The new Copyright Act was all set to come into effect on February 28, but just a few weeks shy of that date an on-line campaign was waged that saw government call timeout and stop the Act becoming law.

Regardless of your position on Section 92A, the approach taken by the on-line community is one to learn from.  It was unique in its effectiveness and in outcome, but most of all its speed. The campaign demonstrates the power of on-line communities – both as a friend and foe.

The so-called ‘Guilt upon Accusation’ clause caused the storm in a laptop for many in online and artistic communities.  Section 92A of the Act provided for Internet Service Providers to cut users web access on suspicion of a breach of copyright, and this was at the heart of issue. The strategy to get their views heard was very simple. The community opposed to section 92A blacked out their online avatars on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. The idea, inspired by an All Blacks supporters call for fans to switch their avatars to silver ferns, was proposed by web developer Brenda Wallace at an un-conference held February 15.

Come the following Monday morning the ‘blackout’ news was spreading and the lights went out all over the internet. Web influencer and twitter-er extraordinaire Stephen Fry weighed in and turned his picture black in a bold signal to his 250,000 followers.

The opposition movement to Section 92A gained momentum, those motivated to lend support or find out more, crashed blog sites. The mainstream media here and internationally suddenly sat up and took notice. Scores of news items, from a range of viewpoints, appeared across all media. There ensued an unprecedented amount of coverage for what is really a dry, complex and niggly piece of legislation.

Within eight days from conception to completion the ‘blackout’ campaign organisers had made their way to John Key’s office and the law was suspended.

This campaign showed how an issue can now move at lightening speed, across countries, organisations and traditional groupings.  It is also a reminder to companies how, with the speed of new media, they can have a major issue on their hands before even being aware it exists.  The solution lies in keeping in touch with all critical audiences both on-line and off-line.

Tags: All Blacks, Facebook, John Key, online, Social Media, Stephen Fry, Twitter

This entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 3:03 pm and is filed under PR Matters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.