Digital Economy Bill

[Digsy]

I heard anonymous is getting geared up for a campaign to cut off key services from the internet.

By sending mp3's to all the politicians that voted this in.

As well as targeting internet cafe's, universities and so on and so forth.

Should be fun.

[DragonofAna]

Sounds like a load of fuss about nothing. People have been illegally downloading stuff off the internet ever since it was invented and hardly anyone ever gets caught.

 

Have people become so amoral that they now feel they have a right to steal music and films for free? If you want it pay for it!

 

Here ya go - I downloaded some DEMO pc games. I thought - ooo these are good, I will buy the full versions. I bought the full versions at full price. They did not work. I contacted the company who released the games. It must be that your computer lacks the proper add ons to run the software. But the demo worked. The demo was not the complete game.

So I downloaded a copy of the full games (having already purchased the originals), and behold - the games I downloaded worked fine and actually had more added to them.

 

I bought some other games at £30 a time, and two weeks later was in the same shop and the games had been reduced to £15. Now I expect a reduction over time but two weeks? Robbery.

 

I have stopped playing games now cos most of them are just videos with bits of interaction and no real involvement unless you play online.

 

There are many reasons for downloading pirated software - and I see no problem with this as long as you own a copy of the original. What this bill means is that if I buy games in future that do not work on my system then tough luck on me. More money down the toilet.

[Funky_Gibbon]

sorry I meant so few from here not across the country

 

yep it passed, and despite my letters to my MP, which are backed with 30 years worth of IT experience, he voted for it

 

I think few people really understand the issues, not just on here but elsewhere. People with technical knowledge/experience are more aware and have discussed this in their own circles but most people rely on the media to inform them of the issues and the media have largely failed to do that.

 

Yesterday I almost screamed at my radio when the journo talking about this when they described it as "20,000 people protesting against measures to stop copyright theft". That wording makes it look like we're simply whining at losing the ability to download whatever we want when in reality most of us were writing about our concerns about due process, censorship, free speech and the simple fact that nothing they propose will stop copyright theft.

 

When the media isn't informing the general public of legislation that will negatively affect all of us and are potentially dangerous to democracy if a future government chooses to interpret them in certain ways, it's not a surprise there are so few of us.

[esme]

I made damn sure I stated that I support the rights of the copyright holder not to have their copyright infringed before demnstrating that the measures they intend to use won't work, are aimed at the wrong people and are at best technically incompetent

 

apparently there was a civil disobedience campaign started a few minutes after the bill passed

[Greybeard]

There is an interesting article here that takes a slightly different approach highlighting the powers given to Ministers under the Bill to add stuff without it going through Parliament. The Business Secretary to be a "Pirate finder General"

 

 

 

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/20/britains-new-interne.html

 

Government by decree....back-door facism - who would have thought Nulabor could sink so low ?

 

The frightening thing is none of the other parties are likely to repeal these measures, they're just so useful.

 

Has Mandy been taking lessons from the Chinese ?

[esme]

final correspondence from my MP

 

Dear XXXXXXXXX

 

I am sorry you seem to misunderstand how parliament works.

 

There I no chance an individual MP can fundamentaly alter a bill at such a late stage.

 

I would point out that no political party and not even single a MP voted against the second reading.

 

I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to respond to your concerns but obviously not succeeded.

 

The issues of most concern in the bill will be revisited in considering secondary legislation in the next party.

 

XXXXXXXXXX

 

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

 

so at a wild guess he's on a train back to south yorkshire as he's using his phone

 

so I fired off a final response without much hope he'll get it

Dear XXXXXXXX,

 

I now have a much better idea how parliament works thanks mainly to this interaction with yourself, and I do not believe it serves the people of this country well.

 

You say there was no chance that an MP could affect the bill at such a late stage, I have been contacting you regarding this bill from a time when the bill was still in the lords, and every time I have been given assurances that when the bill comes up for scrutiny it will all be sorted out, this was most definitely not the case.

 

You could have raised my concerns when the bill entered the commons at the first reading, but you chose not to, similarly you chose to remain silent at the second reading and the final debate, then voted in support of a bill I know to be deeply flawed and open to abuse and miscarriages of justice.

 

You say no MP or party voted against the bill in the second reading, which does sound like a magnificent achievement considering how many MP's there are, however there were less than 40 MP's present at the second reading, and I did not see your face on the parliamentary video feed, my apologies if I missed it, but you didn't appear to be there despite being aware of my concerns by this time.

 

There were rather more MP's there for the final debate as constituents had finally managed to contact their MP's to take an interest in it, however the undue haste with which this bill progressed through parliament acted against such a measure and the bill passed.

 

I appreciate the effort you have put into trying to respond to my concerns, however you appear to have been ill advised in your responses to the technical issues I raised and the rest of the time you appeared to be telling me to wait and trust the bill would be changed before being passed, this did not happen.

 

The bill still contains fundamental flaws, I hope you appreciate the effort I have put in to try and raise your awareness of them, I too have other things to do.

 

I sincerely hope that when parliament reforms this entire bill and not just select clauses within it is subject to the full scrutiny of the house, this is all I wanted and all I asked for in the first place.

 

I wish you well in your endeavours for re election however at this point I still see no reason to vote for you.

 

Yours Sincerely

[Northrend]

At this rare i'll be canning the internet all together. I work in the sector so I get my ear chewed off all day over something no one has any control over but the crappy goverment. Time to change jobs me thinks..

[esme]

I sort out peoples problems with computers and internet too, at this rate a shelf stacking job or security work is beginning to look very attractive

[Berberis]

This is a very interesting article on the whole issue.

 

Digital Economy Bill: Proposed By The Unelected, Debated By The Ignorant, Voted On By The Absent: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100408/1003328938.shtml

 

Sorry if it’s been posted already.

[GordonBennet]

final correspondence from my MP

 

 

 

so at a wild guess he's on a train back to south yorkshire as he's using his phone

 

so I fired off a final response without much hope he'll get it

 

You still come across as woefully naive if you think your MP is solely there for you to fire off long letters to and to expect an instant reply. Even if he agrees with your opinions (which is unlikely), he'll have been instructed by his party whip of which way to vote. Indeed you should be thankful your MP replied at all, most don't save for a standard letter saying they're aware of your comments blah blah blah.

 

That's just the way the system works. To vote against your MP over something he has no control over seems a bit unfair.