end of free speech and investigatory processes

Download piracy: has the film industry shot the bystanders?

http://www.bristolitcompany.com/bits/articles/Piracy_Jan2010.aspx

The issue is a big one: if you make intellectual property, people are probably using the internet to steal from you.

Software licences get hacked, images, music and videos are “shared” for free, rather than bought or licensed as intended. Obviously it's wrong, costly and dishonest, but the present response, being quietly rolled out before our General Election may be thought extreme and has huge implications for both householders and businesses.

The entertainment industry has lobbied effectively in the halls of the EU and globally, and has got results: In September 2009, a bill passed the French Lower House to cut off net connections used by pirates. A markedly similar bill surfaced in Spain in early December.

Our own, the innocuously-named Digital Economy Bill, was quietly announced in the political “dead zone” between Christmas and the new year. The financial calculations attached to the British legislation estimate £500m direct admin cost, and £350m in extra VAT to central coffers. Both are annual expenditures for the nation, and will be met principally by internet users. No wonder governments like the idea!

What’s likely to happen?

• Telecoms charges will go up to cover the new bureaucracy.
  
  
• There may be a new legal liability of internet subscribers, for actions of third parties using their connection. In the home, that means family and visitors, and in the workplace, your staff and possibly customers too.
  
  
• Piracy, roughly defined as downloading entertainment for which payment has not been made to the copyright holder, will change from being a civil to a criminal offence, but crucially, it's not the perpetrator who will be held responsible, but the subscriber to the internet connection.
  
  
• Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will be given the role of policemen, to detect, report (and ultimately punish) anyone who 'allows' their Internet connection to be used for breach of copyright.

Criminal offences are proposed, and lesser punishments will include the restriction or removal of Internet access from the premises concerned.

The situation is changing rapidly though. The Lords (bless 'em) have tabled almost 300 amendments to the bill, and the whole thing may yet fail (in its present form) before our summer general election.

There is an internal fight going on in the halls of the EU about this. On the one hand are campaigners claiming that there should be free access to the internet for everyone (Estonia, Finland, France and Greece have all reportedly recently declared that broadband Internet access is a 'human right'). On the other hand there are industry anti-counterfeiting and copyright protection lobby groups. These generally seek to impose monitoring, and limit free passage of digital content, so that copyright infringers may be caught and punished.

Employment law is always complex, but this one could be a blank cheque for lawyers (sorry legal chaps, but it's true!). It touches on personal privacy, and may well impose complex new responsibilities on employers.

The smart money is now on a March or May general election in the UK, so the British bill may yet run out of time. It does however clearly indicate a pan-European trend towards less liberty and greater monitoring of the internet, and criminal legal penalties.

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Keeping up to date with this may be a challenge!

The latest breaking news is a strong reaction from Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse.

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Revised 27.1.2010