Digital Economy Bill could set Parliamentary precedent

I attended an event hosted by Consumer Focus this evening on the Digital Economy Bill, at the House of Commons. There's been a lot of press coverage recently as the Bill introduces provisions that could impact a significant number of broadband users and so this event was a profile raising occasion (mainly aimed at MPs I suspect although regrettably there weren't many there)

In a nutshell the Bill:

* sets out provisions to force Internet service providers ("ISPs") to forward notices from rights holders ("RHs") to customers RHs believe are infringing copyright (typically via peer to peer networks such as BitTorrent, eMule, etc). Customers who continue to infringe can then have their details handed over to the RHs by Court Order to pursue them via the courts.
* if those notice forwarding provisions are not succesful in reducing copyright infringment the Secretary of State can get Ofcom to look at an introduce technical measures to curb persistent offenders (e.g. by suspending accounts, throttling, etc.)
* Other clauses in the Bill introduce attempts to instigate blocking injunctions

Most of the controversy revolves around the technical measures and the blocking. The Bill has passed through Lords and is due its second reading on 6th April - the same date that it is widely anticipated the Prime Minster will call an election.

According to John Grogan MP at tonights DEBill discussion if the PM asks the Queen Tuesday morning (6th) to dissolve Parliament ready for an election, there is no Parliamentary precedent for what should happen with the DEBill debate in the afternoon (with wash-up taking place probably on Wednesday).

The worry of course is that the Bill just won't get the debate it needs as it is likely that it won't get a full debate just on the 6th and then we enter the wash-up period where "behind doors" agreements and compromises are made to any outstanding Bills. So all in all, despite lots of public pressure to get a public debate (see https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page/contribute/DigitalEconomyBillAd for a sample) and the thousands of letters written to MPs what's the chances the Bill will get nothing more than a nod through parliament and the Internet industry will get burdensome processes to follow and members of the public will get threatening emails from their ISP if they persist with infringement which might not even actually be them (open wi-fi, unknown activity from family members, etc, etc.).

All in all a complete mess and one that could easily be knocked into touch if all MPs refuse to debate until a new Parliament is formed just a few months later. But with the 6th April being the first day back from Easter recess, an election being called and MPs out canvassing and possibly not even in Parliament, the odds are well and truly stacked.

If you are affected by the comments in this blog and want to speak to someone then contact your MP and demand a proper debate for the DEBill

New Campaign for Better Broadband for Rural Dorset

Mark Gracey has launched a Better Broadband for Rural Dorset Campaign: http://betterbroadband4ruraldorset.wordpress.com/ and twitterfeed @BB4RuralDorset and FB page: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Better-Broadband-for-Rural-Dorset/321581237822?ref=nf