I'm making this post at all the forums where i'm a member , as its a very serious issue.
I'm not sure how many members here are aware of just how Draconian the effects of the Digital Economy Bill will be for British members of Forumophilia. The force behind the Bill is Peter Mandelson , well known for his close links to his pals in the music and film industries. He is trying to push the Bill through Parliament before the forthcoming General Election.
Initially the proposals entailed file sharers being disconnected by their ISP's . A new amendment to the Bill goes much further , and will result in ISP's being **** to block sites which host allegedly copyrighted material. This will mean that Rapidshare , Megaupload and all the other file hosting sites will be blocked in Britain. We wont be able to download from them , we won't be able to upload to them. A Premium Account to Rapidshare will become worthless overnight.
I would suggest that British members of this forum contact their MP's over this issue. If the Bill goes through , this and all other forums of a similar nature will in future be a place where we come to look at the pictures , but won't be able download anything.
Here is a statement from the Chief Executive of BT:
BT chief executive says filesharers should be fined, not suspended
10 March 2010 20:00 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 8 comments
BT chief executive says filesharers should be fined, not suspended In a letter to the Financial Times, BT Group Chief Executive Ian Livingston suggested that persistent file sharers caught breaking copyright laws should face fines instead of technical sanctions proposed by the UK government. He said that suspending service for persistent infringers as spelled out in the Digital Economy Bill could deny a fair hearing for the accused.
Instead of the technical sanctions outlined in the DEB, Livingston said people could choose to pay a penalty or fight the accusation. Those who dispute accusations could take their case to a new tribunal instead of the courts. The suggestion brings BT in line with the Open Rights Group, which believes such a system would be fairer and less risky than the proposed suspensions and other sanctions.
In the letter - which was also signed by the bosses of TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Orange, as well as Facebook, Google, eBay and Yahoo! - a recent amendment to the Digital Economy Bill faced considerable criticism. The amendment made last week would allow copyright holders to injunct ISPs and force the blocking of specific web addresses.
The measure would be used to fight against files posted on "locker services", such as Rapidshare. "Endorsing a policy that would encourage the blocking of websites by UK broadband providers or other internet companies is a very serious step for the UK to take," the letter reads.
"Put simply, blocking access as envisaged by this clause would both widely disrupt the internet in the UK and elsewhere and threaten freedom of speech and the open internet, without reducing copyright infringement as intended."
The peers behind the amendment have argued that all major ISPs already block access to URLs that are known to carry images of **** abuse, and therefore have the technical means to block links to pirated material.
