UK: Digital Economy Bill Passes - Hello Internet Censorship

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]

I understand that the likes of talktalk have already said they will not abide by this new bill?

Hopefully that will start a snowball off, tho I suspect it'll end up in nothing...

This country gets more authoritarian by the day..

Sweet, we are on TalkTalk.
I hope they stick to their word.

Talktalk have said that, however if they don't comply they may be in for massive fines as this bill essentially eliminates the old idea that ISP's are not responsible for what goes through their networks.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


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..

Youtube is a bastion of piracy...want a song, just type it in and voila, there it is...use a browser audio recorder and you got anything you can imagine in regards to music.

So, will they ban the application sites that make audio recording a snap, or will they ban youtube...

hmm...guess your about to find out.

incidently, if thats how its seen and they do ban youtube, they could also of course ban any other video depository website.

I do actually see value in the regulation mind you...but I think they need to be as specific as possible...has to land in a narrow margin. perhaps just torrent websites that have more than 20% of its linking data going towards copywrited material kinda thing and thats it...else you get a mega slippery slope.

reply to post by thoughtsfull


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.

Originally posted by SaturnFX
I do actually see value in the regulation mind you...but I think they need to be as specific as possible...has to land in a narrow margin. perhaps just torrent websites that have more than 20% of its linking data going towards copywrited material kinda thing and thats it...else you get a mega slippery slope.

This won't work either because torrent websites are very hard to maintain in that way. Currently no technology exists that can filter millions of torrents to discover which are legal content and which are illegal content. The only alternative is simply to ban all torrent websites, but this of course means you then don't have access to perfectly legal information.

I have linked on other threads about how some artists at a music festival released 6 GB of music, copyright free and put it on torrent websites, other people have made documentaries, copyright free, still more have made web tv stuff.

All copyright free and yet the government would be blocking this along with the illegal content.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


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.

Well a sad day for the British people...

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


So not even fair use is allowed?

Originally posted by drew hempel
reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

 

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


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.

Essentially the same thing happens in the US and there are Americans that applaud it!

Which side of the pond has the greater understanding of 'freedom'?

Originally posted by SaturnFX
Youtube is a bastion of piracy...want a song, just type it in and voila, there it is...use a browser audio recorder and you got anything you can imagine in regards to music.

So, will they ban the application sites that make audio recording a snap, or will they ban youtube...

hmm...guess your about to find out.

incidently, if thats how its seen and they do ban youtube, they could also of course ban any other video depository website.

I do actually see value in the regulation mind you...but I think they need to be as specific as possible...has to land in a narrow margin. perhaps just torrent websites that have more than 20% of its linking data going towards copywrited material kinda thing and thats it...else you get a mega slippery slope.

Saturn buddy I have to disagree here. I understand a little regulation. I can see how restricting would perhaps reduce videos being uploaded by sick pedo's that hurt little boys and girls. As a PC gamer though, I don't want any torrent sites being shut down. Way too many patches and mods that I get all over the place. This could in fact set up just one tightly regulated corporation of torrent and that would be very bad. I really don't think there is that much being downloaded personally. I think the stats are being blown up to push for regulation. Just my two cents mind you. I understand that abuses happen on the internet through illegal downloads. But as I have seen, the entertainment industry is still doing quite well. When we see these stars quitting because of it then that will be worrisome but until then lets just leave it alone.

What a sad day and the worst thing is i had no idea this bill was even going through. I posted the link on my facebook with a half hope it might wake someone up about the society we are entering into.
As someone who downloads copyrighted material from time to time i have to say i'm dissapointed. But for sure, you wont catch me paying out of my backside for a dvd or an album.
No doubt there will be people out there trying to find a away to make there activities private on the internet, i wish them the best.
Think part of the reason the bill was passed is to help make the rich richer. Well, i might now spend less time on the computer which will save on the electric bill