That sucks.

I sense the english government is going to be hit with a few thousand forms of malware very, very soon. And for once, I'll be rooting for the viruses.

Boing Boing tends to be Chicken Little when it comes to copyright law. We need Chicken Littles to keep things in check, but you can't take them too seriously.

Well, so long UK farkers. Nice to know ya'll.

Cool,
There's one more digital economy for the U.S. to not have to compete with. Bummer for those you who have to live under it, but that's the breaks I guess.

/Stupid freaking law.

Pretty sad. I see all these Fark headlines referencing the Nanny State in regards to Britian and it seems that that's not just a clever way to describe the country.

Peter Mandelson sounds like the type who'll get caught with his fingers in a cookie jar* soon.

*Kinky hooker

you cannot stop the intertubes

colatf: Peter Mandelson sounds like the type who'll get caught with his fingers in a cookie jar* soon.

Doesn't matter ... his successor will have all of the same powers. And no government is real big on relinquishing any power it has.

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P. J. ORourke

What?
Living in the UK you'd think I'd have heard about this.
On the off chance it does go through, fine, I'll just hop on an unsecured WiFi.

Reads like a wet dream for Canada's Stevie Harper and his pro spy on everyone before someone catches on gang of brown shirts. If this kind of crap comes to Canada, I'd just drop the damn internet. It wouldn't be worth having.

cptjeff: I sense the english government is going to be hit with a few thousand forms of malware very, very soon. And for once, I'll be rooting for the viruses.

For that, they are planning on bring back the death penalty.

"Hi, I'm from the Government. I'm here to help." (smiley face)

"Men must be governed! Often not wisely, but governed nonetheless."

historynow11: "Men must be governed! Often not wisely, but governed nonetheless."




"This ship is getting slack, Mr. Gerard. It's taking you longer every day to clear for action."

People are hideous retards that equate morality with legality and restrictions with security.

ThoughtSpy: colatf: Peter Mandelson sounds like the type who'll get caught with his fingers in a cookie jar* soon.

Doesn't matter ... his successor will have all of the same powers. And no government is real big on relinquishing any power it has.

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P. J. ORourke

Good point.

"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master"... no idea where that quote comes from, but I like it.

I'm sorry, but as this is a British event, a Cyberman on a Union Jack would be far more appropriate, black_knight.

The downside of democracy is that politicians tend to be greedy little shiats.

All a lobbyist needs to do is wave money under a pol's nose and he'll do anything for that sweet, sweet, money. They hell with those who elected you. Your allegiance is to the CEO's and their shareholders, totally, 100%. After all, they are often too stupid to see the connection anyway.

I'd like to see a politician get up on national TV and say "so-and-so corporation tried to offer me money to vote on this draconian bill, but I resisted". Unfortunately, this would never happen they all lack any kind of ethics and gladly toe the line for Mr Moneybags.

Don't get me wrong, Those Commie Aprachniks are just as bad, or worse.

Cantih: I'm sorry, but as this is a British event, a Cyberman on a Union Jack would be far more appropriate, black_knight.
Couldn't find one.

Does this mean it will be harder for me to get pirated copies of BBC productions? BBC should really offer an international service, even if it costs money. I would have paid for a copy of Einstein and Eddington, but it wasn't available in the states at any price, so I had to steal it via torrent.

The BBC can't complain about lost revenue, because they're not attempting to earn any revenue. If they want to complain that I'm stealing something without paying for it, they should at least give me an option to pay for it.

Where is your socialist paradise now?

pippi longstocking: People are hideous retards that equate morality with legality and restrictions with security.

Wow. Well put.

Day_Old_Dutchie: The downside of democracy is that politicians tend to be greedy little shiats.

All a lobbyist needs to do is wave money under a pol's nose and he'll do anything for that sweet, sweet, money. They hell with those who elected you. Your allegiance is to the CEO's and their shareholders, totally, 100%. After all, they are often too stupid to see the connection anyway.

I'd like to see a politician get up on national TV and say "so-and-so corporation tried to offer me money to vote on this draconian bill, but I resisted". Unfortunately, this would never happen they all lack any kind of ethics and gladly toe the line for Mr Moneybags.

Don't get me wrong, Those Commie Aprachniks are just as bad, or worse.

One of my favorite parts of Thank You For Smoking is the 'bribery' scene. The movie is set up so that you're rooting for the lobbyist, but in retrospect it's a pretty horrific scene, with a man willing to throw all of his morals down the trash for a literal suitcase of cash.

And damn, is this law scary. Lets hope Obama doesn't get any ideas.

