If You Tolerate This, Then Your Downloads Will Be Next

Anger at Lord Mandelson's Digital Economy Bill

Without the World Wide Web, businesses like Matchmaker Marketing would not exist. Our shopping would be much harder, requiring x amount of man hours to trawl each store for the cheapest clothing, stereo systems or the like. Our clients probably wont benefit from being found on Google, Yahoo! or Bing.

Now, it seems that Vox Populi 2.0 are up in arms over the fact it threatens net neutrality. The law will encourage Internet Service Providers to act as Copyright Police - a role which the likes of Virgin have objected to. The ruling could also go against Tim Berners-Lee's original vision for the internet.

The most controversial part of the bill involves the confiscation of internet access to any IP address which has supposedly infringed copyright. With the amount of web traffic, we at Matchmaker Marketing reckon this aspect would be unenforceable with ISPs playing whack-a-mole with copyright infringers.

There are chances that peer to peer networks could be affected. What if the downloader caught for copyright infringement was legally downloading a Linux distro from Bit Torrent?

Unlike Finland where internet access is classed as a human right along with utilities, the bill (which awaits its second reading) has been regarded as 'narrow minded' and a sop to preserving the interests of the music industry (in a Digital Millennium Copyright Act kind of stylie).

Should the bill gain Royal Assent (possibly by around 2010/2011), the Government will also have powers to clamp down on domain names that have been used for spyware, phishing and spamming.

In the main, the bill is less about improving digital access to all, but more about stifling the role internet businesses have to offer. Before long, Britain could see another RIAA/MPAA lawsuit on homeless citizens! However, the clauses on spamming, phishing and spyware are welcome, though a few years too late.

Information on Lord Mandelson's bill is available on www.parliament.uk for your perusal.

S.V., 23 November 2009.