Digital Economy Bill could block websites

The Government has reintroduced measures into the Digital Economy Bill that would allow politicians to block pirate websites without primary legislation
By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor

The Telegraph
Mar. 31, 2010

The controversial Digital Economy Bill has been further amended so that ministers could block websites that offer pirated copyright content. The new move, which is supported by both Conservatives and Labour, means it is now even more likely that the Bill will be passed into law in the wash-up process, which takes place between an election being called and parliament being dissolved.

Original plans in the bill to allow Government to change the law without primary legislation had been criticised widely and were blocked by the opposition parties. Now, however, the bill has been changed so that Government would consult the public on each proposed blocking and then pass a statutory instrument compelling ISPs to do so. This secondary legislation could, theoretically, be blocked by parliament.

The conditions required for a website to be blocked have also been made more onerous: “serious adverse effect on businesses or consumers” would need to be shown, along with evidence that “a substantial amount of material has been, is being or is likely to be made available in infringement of copyright”.

Opposition parties had proposed that service providers should be responsible for blocking sites, but the Government agreed with industry demands that cost and freedom of speech be taken into account. Lord Mandelson has now written to his Conservative and Liberal Democrat counterparts, Jeremy Hunt and Don Foster, to explain the new proposals.













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