Perhaps taking a cue from New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks, a group of Kiwi artists and activists are calling for an "Internet Blackout" to protest the country's coming "three strikes" law.

The Creative Freedom Foundation believes that copyright infringement is wrong, but it argues that the proposed penalty (ISP disconnection) doesn't fit the crime, especially since the New Zealand law only relies on evidence and allegations from copyright holders; the law makes no provision for judicial oversight or any other sort of process to contest the evidence of P2P copyright infringement. It goes into effect on February 28.

New Zealand's 1984 Copyright Act was last year amended in numerous ways, but the most controversial has certainly been the new section 92A. "An Internet service provider must adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides for termination, in appropriate circumstances, of the account with that Internet service provider of a repeat infringer," it says. ISPs argue that this is ludicrously vague, but they have little choice except to implement it and so are working with rightsholders to find some model that is least objectionable to all parties involved.

"Copyright infringement is wrong, but should people, schools, and hospitals have their Internet connections and websites cut off due to accusations of copyright infringement?" asks the Creative Freedom website. The group held a protest today at noon on the Parliament grounds in Wellington and presented a petition—signed by more than 12,000 people—to the government.

Protestors were to show up with plain black placards, echoing the "Internet blackout" pushed by Creative Freedom. A "major web blackout" is scheduled for February 23, when people are encouraged to replace their site or blog page with a simple black page instead. The idea has already taken hold on Twitter, where the Twitterati have already taken to blacking out their avatar. Stephen Fry, the British actor with more than 211,000 (!) followers, has signed on to the campaign, replacing his bio with a black box.

Still, this may not be the sort of exposure actually needed to change the law. Blacking out Twitter and Facebook profiles seem unlikely to carry much weight with politicians; if the complaints of New Zealand's Internet industry have not yet been effective, it's unlikely that empty avatars will do the trick.

As for that petition, it was an "e-petition," the easiest sort to collect signatures for (and politicians know it). ZDNet Australia attended today's protest in Wellington and noted that the sorts of protests that matter more—actual signatures from local residents and turning out a mob—remained small. The paper petition had only 148 names, while 120 people turned up to protest.