WikiLeaks: US offered to bankroll New Zealand piracy crackdown

According to cables released by WikiLeaks, the US embassy in New Zealand urged the federal government to fork over about half a million New Zealand dollars back in 2005 to bankroll a private intellectual property enforcement unit run by major rightsholders in the region. Operated on an informal basis by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) and the Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), the US identified the "unit" as the only potential bulwark against music piracy in the region.