Category: Law and Order

May 14

The Road Toll and Drink Driving

The NZ Police are calling for a reduction in the legal alcohol limit.

It’s currently 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.  They want it reduced to 50 milligrams.They insist this will reduce the road toll by 14 per year and save the country about $100 million per annum.

Okay, great.  I can still drink nearly a whole bottle of wine over a few hours and still be under the limit.

The issue I have however is it does not address recidivist drunk drivers.  All it does is target those who have one or two drinks too many.  Essentially, just as the NZ government did with other laws like the “Anti-Smacking” law, we target the wrong people.  People who are law abiding. The people that need to be targeted don’t give a flying fuck about the law.

The true nasties of the world continue onwards without care.  They don’t care if they lose their license, or if their kids are taken away in the case of section 59. The will continue to intimidate, or wear patches, or not pay their taxes and fines.  They simply do not care.

Some of the most serious drink driving incidents last year were caused by recidivist drunks.

One had over nine convictions, had a permanent license suspension and were still out amongst society.  They are a threat to society, no worse than a violent criminal with multiple assault and murder convictions. Why will the authorities not deal with them as such.

Is someone bashing someone else with a hammer any different than driving a 1 ton piece of metal into an innocent oncoming vehicle killing a newly wed woman who was not even 30 yet any different?

A hard line on drink driving needs to be taken. But no on those just over the limit. It’s the recidivist drunk drivers that need to be targeted first. Then we can deal with the education of the others who drink one or two too many over dinner at a restaurant or work party.

We currently need to focus on other matters to get the road toll down, speed and drinking are not killing us as much as other factors.

My opinions, based on anecdotal research are strong, practical and I believe valid. I wrote a piece a couple of  years back, which you can read. It is called simply “Road Toll“. It is even more relevant today I think.

Let me know what you think, because as with most social issues, I still think public voice and education are the solution.

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Posted in Law and Order, New Zealand

May 17

Dealer Gone Rogue – Ron Coles

Rogue art dealer Ron Coles has now got a lot more to worry about.

After entering into a deal, promising to sell artworks for cash creating a simple but effective money laundering scheme. However, after his disappearing act, the artwork is nowhere to be found, nor is the large sums of cash the bikers handed over.

Stealing a million dollars from criminals will most likely end up outting Coles to an early grave.

Coles is likely to have more concern about the bikers on his tail than the overstretched law enforcement officials who have pretty much said they are too busy to track him down. The bikers however will not stop until he is found, and “taken for a little ride”.

Coles has been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with an angry hoard of investors for months. It is now a race for who will get to him first.

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Posted in Art, Law and Order

Jan 19

Legal Downloads Increase By 25%

EARLIER this month I wrote a piece on the music industry (Is The Music Industry Dead?)

Today, I heard a soundbite on the radio that last year, 95% of all music downloaded was done so illegally. This was a scarey number!

Then a few more “minor” details were added, which shows the industry and the consumer are finally starting to find a balance.

Legal downloads had increased by a wopping 25% over 2007 figures and legal downloads account for 20% of revenue.

However, the music industry are still pressuring for legislation to disconnect habitual individuals who download music illegally.

On one hand, I can see their point, but as my original post tried to highlight, they need to explore better options than punitive punishment.  The pressure it puts on individuals and ISPs plus the policing is just too great a task.

The model they need to move for is “all-you-can-eat” subscriptions.  Make it relatively cost effective for the consumer, easy to monitor and so easy people will move away from piracy.  If they can get 50% of all downloads to be legitimate, the problem becomes much easier to manage.

I know of several people who will download tracks illegally, see if they like them (takes them days or weeks) then they will buy either the CD or buy the track, and sometimes others once they like the artist etc.  These people are good for the industry but technically break the law and would be caught up in the new legislation some countries like France and New Zealand have put in place.

It would be great if they could do something without alienating people. I for one would be happy to pay $20-30 a month and be able to download music as often as I like. It’s a great model for an ailing industry, and I hope they finally realize the old approaches won’t work.

What about you, have you downloaded illegally?  What’s your price point that it becomes easier just to download it legally?

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Posted in Internet, Law and Order, Piracy

Jan 06

Is the music industry dead?

I read some article ages ago (still trying to find it again, but that issue is  for another time) about the state of the music industry.

They were, and are, in deep shit.  This is bad for the artists, and largely the executives of the various music industry corporates dropped the ball.  This holds true for the film industry to a degree as well.

