the coolest T-Shirts, Gadgets, toys and gizmos – and at prices that often work out nearly half what we would have to pay in New Zealand (if we could get the stuff here).
We placed our usual Christmas order. The only downside to buying from ThinkGeek is the shipping costs. I have no idea how its worked out, but shipping is via UPS or DHL and will often double the cost of the order at least. Prices in New Zealand are so high that usually that still saves a small fortune – which is highly depressing – but some things do become prohibitively expensive to buy from there.
Anyhow – for the first time, we had damaged goods – a mug. While the overall package was packed securely – no one thought to stick a bit of extra packing inside the mug box – and it arrived in pieces.
Normally ThinkGeek need you to send damaged goods back for replacement but they said given the cost we didn’t have to – and gave us a Gift Certificate for the cost of the mug ($16 USD).
The problem is that shipping costs start at about $30 USD. So to use the $16 (that I have already spent) – its going to cost $30 more. So I emailed the monkeys at ThinkGeek to ask if they would cancel the gift certificate and refund the card instead. The response was that they couldn’t cancel the certificate, but they gave me a code to take another $5 off the order of I placed an order for $40, and $10 off if I placed an order for $40.
So it would only cost $25 USD to avoid losing $16.
Not happy.
So I emailed back expressing my dissatisfaction – and that this would stop me buying from them in future. I really love ThinkGeek – but I will not shop with a company where I stand a chance of losing money like that.
I had an email straight back saying they had refunded the card – not only for the Mug, but for the shipping for the entire order. Now that impresses me. As a “save” of a customer dissatisfaction issue its one of the best Ive seen.
But it does go to show that you may need to stick to your guns. I can see what ThinkGeek were trying to do, but with the shipping costs being so high – giving Gift Certificates instead of refunds just doesnt work.
Of course – we also had the option of going to VISA and getting them to reverse the charges. We actually paid for the order on our UK card – which is a lot easier to get a refund on than the NZ card. But it is good that they did the right thing in the end – and it means I can one day buy my next Lightsaber from them.
Thanks ThinkGeek.
The joy of a $5 bookshop
Filed under: Cost of living, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand
Along with hideous (for us) quantities of money being spent on stuff in Melbourne, I also spent some time hunting down cheap books.
As you’ll be aware, this is one of our pet peeves with NZ – a ‘cheap’ book is only $30 for a normal fiction paperback. ’only’ $50 for a fiction hardback. When compared to the whole 3for2 at Waterstones, reading becomes an expensive dalliance. It’s also no wonder that Borders & Whitcoulls in NZ have gone bankrupt. Try selling over priced stuff, just because you think people will pay for it? Nope – that’s the magic of internet shopping.
Even second hand books are pretty pricey, which probably reflects the retail price of new books. Arty Bees in Wellington – an emporium for booklovers and stockist of impressive quantities of Sci-Fi and Fantasy will charge $15 – $20 for a second hand novel. Up a bit from the 50p we would be paying at a UK Car Boot Sale.
So it was with some pleasure that in Melbourne I spotted a $5 bookshop.
Now its set against Minotaur, where I spent the best part of an afternoon just oggling books. And that was before I looked through all the other merchandise; or Of Science & Swords, with too many cool t-shirts too! I wasn’t expecting much in the way of Sci-Fi at the $5 shop. So I wasn’t disappointed on that score. They did have a large selection of general fiction though. So it was nice to browse around and wander through a bookshop that had more books than we do at home.
My bargain for the day – Jonathan Stroud’s Ring of Solomon. UKP5 at Amazon, NZD30 in the shops here. AUD5 over in Melbourne. So that’s one thing off my Amazon wish list.
Guilty ‘cos I say so
Filed under: Cost of living, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand
If there was ever doubt that legislation could be bought in NZ, then the Copyright (Infringement File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011 demonstrates that sufficient money can buy you legislation. The RIANZ official line on this can be found here. Avalon’s Guide is not of course advocating the illegal sharing of copyrighted materials.
We never give away second hand books for free. Unless it’s to charity, or friends, or colleagues or indeed anyone else who can’t afford to buy books as much as we do. And that’s why (illegal) downloading is such an issue in NZ, buying ‘original’ is just too expensive for a lot of people. Especially given that so many people (especially those on low incomes) do not have access to Debit or Credit cards and can’t buy over the internet and access cheaper overseas prices.
Most copyright holders don’t make their material available online if you’re in NZ. Just try watching The Big Bang Theory on CBS’s website for example. So instead you have to pay for overpriced copies in the shops. {Not that I feel TBBT is overpriced, it’s the most laughter packed into 20 minutes every episode we seen in ages – but why on earth would you pay $67 for Season 4 at Whitcoulls when it’s just $30 from Amazon?}.
Anyway. This is probably going to be a complicated post with lots of links, so bear with me on this. There’s plenty of blog posts out there in the interverse that discuss different aspects of the legislation, I’d recommend Sophos, The Register, plus of course Google is your friend.
I would also recommend you consult with your ISP and their approach to the legislation. Vodafone’s can be found here, which gives a good explanation and some pictures to go with it. Telecom here, I can’t find 2Degrees or Telstra’s info – although I’m told the latter have a good description.
The Act itself has picked up a variety of nicknames; the SkyNet bill, the anti-piracy act and so on. It’s even generated some attention from Anonymous. Beyond the posturing from different interest groups, what does it come down to? And how will it effect you?
