The first copyright infringement notices have been received by a number of major ISPs.

The Dominion Post today reported that Telecom, Vodafone, TelstraClear and Orcon had all received infringement notices overnight.

The notices came from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand and many accuse customers of illegally downloading music from R&B artist Rihanna.

The new "three strikes" copyright law came into effect in September, but up until last night no ISPs had received notices because of the $25 administration fee that copyright holders are required to front.

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill is aimed at curbing piracy by having ISPs send out notices to New Zealand consumers who are accused of copyright infringement by copyright holders. After receiving three notices, a consumer can be taken to the Copyright Tribunal.

The Tribunal can then fine the consumer up to $15,000.

Initially the bill also allowed for the Tribunal to ask for a six-month internet disconnection. This section of the amendment is under review and may still be implemented if the Government believes the bill is not working as intended.

(Source: pcworld.co.nz)