Tuesday March 2nd, 2010 was a big day for ACTA related matters in NZ. The text on the Internet and civil enforcement chapters and each country's negotiating position was leaked, MED called for public submissions on 'Enforcement in the Digital Environment' and released the dates for the next negotiating meeting in NZ on 12-16 April, and InternetNZ announced 'PublicACTA' a public consultation conference on Saturday 10th April.

If you care about this issue, you might be wondering what you can do. Here are some ideas:

• If you're a member of InternetNZ, NZ Open Source Society, Creative Freedom Foundation NZ, Tech Liberty NZ, or ISPANZ they'll all be making submissions on MED's 'Enforcement in the Digital Environment' paper. Get involved in their consultation processes/discussions and let them know what you think so they can represent your views.
• If you have strong opinions and clear views on the topic, consider making a submission to the MED process individually
• Mark Saturday 10th April in your calendar, be in Wellington (or participate online), and attend PublicACTA. This event will focus on the whole ACTA content/process (not just the part MED is seeking input on currently) and will be an opportunity for New Zealand to lead the world in open public discussion on this issue. The other organisations involved in the acta.net.nz coalition will be fully supporting InternetNZ in this event.
• Read up about the issue. Michael Geist's site is a great starting point, or read arguments for and against ACTA and follow the many links from our site
• Blog, tweet and write about the issue using the tag 'nzacta'. Tell your friends to get involved in the above, create an account on this site, and follow us on Twitter
• Tell us what we could do better to keep you informed and facilitate discussion - do you want an email discussion list, web forum, more links/analysis/news?

New Zealand's (leaked) negotiating position was one of the most balanced and least hardline copyright protectionist of all the countries participating in ACTA. Remember this is largely because you, and people like you, stood up and made our government listen regards section 92A.

That doesn't mean that NZ is a powerful voice in these negotiations though, or that NZ's representatives and our government don't need to understand your views. This is an opportunity to influence international norms regarding copyright and Internet freedom, at a critical time in history. People like you in other countries need us to be an example, to give them the confidence to make their governments listen too.

Thanks for your support so far. Now it's time to act.

The acta.net.nz coalition commitee