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section 92a of the Copyright Amendment Act, which would see users cut off from the internet after multiple accusations of copyright infringement, whether proven or not. In the face of opposition, the controversial section was removed as it was about to come into force.

Key was aware of the importance of the law to New Zealand, just as Clark had been. In March 2009, he said: “If New Zealand was to sign a free-trade agreement with America for instance, we would need an equivalent of Section 92A.”

The importance to the copyright industry is again reflected through the leaked cables. The US Embassy reported to Washington it had met with local representatives of the copyright industry on 29 March 2009. With a key section of the incoming law removed, the meeting was looking for ways to achieve its aims in spite of public opposition. The Embassy hosted Frank Rittman, Vice President and General Counsel for the Asia Pacific Division of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Tony Eaton, Director of the New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft, a body set up by the Motion Picture Association — the international arm of the Hollywood studios lobby. Eaton was a former New Zealand police prosecutor who, according to diplomatic cables, held regular meetings with the US Embassy.

The cables revealed both the copyright industry and the Embassy had been lobbying the Ministry of Economic Development over copyright protection and liability. The lobbying would continue, the cable read, with the Embassy working to “stress with (Government of New Zealand) officials the need for a shorter rather than protracted timeline”. It had also offered to “help with drafting and as a public diplomacy tool to dispel public misperceptions”.

Eaton gave the Embassy detailed accounts of meetings between the copyright industry and Power, who was acting in his role of Commerce Minister. According to the cables, Power had “no intention of going back on its commitment to strengthen NZ's copyright regime . . . He expressed privately that he wants to avoid some of the hysterical public reaction that accompanied the last attempt to revise S92A.”

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DOTCOM BELIEVES ONE of the reasons he was targeted was his support for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He says he was compelled to reach out to the site after US soldier Bradley Manning leaked documents to it. The infamous video recording of the Apache gunship gunning down a group of Iraqis (some of whom, despite widespread belief to the contrary, were later revealed to have been

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