1. The legislation makes it illegal, subject to civil penalty, for making available for download copyrighted material. i.e. Illegal Sharing.
Right – this is the first important thing. If you download something, this legislation doesn’t apply to you. If you share something – you’re in the spotlight. It’s only those who are sharing the stuff that the copyright folks are going after. Which makes sense. Stop the stuff being available, rather than going after the larger number of people who consume it. If the information you are sharing isn’t copyrighted, or is subject to Creative Commons, then you’re (probably) okay.
2. It applies to all copyrighted material, CD’s, DVD’s, Books, Pictures whatever.
Again, while the focus has been on people downloading bootleg copies of Lady Gaga albums and so on, the legislation applies to anything which is Copyrighted. It can be exercised by anyone who owns that copyright. So on the plus side, if someone who has bought a softcopy of Avalon’s Guide then makes it available for download, we can take the matter up with their ISP.
3. It only applies to land lines – at the moment.
So if you’re on a wireless broadband connection, such as we are with WizWireless, then we’re currently not in the spotlight. Also, if you’re using a mobile broadband connection for your laptop you’ve got until 2013 to stop sharing stuff out.
4. It does apply to businesses. And Universities.
So if people come into work and make stuff available for sharing, you as the account holder as far as the ISP is concerned, are liable. Not the business owner, not your manager, not the guy in accounts who pays the ISP Bill. You. The name on the account. So, don’t let anyone put your name on the internet account at work. 
5. It doesn’t apply to schools.
In an attempt to demonstrate their ‘we’re here to educate not disconnect people’ credentials, the RIANZ have said they wont take schools to task if illegal sharing is found to be happening from schools. They’ll help them, educate them etc. Which is kinda funny, as the rural component of the Billions of dollars being invested into fibre for NZ’s cities is actually going to be over Vodafone’s wireless service. So they’re not in the spotlight yet anyway.
Not that any school children (or University students) would be as irresponsible as to copy CD’s and share them with their friends. ’Course not. And parents wouldn’t dream of sneakily heading to the school to download the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Clearly.
6. You can’t be disconnected – yet.
The other big headline related to this legislation is that the final penalty will be that your internet is disconnected. After you’re paid a bundle of fines etc. Only the ‘disconnection’ penalty isn’t active as an available option yet. For the moment you can only be fined. The disconnection option is in the legislation, so it’s something that can be enabled. But it’s not an option available to the copyright holders or the Copyright Tribunal yet.
7. Remember the Copyright holder has to prove themselves.
While the issuing of a notice from your ISP is the bit that makes you guilty until proven innocent, the Copyright folks still have to prove to a tribunal that you did make their material available for download. You get to challenge their claims. So the burden of proof is still with the Copyright holders and you still get to have your say. Eventually.
8. It’s an Award not a Fine. NZ has this pay or stay legislation. If you owe fines for speeding, parking, child support, or other court fines, then if you try flying out of the country on holiday you can be stopped. And you have to pay up. Interestingly enough this legislation has resulted in a whole load of outstanding fines being paid. It seems people heading away on holiday can suddenly find the money to pay fines they hadn’t previously been able to afford. Shocking!.
Anyhow.
The Copyright bill penalty is an Award. This means that if the copyright tribunal decides you are guilty, they make an award to the Copyright holder. That Copyright holder still has to try and get the money from you. So by the looks of it – having an outstanding Award against you won’t stop you going on holiday. This all begs the question of why overseas mega-corporations can send you warning letters and attempt to fine you without having to prove their allegations first – yet I as a New Zealand citizen cannot take Agile Property Services (Eric Voice) to the disputes Tribunal for ripping me off and letting his mate live rent free in my house because he refuses to acknowledge my dispute.
Money talks – in New Zealand more than most places.
9. There are so many loopholes it’s just funny.
I think this is where the folks involved in drafting this legislation on behalf of RIANZ have fouled up. There are so many way’s around this legislation, and so many opportunities to challenge it should you get a Detection, Warning, or Enforcement notice. Clearly they’re not really thinking like a pirate and trying to really stop this activity, they’re only worried about getting their money back.
I wont go into the detail of all the loopholes here. ‘Cos that would be irresponsible and I might need them for my defence. Since my name is on the ISP bill at home and all the LoL cats living here seem surprisingly adept at using the internet.
In the end, it’s just another badly written law that makes no sence. And in New Zealand, a country where we cannot legally buy tv shows or films online, and are forced therefore to pay rip of prices for DVDs – surely the simple answer is just to make content available legally – online – and let us pay for it at a reasonable price? But hey – why do that when you can turn the population into criminals?
Occupy Humour
While the original basis of the “occupy” movement has a very powerful and (I think) necessary message (anyone wanting to see it in stark clarity – I suggest watching a film called To Big To Fail – currently showing on the free SoHo channel in NZ) – it has spawned a huge amount of humour.
I got this from Motley Fool via Twitter. It’s not a new cartoon – but as they say you can always rely on Calvin and Hobbes as much as you can Dilbert for condensing complex issues that us mere mortals can understand. This clearly explains one of the main issues I see behind the original movement.
Then theres the calls to Occupy Sesame St
And OccupyMordor
And Occupy The Death Star
And on a slightly more serious note – because I really don’t believe that blaming all this mess on a few people when the rest of us have indulged in many years of rampant overspending and gleefully taken every bit of credit we can get our hands on to enjoy lifestyles we couldn’t hope to afford:
Avalon’s Guide On Facebook
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