proposals
UK Says ‘No’ To Disconnecting File-Sharers, Sort Of
In November 2009, details finally became public concerning the UK Digital Economy Bill, which aimed to turn elements of Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report into law. Part of the proposals indicated that Internet users would face being monitored by the music and movie industries. Their ISPs would then be required to pass on copyright infringement notices based on evidence supplied by anti-piracy tracking companies.
Continue reading »ACTA spells EVIL
p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- “We are concerned that the secrecy of such information reflects a desire to avoid potential criticism of substantive provisions in ACTA by the public, the group who will be most affected by the agreement.” So say two US congressmen in a letter to US Trade representative Ron Kirk. “Despite some sweet talk from Hollywood about how important ACTA and its secret negotiations are to America (and, once again, no, the secrecy is not at all “normal,” as some industry lawyers would have you believe),” says Mike Masnick on TechDirt , continuing »»» Senators Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown have sent a letter to US Trade Rep Ron Kirk asking for ACTA documents to be made public . The letter points out that “the public has a right to monitor and express informed views on proposals of such magnitude” especially considering that “there are concerns about the impact of ACTA on the privacy and civil rights of individuals, on the supply of products under the first sale doctrine, on the markets for legitimate generic medicines, and on consumers and innovation in general.” The letter also takes on the bogus claims of state secrets in protecting ACTA documents: We are surprised and unpersuaded by assertions that disclosures of basic information about the negotiation would present a risk to the national security of the United States, particularly as regards documents that are shared with all countries in the negotiations, and with dozens of representatives of large corporations.
Continue reading »UK ISPs Concerned P2P Crackdown Will “Undermine” Digital Economy
Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK ) Says focus should be on “reform of content licensing to enable legal alternatives at a fair price.” The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA), the UK’s Trade Association for providers of Internet services that was established in 1995 to promotes competition, self-regulation and the development of the Internet industry, is once again voicing its opposition for “ evolved ” plans by UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and his Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to impose technical measures against accused file-sharers that includes Internet disconnection. It’s concerned that the recently introduced Digital Economy Bill , far from strengthening the nation’s communications infrastructure, will penalize the success of the Internet industry and undermine the backbone of the digital economy. “ISPA is extremely disappointed by aspects of the proposals to address illicit file-sharing,” said ISPA Secretary General Nicholas Lansman.
Continue reading »Spain warned on filesharing cut-offs
Slow down there José Communications Commissioner Viviane Reding has warned Spain to look carefully at proposals to cut off alleged illegal filesharers.…
Continue reading »ISP Threatens Legal Action Against UK Over Anti-Piracy Plans
Back in August the UK government announced tough plans for dealing with online piracy. While the music and movie industries were notably supportive, opposition to the proposals were widespread. Those hoping that politicians might have had second thoughts are disappointed today.
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