Brit internet users bashed

The powers that be in the UK are incurring the ire of Brit internet users with the newly announced Digital Economy Bill.

Echoing similar protests to those heard with New Zealand's controversial Section 92A of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act, the UK's Digital Economy bill incorporates a 'three-strikes' rule that could see households disconnected from the internet because of copyright infringement accusations without any onus put on the accuser to prove the validity of any file sharing accusations.

Internet disconnection aside, the Digital Economy Bill also incorporates some ugly economics. Anyone accused of copyright infringement by files sharing is potentially liable for up to £50,000 in fines, a sum sufficiently large enough to bankrupt many households.

ISPs are also hit in the pocket, and will be forced to monitor subscribers for copyright infringement.

If the compliance costs of keeping an eye out for potential copyright infringing file sharers wasn't enough of a financial burden, ISPs who refuse to co-operate can also be fined a breath taking quarter of a million pounds.

Several features are also conspicuous by their absence in the bill. Finland and Spain recently made broadband access a universal right, whilst the UK government has yet to show their hand even though the Digital Economy Bill was supposed to be about stimulating the UK's digital economy.

Broadband as a universal right in England might come to the fore as a political issue in 2010, however the British public are also likely to be lumbered with a "broadband tax" as part of proposed legislation which has been touted as a key means of funding next generation broadband in the UK.

Even more worrying however, is the apparent lack of visible compliance with EU human rights or telecommunications policy.

Whilst the bill makes reference to an appeals process, the three strike penalty process does not appear to incorporate any tribunal or trial process which means that like the first iteration of New Zealand's Section 92A legislation, penalities arising out of copyright infringement allegations could be enforced without any robust process to evaluate the accusation.



Peter Mandelson, the UK's Business Secretary, also gains the ability to introduce new penalties and to amend copyright legislation with little parliamentary scrutiny.

Mandelson has already indicated that is planning to appoint private enforcement groups who are likely to be largely financed by the entertainment industry that could in theory disconnect infringers, spy on suspected infringers and block of websites. In essence, this means that penalties under the bill are potentially open-ended and at some future stage could even include jail time.

As with the similarly flawed legislation initially proposed in New Zealand, public protests are almost guaranteed to happen in the UK as digital rights activists seek to highlight what they see as serious erosions of online rights within the UK.