Lib Con Government Won’t Repeal Digital Economy Bill
The controversial Digital Economy bill will not be repealed according to Conservative culture secretary Jermey Hunt. The act was passed before the election which is seen by many as an attack on internet freedom by giving content providers more power to shut off people’s internet.
Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg had previously said he’d repeal the act if he got in, but due to the coalition government it seems the Conservative line on the act has been maintained. Hunt told paidContent that they would wait and see how the act’s measures performed but clearly said that ‘œwe’re not going to repeal it.’
The act would give powers to copyright holders to send a report to ISPs who could then ask the government to place speed blocks, bandwidth shaping, site blocking or account suspension on the alleged copyright infringer. Problems occur however in the methods that copyright holders could use to root out infringers, which in America has led to dead people, a 66 year-old grandmother who supposedly downloaded rap records and even a household without a computer being targeted.
There’s been no word on the new government’s stand on the European Union’s ACTA bill, but I’d imagine that it’d be a similar stance.
If you want to read more on the Digital Economy bill and why it sucks, check out Cory Doctorow’s great post for the Guardian.
Fuck this government. I voted Lib Dem primarily for two reasons: Because I don’t really like labour, but would really like to keep the conservatives out, and because they seemed to have more of an understanding of the importance of the internet. Fuck politics, it’s all lies :(
Jeremy Hunt is, of course, rhyming slang.
I don’t have a problem with content owners going after pirates, but these industry groups clearly need to get their act strait, because they seem to harass too many people who had nothing to do with the infraction.
How about this? They can go after pirates, but the defendant is found innocent, the court orders the accusing group to pay the defendant for up to 5X their legal costs and lost wages in restitution. Give these groups like the RIAA something to think about before they go chasing after people.