Many, many years ago now, when I developed my very first internet application (we are talking around 1995), I showed it to a few of my colleagues.  They were amazed that a file over on that server could be accessed via the telephone like a fax machine is used for sending the image of a piece of paper. (best analogy I could come up with back then).

I had immediately thought about the possibilities and implications.  Even then copying games and the like was prolific.

Years later internet based piracy had gained traction, and the music industry was in damage control.  They were losing revenue through piracy with sites like Napster and they didn’t like it. What is worse is the executives and their legal advisers did not understand the technology or the way the internet would change society forever.

This was where the music industry reached a crossroad, embrace the internet, crush the internet or ignore the internet.

We all know what happened.  The law suits started, DRM (Digital Rights Management) was introduced.  But the music industry is still losing it’s fight. And it will disappear unless it changes.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the reality is they should have gone to Napster and made a deal. A friend of mine created an online music store called Digirama, it does OK.  iTunes does OK, as did Coke’s venture.

But at the end of the day, the music industry as we know it is dead.  $0.99 for a track?  It’s still too much when you can grab it for free.  DRM?  Damn it, I made hundreds of cassette copies from my record collection, why should I be limited to 3 computers/devices?  Why can’t I play it in the car? One in three CDs with DRM or similar protection DON’T WORK in car stereos!

They also have the problem that there are the equivalent of  “self publishing” companies popping up targeting new artists.  For example tuneflow.com (I’m affiliate, so sue me ;) ) pay up to 80% of the sales price to the artist, that certainly beats the 15% the music industry pays it’s artists!

So what does the music industry need to do?

Simple.  Ditch the “hard” copy of the media, go electronic.  Work with companies like Napster to get electronic distribution going.  Cut costs and “dead weight” in the industry.  Use the internet to their advantage.

Does it really need to cost $250,000 for the producer to help produce the album?  What do they bring to the table in the modern age?

You can buy pretty good recording gear for less than US$5,000 – you can set up a basic sound room for about the same.  Your dad, sister, brother whoever can help produce it.

The music industry needs to realize they are no longer needed for the production of a quality album.  And with sites like Bebo, Facebook and the like, marketing “new artists” is no longer the huge expense it used to be. Hell, look at some of the new artists only being release on iTunes and so on.

They need to embrace the internet, or they are gone in the next 5-10 years.

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Posted in Internet, Law and Order, Music, Piracy

Dec 22

Fast drivers face fast licence loss

So, the government is pushing through more restrictive driving regulations to apparently try and reduce the road toll to 300 by 2010.

Good luck.

They are increasing demerit points. Banning radar detectors, and changing to a percentage scale for traffic violations (i.e. 20km/h over in a 50km zone is far more serious than in a 100km zone).

The last part I agree with.

But in my opinion it is a complete rort.

Where are the true statistics that say speeding contributes to a higher road toll? Back in the 70s we had a far higher toll, cars were slower and there were less of them.

Here are the initiatives they should introduce:

Drunk Driving

  • 1st offence: Lose license for 12 months, $5,000-25,000 fine based on how much over the limit.
  • 2nd offence: Lose license for 60 months, car is impounded and sold. $5,000-25,000 fine.
  • 3rd offence: Permanent ban from driving. 6 – 60 months incarceration; home detention primary method.

All fines and proceeds of sale should be put into a trust fund to assist organizations like Odyssey House.

Infringements
Sorry, driving at 80km/h past a school is far more serious than a driver that has driven the same stretch of open road between work and home 1000s of times. Doesn’t make sense to say they are the same offence.

Speed cameras need to be abolished. They are pointless revenue gathering devices.

All revenue should be put into a trust fund. That fund subsidises improved driver training, including a mandatory defensive driving course and refresher courses every 10 years for all drivers.

Vehicle Crashes
True data on the incident should be collected. e.g. Age of the vehicle, experience of the driver, condition of the road. Particular focus should be conditions of the tyres, brakes and most importantly shock absorbers.

Why the last one? Because shock absorbers should be replaced every 60,000 to 80,000 km. This should be mandatory as part of WoF. Shock absorbers are probably the biggest cause of minor incidents turning into disastrous one from an anecdotal perspective.

Statistics
As I have said in various forums before, the statistics model used by the LTSA and other government units are flawed.

A raw number is simply wrong, as is the use of deaths.

