Digital Economy Bill

The Digital Economy Bill was first announced in the Queen’s speech and it is now believed that it will become law before the dissolution of Parliament in April.

This will see the introduction of new laws designed to combat illegal filesharing, granting rights owners the ability to restrict or cut off internet access for persistent offenders. The Digital Economy Bill will make it obligatory for Internet Service Providers to monitor the online activity of internet users and inform rights holders of any suspicious behaviour. Companies that do not do so will face a £250,000 fine for non-compliance.

One of the most controversial elements of the Digital Economy Bill – the infamous clause 17 – was voted down by the House of Lords, only to be replaced with an amendment by the Liberal Democrats. The original clause 17 would have granted the Secretary of State unlimited powers to pass any law relating to online filesharing without the consent of Parliament. This attracted widespread opposition, including that of popular Twitter user Stephen Fry. The amendment, which is also a major point of contention, grants a high court judge the right to issue an injunction against a website that is viewed to host a “substantial” amount of copyright-infringing content. This could potentially force the entire website offline and the implications for social media websites , such as YouTube, are therefore immense.

Commenting on the amendment, Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Clement Jones said that it addressed concerns over the “three strikes” rule.

“I believe this is going to send a powerful message to our creative industries that we value what they do, that we want to protect what they do, that we do not believe in censoring the internet but we are responding to genuine concerns.”

The Digital Economy Bill has been the subject of much criticism since it was first announced in November 2009 and will likely continue to be a subject of much fierce debate. In an open letter to the Financial Time, Google, Yahoo, eBay, Facebook, Orange, Talk Talk and BT have all condemned the Digital Economy Bill, saying that that it “threatens freedom of speech and the open internet”.

• No Related Post