Downloader: Digital Economy Bill set to pass into UK law: watch out, hapless home owners!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Digital Economy Bill set to pass into UK law: watch out, hapless home owners!

In what can only be described as a bunch of witless, whipped cronies dabbling in shit they really have no clue about, the dying United Kingdom parliament is about to pass the Digital Economy Bill into law. Ostensibly, the new law is about protecting intellectual property owners -- but ultimately, the Digital Economy Bill will simply make it easier to identify and prosecute British citizens.

The problems begin with the wording of the law: it's too loose. It has been written and argued by those that can't tell a bit from a byte. The new bill is so bloated and convoluted that it's almost impossible to judge where its caveats, clauses and consequences will lead us. Instead of chasing the pirates themselves, this law persecutes the householder -- the person that pays for the Internet connection must control what goes on. The best example is an open WiFi network: if someone logs into your open WiFi hub and downloads something illegal, you are the guilty one. Goodbye, wireless hotspots!

It's utterly crazy that Members of the UK Parliament should be discussing a law that they really have no clue about. As Tom Watson, Labour MP and the only out-spoken opposer of the new law, says: "The amendment seeks to address the legitimate concerns of rights-holders but would have unintended consequences which far outweigh any benefits it could bring [...] There are myriad legal, technical and practical issues to reconcile before this can be considered a proportionate and necessary public policy option. In some cases, these may never be reconciled. These issues have not even been considered in this case."

The British MPs must understand that policing the Internet is not a matter of passing draconian, police-state laws. That would be like damming the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, short of living in a totalitarian state, there has yet to be a successful example of curtailing undesirable behaviour on the Internet -- so why bother? Not only does this law attack the wrong cause -- how about providing legal movie downloads, studios? -- but this law will squander valuable police resources. Even worse, a lot of the burden created by the Digital Economy Bill will be shouldered by ISPs themselves! Ugh.

When will politicians realize that humans are not, by default, bad people? We're not born into piracy; there just isn't any other way to quickly, easily and cheaply obtain what we want.