Our Work

The World Internet Project is an international research project that tracks the global trends of the Internet over a number of years by surveying both users and non-users. The New Zealand research is part-funded by InternetNZ and conducted by the Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication at Auckland University of Technology.

There is almost universal agreement that broadband is to the 21st century what roads and rail were to the 20th century – critical infrastructure, and a basic requirement for ongoing economic growth - and InternetNZ is active in the campaign for better broadband for New Zealanders.

Key statistics in respect to the Internet in New Zealand are complied by the Auckland University of Technology, the Department of Statistics and the Commerce Commission. We have also included a variety of other statistics links.

Every Internet-capable computer or device needs a numeric IP (Internet Protocol) address to be able to connect to the global Internet. Most computers and devices connect using the IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) address standard, which allows for over four billion addresses. The problem is that the number of Internet-enabled devices is growing so quickly that soon there won’t be enough IPv4 addresses to go around.

In 2009/2010 the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) deployed a voluntary filtering system that allows ISPs to block access to a blacklist of child abuse material. This attracted robust comment among InternetNZ members and a working group was formed to technically analyse the filtering system and consider its policy implications.

The Government has come up with a new proposal to deal with the vexed issue of illicit peer-to-peer filesharing. The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill will repeal Section 92a of the Copyright Act 1994. It sets out a fairer regime that is focused on public education via notices and tests allegations of infringement through a Tribunal process.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed plurilateral trade agreement for establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement. It is being negotiated between the US, Canada, Japan, the European Union, South Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, and is understood to contain significant provisions relating to non-commercial copyright infringement via the Internet.

The Internet has transformed communications in New Zealand as the number of information sources easily available to the public has exploded from barely a dozen media outlets to thousands of websites, blogs, Facebook pages and Tweets on Twitter. 

The InternetNZ Research Fellowship in Cyberlaw is a research position at Victoria University’s Law School designed to support the development of expertise in legal and policy issues relating to cyberlaw.

In July 2010, New Zealand human rights and internet industry leaders held a roundtable discussion to discuss human rights and the Internet.