We have more vehicles on the road than the 70s, they drive far more that they did in the 70s. Our road toll is sitting around the 400 compared to 700-1000 in the 70s. The actual percentage of fatal incidents is tiny compared to the 70s. And guess what, our cars go much faster, the speed limit is 20km higher!

The statistics should be focused on the number of fatal incidents (not deaths), and be measured as a weighted value based on the number of km per annum driven by the NZ vehicle fleet.

This rant has been quite long, as I believe the government is not serious about reducing the road toll.

Four things affect the road toll:

  1. correct capture of statistics
  2. addressing lack of skill of drivers
  3. recidivist drunk drivers
  4. lack of focused vehicle safety

This is one subject I truly believe the public need to better understand, instead of taking at face value the flawed approach by government.

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Posted in Law and Order, New Zealand, Responsibility, Transport

Jun 09

Incarceration

Incarceration – it is something that I have thought of many times in my nearly 38 years on this planet.

Why? Because many years ago I learnt the difference between freedom and incarceration can be a single choice at a given moment in time.

I recently heard a story from someone who had gone along to see a woman called Celia Lashlie. Obviously, because of Chinese whispers it may not be 100% accurate, but it does cover the gist of the situation.

A young man was at a bar, he was a good young man. He had excellent school marks, and a great testimonial from his school. After a few drinks, an event occurred that was to change his life forever. He overheard a bouncer removing a patron for being disruptive, and the patron was verbally abusing the bouncer, including making racial comments. The young man, of the same race as the bouncer, took offence and hit the drunk patron, who fell, hit his head, and died. The young man is now in prison for a moments foolishness and bad luck.

Now, some would say he got what he deserved. But I have been that young man many times in my life. At parties, bars and pubs. Striking out in anger or stupidity or in the defence of a friend or even simply to try an impress a girl. I have done it sober and intoxicated.

Any one of those occasions could have resulted in me being in prison had fate decided to escalate the event.

As the father of a 2 year old, my greatest fear is for him to be involved in such a silly situation, either at the receiving end or the instigator.

The greatest challenge I see ahead is providing the environment that my son can develop the good sense and self esteem to never put himself in such a situation.

On a side note, I just found a blog of a guy who is about to go into prison. Very very bizarre, but also though provoking.

The Rabbit Hole

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Posted in Law and Order, Parenthood, Responsibility

Aug 16

Drugs, The Law, And Common Sense

So, David Henderson is now a criminal.

His crime; using cocaine or more accurately getting caught.

His punishment, likely the loss of control of his successful international business and the inability to travel overseas ever again.

Does a conviction for personal use of drugs justify the impact of that conviction has on society? When convicted, people can lose their job, or their busines, as is the likely case for David Henderson. Does that do society any good? No.

Prohibition of alchohol was a complete failure, and the prohibition of drugs is also a complete failure. When it impacts the lives of people like David Henderson it is undeniable that the so called crime is victimless except through the application of the law. He used cocaine as part of his entertainment, in the same way many people use alchohol, cigarettes or even driving fast in their cars.

Should he have a conviction? Did he hurt any one? Was he in control of a vehicle while under the influence? Did he use machinery? Did he rob or attack someone? No.

But he is now a criminal. For enjoying himself.

Use of drugs should be legalized across the board. Would the ‘P’ problem exist today if there was no prohibition in New Zealand? Unlikely.

There are problems with alchohol in society, and there is an argument that society would have an even bigger problem with legalized drugs. But the thing is, that problem is already there, and the big difference is, because one is legal and the other is not, people often do not get help until they have truely gone down a very dark path.

I personally know several alchoholics, and I know also several drug addicts. Guess what, the alchoholics get help, the drug addicts only do so when they hit rock bottom.

Outnumbering the drug addicts and alchoholics are the work-a-holics. They do far for damage to our society than the others, but that’s their choice.

That is what it comes done to. Choice.

I can go down the road and buy beer, and get drunk in the privacy of my own home and it is nobody’s business but mine. If I go down the road and buy cocaine for my own personal use, I am technically a criminal. But for what?

The current arguments to keep drugs illegal just do not stack up. There are already problems. But they are hidden under the guise of a responsible society that does not acknowledge the drugs are already there.

Legalization and regulation of drugs is the only answer that will ensure people like David Henderson are not made to be criminals for victimless crimes.

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Posted in Law and Order, New Zealand