Sooner than you expect....

[tigerfort]

Incidentally, for those who think that there's no need to worry because this year's Queen's speech is "all posturing for the election", you do know that this bill is being fast-tracked and has already had its second reading in the Lords, yes?

Further to my last two posts, more information on the appalling "digital economy bill" keeps coming to light. There's a nice post at booktrade.info describing how the bill "inadvertantly" imposes potentially huge new costs on small publishers of pretty much anything (books, games, photographs... anything with copyright potential). (Specifically, it creates new registration and licensing requirements for any 'organisation' which licences any copyright material created by more than one different individual, or acts as agent for any such owners. So of course, that applies to authors' agents as well as small creative companies.) The Open Rights Group has a post up from a specialist lawyer, giving chapter and verse on what's wrong with the bill. It's long, and fairly detailed, and well worth reading. One simple point of particular note, though, is that the so-called 'three-strikes rule' is nothing of the kind - not only is there no requirement for such disconnections to relate to a number of "strikes" there is no need for disconnection to be linked to infringement of copyright. Nor is there any requirement for evidence of any wrongdoing, or any allowance for an appeal. (Although I believe the EU is hastily passing some legislation to insist on something resembling a fair judicial process; somehow this seems likely to be the one piece of EU law that the UK gov't doesn't insist on applying over strenuously. Sigh.)

Tell everyone you know, and complain to your MP, please. The bill is very nasty indeed (for everyone except big media, natch), and needs to be stopped.

Comments

[emperor]

If you're interested, a peer is seeking comments on the bill here.

[alitalf.livejournal.com]

I comented, for what negligible good it could do.

Given that anyone who the secretary of state decides, must be disconnected from the net, I wonder if the arrest, under terrorist legislation , of the front bench opposition spokesman Mr Green was a bit heavy handed and bad PR, or a trial run?

[tigerfort.livejournal.com]

Thanks; I've given up trying to get round to writing a new message on the subject and just cut-and-pasted suitable chunks of my letter to my MP.

[megamole.livejournal.com]

Have written to my MP (Grant Shapps), who will likely become a Minister in the next Tory Government.

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

I signed the petition in your first post but this new one had passed me by until Alitalf mentioned it. Can I point certain folk I know on LJ at this post or cut & paste it for mailing list circulation? As some of this:

"inadvertantly" imposes potentially huge new costs on small publishers of pretty much anything (books, games, photographs... anything with copyright potential). (Specifically, it creates new registration and licensing requirements for any 'organisation' which licences any copyright material created by more than one different individual, or acts as agent for any such owners. So of course, that applies to authors' agents as well as small creative companies.)"

may well impinge on the ability of the TS to produce Seminar proceedings and suchlike

[tigerfort.livejournal.com]

Yes, feel free. Probably best to either point at my posts or use the bits that I've quoted (the parts in italics) and provide citations to their places of origin (which are the links just before the quotes). Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow both continue to have something of a head of steam about this, funnily enough.