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Tom Watson, the digitally literate British parliamentarian and Labour PPC for the West Bromwich East Constituency, has established a series of " digital pledges " in the wake of the Digital Economy Bill in the United Kingdom. Watson was one of the primary opponents of the bill, which makes it possible for the British government to put the kibosh on pesky websites under the guise of copyright infringements. Sponsor "I want to stand on a platform that is avowedly supportive of the generation that seek to use the Internet to make the world a better place," Watson said. He's leaving comments open until April 14 and has created a dedicated site for this discussion in the hope of honing the pledges. The discussion site has a voting function and "I believe that copyright and software patent laws should be reformed to reflect the needs of citizens in the Internet age" is the clear leader so far. Given the proliferation of information-restricting legislation around the globe, we would like to see candidates in every election in every country make similar pledges. How about it? Here's a model for you in Watson's. My (draft) Digital Pledges I will support and campaign for more transparency in the public and private sector. I will oppose measures that unjustly deny people's access to the Internet. Whilst noting the acknowledged limitations, I believe people have the right to free speech on the Internet. I will support all measures that allow people access to their personal data held by others. I further support restoration of control over how personal data is gathered, managed and shared to the individual. I will use my role as an MP to support international free expression movements. The Internet shall be built and operated openly and without discrimination. I will support all measures to bring non-personal public data into the public domain. I will support all proposals that lead to greater numbers joining the digital world and oppose measures that reduce it. I believe that copyright and software patent laws should be reformed to reflect the needs of citizens in the Internet age. Discuss
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UK MP Solicits Digital Pledges
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Two important legal decisions were made this week that could have significant impact on technology startups. On Tuesday, Fred Wilson argues in a post on his blog today that perhaps it is time to reframe the terms of the debate, moving away from the phrase "net neutrality" and instead to argue on behalf of "internet freedom." He writes "Internet Freedom is about sustaining the era of permissionless innovation that has characterized the first fifteen years of the commercial Internet in this country and brought us thousands of new big profitable companies, millions of jobs, and a vast array of new services and devices that have changed our lives and made them better." As courts, legislatures, and agencies try to create policies around digital technologies, how will new startups be effected? Discuss
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New Legal Decisions Will Impact Net Neutrality and Startups
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The House of Commons passed a controversial piece of legislation called the " Digital Economy Bill ." The loudly-criticized law nontheless passed 187-47, according to the Guardian newspaper. The bill purports to provide comprehensive regulation of digital services, in order to clear the way to promoting Britian as a digital econmic power. Criticism focused first on a clause that would have given broad government discretion to the closing of sites. That clause was removed, but the amendment to another was still significantly worrying to some. Sponsor From the bill itself, the amendment to clause 8 : "The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the granting by a court of a blocking injunction in respect of a location on the internet which the court is satisfied has been, is being or is likely to be used for or in connection with an activity that infringes copyright." A little thought on which site might be accused of being "a location on the internet" where copyright violation might have occurred, or might occur in the future, and you're likely to come up with YouTube, BitTorrent, DailyMotion, WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and Google. To start with. A second criticism focused on the way the troublesome bill was passed, during the period of time just prior to dissolution of parliament, called the "wash-up," when, to put it mildly, legislator attention is not at its peak. Discuss
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UK "Digital Economy Bill" May Allow for Website Shutdowns
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In November, we told you about a move in the UK to monitor P2P sharing and permanently ban users who infringed on copyright from using the Internet. In our reporting on P2P issues , it's rare these days to get wind of some good news; today, we've learned that this plan to ban would not, in fact, apply to most file-sharing fiends. After one ISP stood up to the government's proposals by circulating a petition, the government responded favorably, saying , "We are not requiring ISPs to monitor for unlawful file-sharing. Nor are we proposing that ISPs look at what users download in order to combat piracy... We will not terminate the accounts of infringers." Sponsor The fear, uncertainty and doubt about the UK's policy on illegal file-sharing stems from the introduction of the Digital Economy Bill , published on November 20, 2009. The bill "sets out in detail our proposed legislation to tackle on-line copyright infringement, including unlawful peer to peer file-sharing," according to the government. However, UK ISP TalkTalk vigorously objected to some of the measures laid out in the bill and drafted and circulated an e-petition to abandon the idea that illegal P2P file-sharing should result in a permanent ban from the Internet for guilty users. "If citizens are innocent until proven guilty," the petition reads, "ISPs would be forced to monitor internet usage to ensure that no copyrighted material is being transferred. This flagrant disregard for privacy is comparable to forcing the Post Office to search through parcels for photocopied documents or mixtape cassettes. Such requirements would place enormous strain on ISPs whilst failing to prevent the distribution of copyrighted material... "Who is punished in the case of shared family connections? The increasing role of the Internet in access to society should not be underestimated. Cutting off households deprives families of education, government services and freedom of speech. We do not see this as a fitting punishment, nor do we believe the breaches in privacy involved to be justifiable under copyright law." The government's full response states that officials are working with rights holders and media companies to find a balanced and equitable solution to illegal file-sharing - one that includes attractive, legal options for end users to access content, as well. The Digital Economy Bill will require ISPs to notify users whose accounts had been flagged by a copyright holder as having been used for illegal file-sharing. "In the cases of the most serious infringers," reads the response, "if a rights holder obtains a court order, the ISP would have to provide information so that the rights holder can take targeted court action." As a last resort, the Bill provides for ISPs' taking technical measures to stop illegal downloading, ranging from bandwidth restriction, daily downloading limits and temporary Internet account suspension. All in all, the government hopes to see a 70 percent reduction in illegal P2P downloads. It'll be interesting to see how various national laws and regulations hold up if something like ACTA ends up being passed. In a nutshell, a U.S.-drafted chapter of this treaty on Internet use would require ISPs to police user-generated content, to cut off Internet access for copyright violators and to remove content that is accused of copyright violation without any proof of actual violation - a far cry from the more lenient proposals we're reading from the UK. Let us know what you think in the comments. Discuss
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UK Nixes Internet Ban for P2P Infringement
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