On Monday February 23rd, Throng will be joining a large and growing group of websites who will be voluntarily taking themselves offline in protest to Section 92A of the copyright act which comes into force on the 28th.

From 8am – 12pm, visitors to Throng will be redirected to a message regarding the protest with no areas of the site being accessible.  Access to the website will return to normal from midday.

This new law, which was passed by the previous Labour government and is now being endorsed by the current National government, assumes guilt upon accusation and without any normal due process will result in repeat infringers having their internet connections disconnected.

This protest is not an endorsement of copyright infringement or illegal downloads but a stand against our basic human right to be innocent until proven guilty.  The law has serious ramifications for business and could easily be used by one party to successfully disconnect a competitor using malicious allegations with no opportunity for redress by the accused and no penalties for false allegations.

For more information regarding this protest and the BlackOut campaign, please visit www.CreativeFreedom.org.nz

Throng Media is hiring writers who are enthusiastic about television in Canada, Australia and the UK.

Bloggers will have access to resources from television networks and production companies from their respective countries but will also be expected to gather additional news and resources to assist them with preparing posts.

We require writers who can add the some or all of the following: up-to-date news, spoilers, reviews, features and recaps/calculating points for our online games. Bloggers will be expected to add at least 5 posts per week with a minimum of 250 words each.

Knowledge of Drupal, SEO and interviewing an advantage. Basic HTML and image editing a requirement as is living in the country you’ll be writing for. Australian and Canadian east coast residents are preferred.

Bloggers will be paid per post with further incentives on reaching traffic goals.

How to apply

Please send 1 short writing sample relating to television in the country you wish to blog for and links to any additional online writing to regan@throngmedia.com