Whitewash: Digital Economy Bill to be rushed through

Lord Erroll seems to be the only Lord with any sense.

I keep thinking I should be surprised that the politicians have rushed this through to satisfy the BPI etc. but then I realise what a money grabbing bunch they all are and wonder on whose board of director I'll see some of this lot sitting in no short time...

Makes a mokery of the supposed laws and processes of this country.

By Deano on 16 Mar 2010

this is your so called democracy at work here, for we do not really get to vote on anything it is all an illusion!

By jcnewman83 on 16 Mar 2010

What a surprise.

The cross-party support for this whilst ignoring the deplorable state of our telecommunication infrastructure pretty much says it all.

Even the natural cynic in me is disappointed but not at all surprised.

Muppets the lot of them.Muppets.

By Mr_Flynn on 16 Mar 2010

Is it a surprise?

I think many members of the public will see the blocking of illegal web content as a worthwhile change. Can someone explain succinctly why it is not so? I have seen little balanced coverage of this subject and as a lay person would like a clear explanation of the intent of the bill along with its implications in the real world, positive and negative. How about it PC Pro? Anyone?

By Mat1971 on 16 Mar 2010

Really????

Wow, they actually rushing it are they. Just a question, are we living in a communist regime or democratic, Didn;t EU say that Interner is a right and that restricting that right is undemocratic and the EU i am sure will pass a law saying that govements cannot cut off internet from people. The goverment might as well stop giving the right of freespeech and everything else if they want to continue like this. My opinion that people in UK tired of Labour v Conservative and so neither will win this May.
Also The music industry is just a bunch of greedy little people who only care about their fountains in their front yard.(meaning profit) As i said somewhere else the best thing would be not to block, thus making the problem greater but to create a network of legal sharing, thus solving the problem. When would they understand this.

By mobilegnet on 16 Mar 2010

Just not getting it

@Mat1971

Do you really think this is where it will all end. They're now using terrorist laws to deal with Iceland.
Once they pass this, they can do what the hell they like (without any sitting in parliament). They will go on to abuse this law and citizen's rights just like they have with all the other 'rushed' through bills.

By Steve_Adey on 16 Mar 2010

mat1971 said: "Is it a surprise?

I think many members of the public will see the blocking of illegal web content as a worthwhile change."

I'm a member of the public and I *really* dislike any moves to censor the internet, particularly at the behest of big, dinosaur businesses pedalling extremely suspect 'research' to justify this draconian, ill-conceived piece of work.

I have family members who work in the film industry and I'm wholly against it. Mat1971, are you a genuine member of the public or someone who has a background at one of the many media companies who post on the various fora, backing the standpoint of the BPI and their like?

I've seen a number of posts from that kind of people and once you push past the whiff of sanctimony there's invariably a business interest lurking in the background.

All this has done for me has proven what a complete waste of space the main political parties are. At the next election I may well exercise my democratic rights (whilst they still remain) and not vote for any of them.

When (not if) this is passed as law I hope the public will be motivated to have protests where the purchase of movies/music is boycotted for a set period of time. I doubt this will happen though, we are, after all, good little sheep, aren't we?

By Mr_Flynn on 16 Mar 2010

@paulbradbeer
I think the Lib Dems are squarely on board with this too. Don't forget it was a Lib Dem peer who helped introduce the BPI clause in the Lords.

Perhaps a hung/coalition parliament would make a difference but the cynic in me does not hold out much hope, I'm afraid.

My suggestion of boycotting various media products was simply to send an expensive, virtual two-finger gesture to the companies who've bought this law with their lapdogs in the Commons and Lords. I doubt people would do it though and, equally, I doubt the politicians would take notice anyway.

Perhaps if we had more independent MPs then at least it would cost more time, effort and money for the lobbyists to buy their influence..?

By Mr_Flynn on 16 Mar 2010

Democratic rights

I hope Mr Flynn and anyone else would excercise their democratic rights by voting for anyone but the Tory or New Labour parties.

The government has ignored any public pressure from the Petrol demos and protesting outside parliament to the Iraq War. Why on earth would they change now?

The best we can hope for is a hung parliament. This is called a coalition government in every other european democratic state.

By paulbradbeer on 16 Mar 2010

Whoever you vote for Mr Flynn, do vote. Not voting just puts the incumbent MP back in.

By ballem on 16 Mar 2010

@ballem - If I don't vote then it will be the first general election I've not voted in since I was 18.(I'm hovering uncomfortably around the 40 year old mark at the moment.)

