Digital Economy Act 2010

The UK has just passed an unprecedented bill,in April it quietly passed through 'The internet economy Bill' and has come into force in june,I know we've talked about it before but I can't find the thread,with all the election hoopla I'd totally forgot about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Economy_Act_2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/08/digital-economy-bill-passes-third-reading

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jul/22/filesharing-ofcom-open-rights-group

I dunno what to say,I didn't think it would happen,I thought it was a stupid idea and now here we sit,there are still wheels in play to try and revoke the bill such as the european court of human rights,the house of lords and petitions by large telecom companies but never the less, it is now law

Thoughts?

 

Mostly the big music companies I think,every time I see this bill quoted they mention the big music companies.

I thought we were moving toward a new world where people made music just because they want to,not to get rich,I thought it was great any good groups that were worth their salt still make huge amounts playing live and I've loved the reduction in manufactured groups like the spice girls,groups designed just to make money.

Talented musicians will never starve,but with music freely distributed they may have actually had to work!:-D If you consider playing live in front of thousands of screeming,adoring fifty bucks a pop fans work.

Its the industry that's dying 'the fat cat middle men' not music.

EDIT All my very humble opinion

 

That's one of the main problems with the bill,Google will link you to 100 p2p sites with one search,will Google be blocked or every individual site?Both to me seems as ridiculous as each other.

It's all pretty scary to me,it would be bad enough if the gov had decided to police the internet but they haven't,they have given the media companies the power to police it themselves,just as YT did not long back,look how that turned out the amount of videos that have been removed from YT due to a false DMCA's is laughable.

Also what will the bill lead to?Is it the beginning of totally regulated internet access,will the censor net fall over our computers like it has TV?

If this is what we've got to look forward to the future looks grim IMO,I can't believe our country has gone this way.



A comment I picked up from a blog

:-D

 

Definitely interesting times ahead,all parents have kids,most kids I know download music and hence most parents including MP's,Royalty,famous people ect.ect. will soon be getting letters in the post and having their internetz cut off:-D

They actually have the power to slow the connection down to a 56k modem:-D

Its draconian!

 

That is scary, I didn't think the Brits would do something like that. While I'm opposed to all piracy, this should be enforced by shutting the sites down.

What's next? Sites selling illegal knives? Books on pyrotechnics? (Two sites I've used).

It's called incrementalism. That's why the gun ownership groups over here are so adamant about resisting even the smallest compromise when it comes to ownership rights.

 

Ricky, their politicians won't have time to do anything else.:-D

More than a bit over the top.

Bazza

 

The legal problem with torrent sites is they don't store any illegal material on this is why many have kept going so long as you probably know,I assume that's why the facilitates has been added,but its so ill defined and broad ranging in its scope it could be used for anything,they will be busy:-D

The torrent system is old,it took off and worked but it isn't the be all and end all of online sharing,the next step are anonymous sharing programs that hide your IP and encrypt the data,there are already a few out there,there just has to be one standard that takes off,the Google of the torrent world.

There's also the anonymous proxy servers but these cost money and this kinda goes against the ethos of the internet which is the free sharing of information,why haven't ISP started offering an anonymous service anyway?Random IP's that are not stored in a data base,its not the ISP's job to police the internet,they are under no legal obligation to keep records of their users activity AFAIK.

My personal views on sharing are irrelevant really but I think music should be shared freely,the movie business hasn't be bothered one bit and is making record profits,something has to be done to ease up software sharing though or a new revolution that can bring revenue to software companies,the PC gaming market is dire ATM,gaming companies don't want to release their titles on PC as they know they will be shared to death.

But this isn't about morality,its about the government and corporations deciding what we're allowed to look at and download,I totally agree with what Brandypeppy said once it starts it will only gain momentum as the system and organisation that regulates the internet grows in power and scope,just look at every other censor on receiving equipment,after a while everything that comes down the line has to be given the all clear.