UK: Digital Economy Bill Passes - Hello Internet Censorship, page 1

Digital Economy Bill Passed

Ladies and gentlemen i present to you the first real steps in the UK for complete internet censorship, just like China.

Now i am sure some people reading this will instantly jump to the idea that only those who download illegal content would care about this and that is exactly the trap they want you to fall into. To dismiss anyone against this bill is easy, just call them a thief and their concerns can be disregarded. However when you read the bill you'll find a few rather worrying things. I'll stick to just one.

The bill allows any website hosting copyright material to be blocked by the ISP's, sounds fine right? I mean that's just evil illegal downloaders! Well no sadly not. Wikileaks for example hosted a video which was filmed from a US attack helicopter. This material is technically copyrigh and so the US government could have wikileaks blocked.

So we see how easy this law is to abuse. It is disgusting how this was passed just before an election, debated for only 2 hours in the commons with the new ammendments. It is further disgusting that only a few hundred MP's showed up to bother to vote. Why should they be elected if they don't even show up to uphold the rights of the people?


Edit for bad link.

[edit on 9-4-2010 by ImaginaryReality1984]

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

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The thing I feel is that Talktalk will not be alone (I am sure they still sit under the CPW banner which includes other ISPs like AOL uk ) I think there is going to be a lot of deals done to try to ram this home.. I just hope there is enough resistance to this to put it back on the agenda in Parliament... It needs a serious rethink..

reply to post by thoughtsfull

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I have highlighted the thing that scares me most, the idea that any website can be censored if it is deemed to infringe copyright. Of course blocking wikileaks won't stop people like myself as any filter is easy enough to get around, but the average user, clicking on a wikileaks website will not have access to news and evidence that others do.

Consider also the BBC, they gave a link to the story about wikileaks. To stop copyright then that BBC webpage would also have to be blocked. Not the whole BBC of course but just that one page.

When governments start censoring information, especially embarrassing and incriminating information, and do so in full public view then you have to get very worried.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

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I quite agree with you, it is utterly wrong.. working within Telecoms I for one am not going to let the Establishment start censoring my web experience, but what about the average person? this is reprehensible behaviour by the establishment.

Thanks for the thread OP.

I feel its really important that we keep this thread going with latest updates of the situation 'on the ground' so to speak. (Especially so for me as i'm a Uk citizen living abroad, in a country that is well known for its web censorship.)

The ironic thing is i was planning on returning to the UK at some point in the future, but with this bill having passed, i'm now of the opinion that where i live is in many ways less draconian. OK, maybe i'm stretching the point there but now the bill is on the books there is the infamous section 17, which I believe will be what they use to expand the law and make it even worse for internet users in the future (without any public debate) . From Talktalk's site:

section 17 will not come into effect until the Government has made another separate ‘order’. It can do this with limited public consultation and minimal Parliamentary scrutiny.

www.dontdisconnect.us...


This is absolutely the beginning of something very bad and the whole process just goes to show the disgraceful behavior of the MP's who have no respect or regard for their constituencies. Having a look on the web this morning i found lots of angry people who had contacted their MP and who were told that their concerns were noted and that questions would be raised. Of course, nothing happened, and only a handful of MP's were present during the 'debate'/ wash-up process.

Very very depressing stuff. I'm going to be back in Uk in next few months for a visit, so guys what do you think i can expect from people? are many people in general up in arms about this? Or as i think is more likely, are people still only worried about the latest reality tv show and the football?

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

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So not even fair use is allowed?

Originally posted by drew hempel
reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

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So not even fair use is allowed?

Forget fair use when you are thinking of copy written material. Obviously you can still use a youtube video someone makes (as any uploads to youtube must agree that all content can be used under fair use agreement) but otherwise no you can't go using stuff.

Well that's not correct, you can use it but if the owner makes a claim against you then the government can send you a warning, then a second, then cut off your internet connection. Lets also be clear of the wording, suspected copyright violators, proof is not required. Someone simply has to claim their copyright has been infringed and you're in trouble.

However this isn't the big thing that concerns me, it's the governments ability to censor websites they deem to have breached copyright. Again websites like wikileaks will be blocked, or what if i find a rather embarrassing government document and post it on a blog? that's blocked as soon as they find it.

See how it can be abused?

Enjoy your freedom brother!

reply to post by wootwoot

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Clause 17 had to be changed, it now needs more oversight from parliament before powers are extended. However there still seems to be a few loopholes which would allow copyright holders to falsly target people who had done nothing wrong. It should also be recognised that certain trackers (sort of torrent providers) inject false IP's into the swarm so that people get falsly accused, this helps discredit any civil or criminal proceedings as it's difficult to ascertain who has and has not commited a crime.

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