95bFM: The Wire

Recently, Meta, the company that owns Facebook, has won a copyright case against 13 authors over the unlicensed use of their work to train Meta’s Llama AI models.

The case, referred to as Kadrey v. Meta, resulting in US District Court judge Vince Chhabria, ruling that Meta did not violate copyright law.

As this case is a first of it’s kind as AI becomes more prominent across the globe, this has raised the question of the grey area between copyright infringements and the use of AI.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Joshua Yuvaraj, a Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland, about this case, and what this ruling means for the future copyright claims not only internationally, but also here in Aotearoa as well.

From tomorrow onwards, the Healthy Homes Standards will come into effect.

The guidelines require landlords to meet minimum standards of heating, insulation, ventilation, among other things; a law that was signed into effect in 2019.

Despite this, many are concerned that landlords can ‘self-confirm’ they meet these standards without external scrutiny.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to the Medical Director of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, Bob Hancox about these guidelines, and how the organisation are feeling about the standards heading into tomorrow.

Recently new legislation, The Game Animal (Herds of Special Interest) Amendment Bill, has passed its first reading in parliament which would allow deer and tahr into our New Zealand’s national parks after being reclassified as special herds.

Aoetearoa does not have any indigenous mammals, and its ecosystems are not developed for their sudden introduction into national parks. This has lead to pests such as possums and rats doing untold damage to our natural ecosystems and biodiversity.

This bill has been criticised as dangerous to our environment and native animals.

Producer Sam spoke to the Regional Conservation Manager at Forest and Bird, Nicky Snoyink, about the potential dangers of such legislation.

As electronics continue to become a more and more accepted part of everyday life, so does the need to dispose of them when they cease to function as intended. This leads to a lot of electronics being disposed of incorrectly, along with all manner of other rubbish.

While that may seem harmless on the surface, this can lead to combustion of rubbish trucks, which can be filled with all kinds of waste that can range from harmless biodegradable banana skins to highly explosive aerosol cans and very flammable lithium ion batteries.

When disposing of electronic waste, it is recommended to consult with the Auckland Council website for a full list of approved e-waste disposal locations.

Producer Sam spoke to Saeid Baroutian, Professor of Chemical & Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland at the University of Auckland about an experiment they carried out in conjunction with Auckland Council about the dangers posed by electrical fires in rubbish trucks.

This week on the Monday Wire:

There will be no catch up with Te Pāti Māori, and for the immediate future, due to the tragic passing of our spokesperson, Takutai Kemp, last week. Our thoughts go out to her whānau, friends, loved ones, and Te Pāti Māori as a whole.

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party’s Simon Court, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, speaks to him about the passing of Takutai Kemp, and the Regulatory Standards Bill, specifically about David Seymour’s posts criticising individuals opposing the bill for suffering from "Regulatory Standards Derangement Syndrome".

Joel speaks to Joshua Yuvaraj, a Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Auckland, about Meta’s copyright win over 13 authors, over using the authors work to train their Llama AI models, and what this case means heading forward regarding AI and copyright infringements.

Producer Sam speaks to Saeid Baroutian, a Professor in the Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland, about a world-first study looking into electrical fires in rubbish trucks caused by improperly disposed ion-lithium batteries.

Joel speaks to the Medical Director of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation, Bob Hancox, about the Healthy Homes Standards coming into effect tomorrow, and the organisation’s concerns regarding landlord’s ability to self-certify that their homes meet these guidelines.

And Sam speaks to the Regional Conservation Manager at Forest & Bird, Nicky Snoyink, about a bill in Parliament that would allow pests such as deer and tahr into our national parks.

Whakarongo mai

In light of recent tensions between Israel and Iran, as well as the involvement of global superpower the United States, academics have raised concerns about nuclear proliferation and its consequences in the Middle East as well as on a global stage. 

As the need for nuclear deterrence is critical, the latest exchange of attacks between involved parties risks escalating conflict in the region and presents an urgent challenge for diplomatic relationships to diffuse the situation.

Producer Sara spoke to University of Auckland International and Political Relations doctoral student Tom Wilkinson about this topic, including the risk of nuclear proliferation in the region.

She began by asking him to explain the recent events between Israel and Iran in the broader context of global militarisation and history of nuclear armament.

NZ First MP Shane Jones recently announced that he’d be drafting a member's bill to force Ngāpuhi into a single commercial settlement.

Under the proposal, hapū would be prevented from negotiating separate commercial redresses, and any reference to hapū sovereignty would be removed from the settlement terms.

Professor of Māori studies at the University of Auckland, Margaret Mutu, said that, while the bill’s announcement wasn’t uncharacteristic of the Crown or Shane Jones’s approach to treaty settlements, attempts to force Ngāpuhi into a single settlement claim would be met with fierce opposition, by Ngāpuhi, northland hapū and Iwi all across the Motu.

On Saturday, Destiny Church held a protest in the Auckland CBD under the slogan “no immigration without assimilation”, denouncing non-Christian religions and other groups in Aotearoa.

The demonstration, which Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki described as a “lawful, peaceful protest”, involved the destruction and burning of flags including the Palestinian flag and the Rainbow Pride flag.

Leaders from a collection of ethnic community groups have called for the toughening of hate speech laws in response to the intolerance displayed at this protest action, which political figures like Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour and Police Minister Mark Mitchell condemned as “unkiwi”, and “vile rhetoric and behaviour”.

Seeking to dive deeper into the issue of extremism and hostility towards diverse cultures in New Zealand, I spoke with far right and alt-right extremism expert Byron Clark about the protest and the existence of these groups in Aotearoa.

Producer Sara began the interview by asking Clark to explain the kind of ideologies that were on display at the protest.

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about the Regulatory Standards Bill, last weekend's Destiny Church protest, and the Taxpayers Union-Curia Poll on Cook Islands Citizenship.

For International Desk, they spoke to 95bFM reporter Sanat Singh about Zohran Mamdani’s all-but-confirmed primary win that has made him the Democratic nominee for the New York City mayoral race.

For this week’s City Counselling, Producer Sara spoke with Councillor Shane Henderson about the council’s emergency preparedness plans for the disabled community, and the proposals for flood mitigation at the Takapuna Golf Course

She also spoke with far-right extremism expert Byron Clark about last weekend’s Destiny Church protest

Finally, she spoke with University of Auckland doctoral student Tom Wilkinson about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, in light of tensions between Israel and Iran.

A reported 131,000 submissions were made on the Regulatory Standards Bill.

The Bill, proposed by the ACT party, includes a set of principles outlining “responsible regulation.” Notably, it does not include any mention of either version of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Last weekend, hundreds of Destiny Church members marched on Queen Street in a rally that they called “in defence of faith, flag, and family.”

And the Labour Party has criticised the framing of a poll question by the Taxpayers Union/Curia on whether or not Cook Islanders should retain automatic New Zealand citizenship. 

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden asked Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.