My MP isn't standing again, mainly because he knows he won't win, I suspect. I wrote to him twice and didn't even have the courtesy of a reply.(They were also fairly regular letters and were quite polite, not the spleen-induced rants I sometimes indulge in here.)

If the Pirate Party are standing here (which I doubt, I live in the middle of nowhere) then I may well vote for them.

In all honesty I will probably vote (for someone) as I feel it's something of a responsibility but I *may* not and for me to feel that way shows how disenchanted I am with those who are at least supposed to pretend that they represent their constituents.

By Mr_Flynn on 16 Mar 2010

No one here deserves my vote

I think an internet campaign needs to start so that everyone who is disillusioned with the whole thing writes something like "No one here deserves my vote"

By Grunthos on 16 Mar 2010

Sorry, that would be writing that on the ballot paper! That way, it's not a no vote, it's counted but with a specific message.

By Grunthos on 16 Mar 2010

@Grunthos: It's a cute idea but that's still a no vote. They don't record anything written on the slip.

What we need is a "none of the above" box on the ballot paper that we can put our cross beside.

By steviesteveo on 16 Mar 2010

It's All an Illusion!

Hey come on guys surely you don't still beleive that politicians run this country?
Oh no! not a chance, you and I will never see or know the anonymous grey suits who really hold the power!
Politicians are just puppets who come and go every few years, it makes no difference who they are, they are just corrupt front men who are told what to do and when to do it then thrown titbits every now and again to help keep them in line.
Yes Deano is right once this Digital bill is pushed through and it will be, many of the politicians that helped will suddenly pop up as members on the boards of directors of quite a few music companies with large share options and enormous salaries.
That I am afraid is how our so called democracy works in this country,politicians are just another commodity to be bought and sold by the men with the real money. someone once said that if voting ever made any difference whatsoever it would have been abolished a long time ago.
Big businesses run this country and the anonymous grey suits with control of the money behind the big businesses run everything.
There is no democrasy, the only problem is that these anonymous grey people in their grey suits are still living in the last century.
They have controlled their huge empires for so long and lived of their enormous profits that they can not accept anything that may upset or change the status quo.
Because they are still firmly entrenched in the last century and still believe that they have the power and control over people such as you and I They can not understand new technology and something like the internet is completely alien to them.
It goes against everything they know and understand it begins to chip away their power and give ordinary people such as you and I the means to communicate, to see and share ideas and to understand how these anonymous grey suits try to control our lives.
So let's face it their only option is to try to control the internet but that won't work because it is a worldwide technology and far too big even for them to have any impact on it.
So rather than trying to update their business models to encompass 21st century technology and progress, they opt for what they see as the easy way.
They simply decide to create legislation that will control what the masses, that is you and I by the way can do with this new technology.
Beleive me this is only the start of it, commandment number 11 "Thou shall not download music from the internet" is only the start, it will not stop there once they get away with that they will find other ways of protecting their profits and their outdated business schemes.
Welcome to the 21st Century!

By Citizen_s on 18 Mar 2010

SSDD

If voting were able to change anything, it would become a subversive, illegal, terrorist activity.
The cadaver that is democracy doesn't even realise it's dead.

By Klobba on 18 Mar 2010

SSDD

If voting were able to change anything, it would become a subversive, illegal, terrorist activity.
The cadaver that is democracy doesn't even realise it's dead.

By Klobba on 18 Mar 2010

We know who they are

"Oh no! not a chance, you and I will never see or know the anonymous grey suits who really hold the power!" Citizen_s
We see them every day. Big businessmen donating to political parties or sitting within our institutions. Media moguls just happening to invite politicians on another freebie holiday. The list is endless. What we don't see is the grey suited flunkies making the backroom deals, handing over the brown envelops or offering business positions.
Amazingly, there are a few honest politicians in each party but they are stomped on by the rest of the slime.
So now we will have the situation where if you kill someone, you will be innocent till proven guilty but if you download music or movies you will be guilty until proven innocent but with no legal process to be able to prove your innocent.
Welcome to 21st Century democracy where you're FREE.... to do as you're told, speak as you're told and think as you're told.

By dtpdesign on 18 Mar 2010

Corrupt to the core

Peter (Mortgage Fraudster) Mandelson must have been offered a massive incentive to steam-roller this through in such a corrupt way. But hey, after his mortgage fraud fiasgo, he was made a Lord, so he knows he can get away with it. There should be no place in politics for any one who has a record of dishonesty or fraud.

By shrek59 on 18 Mar 2010

No concept of law

Like all socialist governments, Labour governs not by law, but by whim and edict, whence the mess we are in.

By fogtax on 21 Mar 2010