New Zealand did it! On February 28th a law was to come into effect (Section 92A) that essentially would have had a citizen have their internet disconnected just because of an accusation of copyright infringement.
It worked. The New Zealand government has backed off. Citizens were joined by people all over the world especially on Twitter, but also on websites.
Avatars went black, websites went black, banners were run leading to a site explaining this law to internet users. While the online campaign was a huge success there was also a boots on the ground protest outside the NZ Parliament buildings. The New Zealand Herald:
Prime Minister John Key has announced the controversial Section 92A law, which has been widely condemned by internet users, is to be delayed.
It will go on hold until March 27 while work is carried out on a voluntary code of practice.
If no solution is reached by then it will be suspended.
If no agreement was reached then the section would be suspended, Mr Key said.
If a code was agreed to, there would be a review after six months to see if the law was working as it was intended.
There has been a huge amount of coverage in print, radio, TV and online. Seems to me the interested parties are citizens themselves and New Zealanders have successfully shown the rest of us how to mount a successful and effective campaign against a law that serves specific interests. People with conflicting interests joined together and had about a week to put the word out.  And the government backed away.
Cre8d-design has a copious round up of the story including coverage from every form of media.
