Microsoft has asked the New Zealand government to implement strict regulations to protect online intellectual property

Microsoft has asked the New Zealand government to implement strict regulations to protect online intellectual property, including making Internet service providers (ISPs) responsible for taking down or blocking pirated material on the Internet. The recommendations are contained in Microsoft's response to the New Zealand government's discussion paper on the Digital Technology and Copyright Act of 1994, a paper that seeks to update copyright laws for the Internet. The Microsoft submission contains four main recommendations it believes should be included in any update to legislation in New Zealand. First is the extension of copyright protection to "temporary copies" of digital music, movies, software, or books on the Internet. Copyright owners are taking advantage of digital technology to change the rules of intellectual property, for example, providing time-limited copies of music or other multimedia, where traditionally consumers received a permanent copy when buying a work. The wording of such an extension would be crucial, with Web pages threatening to be caught in copyright laws. Opening a Web page could be considered downloading a temporary copy, and so a breach of copyright. Secondly, Microsoft wants New Zealand ISPs to be made responsible under the law for the removal of pirated material posted on the Internet by their subscribers. Microsoft says ISPs should have to "take down or block" infringing material. The other recommendations cover the outlawing of software or hardware that can be used to circumvent copyright, and - naturally - harsher penalties for pirating software.