Diana Moon Glampers smirks approvingly

Just wondering, since it was mentioned in the article about video game ratings. Are there any parents around who play video games? If so are there games you don't let your children or don't play in front of them due to their content?

I just know people who don't let their play Warcraft because of trade and guild chat. But these days there has to be gamers who are parents as well, and I was just wondering how you deal with that.

This will die on the agenda when the election is called.

god damn politicians.
brits need a proxy it seems.

50k for a person, 250k for a multinational corporation. how is that fair?
i bet sony bmg wrote this thingy.

Goddammit. I hope the lobbyists received their bulk discount for this purchase.

the "three-strikes" rule that allows your entire family to be cut off from the net if anyone who lives in your house is accused of copyright infringement, without proof or evidence or trial

So the entertainment industry can effectively ban anyone from the internet whenever they want? Fark that and fark any MP that votes for it.

/ Off to read it.

pippi longstocking: People are hideous retards that equate morality with legality and restrictions with security.

Huh? The people didn't ask for a Digital Economy Bill, the giant mega multinational entertainment corportations lobby created it along with some control freaks in government with zero input from who they both should be working for - the people.

The hideous retards that enabled things like this to happen are long gone along with morality and security.

ah, geffen took this dbag to corfu. mkay mkay.

Ashtrey: I just know people who don't let their play Warcraft because of trade and guild chat. But these days there has to be gamers who are parents as well, and I was just wondering how you deal with that.

I dunno if a person feels that their kid can't deal with guild chat or trade chat... surely they wouldn't feel that their kids can even deal with using the internet at all.

I'm kind of curious about how people will respond to your inquiry.

Boing Boing tends to be Chicken Little

^ This ^

Anybody have a link to a real source?

"I believe they had dinner, but they absolutely didn't discuss any peer-to-peer file-sharing," a spokesperson said.

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/culture-media-and-sport/mandelson-s-filesharing- c orfu-link-denied-$1321086.htm

ZAZ: Anybody have a link to a real source?

This is about as real as you can get.

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2009-10/digitaleconomy.html

This isnt really a surprise is it? They already caved to Sharia Law.

The only people who have anything to fear are the criminals stealing copyrighted material.

ooooh the bastards. Try and stop me downloading music and flims illegaly will they? Next the thing the buggers will try to prevent me watching free midget porn. You mark my words.

ZAZ: Boing Boing tends to be Chicken Little

^ This ^

Anybody have a link to a real source?

The BBC Source (new window) that BoingBoing linked to.

Christ, you really think that they don't have a source? You were expecting BB to just be a dead end?

illuminatis: ooooh the bastards. Try and stop me downloading music and flims illegaly will they? Next the thing the buggers will try to prevent me watching free midget porn. You mark my words.

Except that much of the punishment is based on the accusation of file-sharing, not a conviction.

You don't actually have to have done anything illegal, just accused of doing so. And, at least in the US, the RIAA/MPAA have a habit of accusing those who are innocent.

Britain is getting scary now. The entire place is wired for CCTV and they the origin of the term "Nanny State". Now they proposing to monitor everyone's internet traffic. I always thought George Orwell was an author, not a freaking prophet.

Sadly, I think we in the USA aren't too far behind.

Isn't Mandelson the one that got caught up in some mortgage scandal a while back? He resigned over it from what I remember, and then came back. He made a point of saying "If I can come back, we can come back", or something to that effect at the party conference.

I hope this does not mean an end to things like me being able to find torrents of Top Gear, QI, Have I Got News For You, The Thick of It, and Mock The Week.

Sounds like a fiasco. Probably just for political points. I don't see this being efficiently enforceable except in the most extreme cases.

1000Monkeys: ZAZ: Anybody have a link to a real source?

This is about as real as you can get.

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2009-10/digitaleconomy.html

from your link: "Summary of the Bill
To make provision about the functions of the Office of Communications; to make provision about the online infringement of copyright, about licensing of copyright and performers' rights and about penalties for infringement; to make provision about internet domain registries; to make provision about the functions of the Channel Four Television Corporation; to make provision about the regulation of television and radio services; to make provision about the regulation of the use of the electromagnetic spectrum; to amend the Video Recordings Act 1984; to make provision about public lending right in relation to electronic publications; and for connected purposes."

there is nothing in that summary except rules to throttle the use of the internet. if part of this was supposed to enhance or spread broadband i can't see it.

while i don't live in the UK this still bothers me as a precedent.

Curious

You can also read the full text by clicking "Latest Bill". I'm still wading through all that legalese.