14 Apr 10

The pre-election digital crunch

Deciphering the Digital Economy Bill and how you can be affected...

Despite prolonged political and public debate over the government’s controversial Digital Economy Bill, it was passed and published as the new Digital Economy Act 2010 last week.

The Digital Economy Bill is the Government’s ambitious strategic vision of the UK playing a pivotal role in leading the global digital economy. The bill sets up various infrastructures with the purpose of driving creative and digital industries to fuel future economic growth.

Although designed with good intentions, sections of the bill have led to widespread opposition because the potential repercussions will affect the mass public. Drastic measures have been introduced by the government to stop internet piracy, whereby Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are now legally obliged to reduce illegal downloads and file-sharing copyright material.

ISPs now have the power to block websites that infringe copyright through court approval. In hindsight, this may see valuable information sites who carry both uncopyrighted and legal material, such as ‘Wikileaks’ (a popular website which anonymously publishes leaked sensitive documents from government and other organisations), to be blocked. Also in jeopardy are social sharing sites such as Google Docs, YouTube and Blogger. These enforcements not only intrude on the internet’s freedom of speech and restrict social networking, but potentially contradict the government’s own objectives in driving the digital industry.

In addition, ISPs now have the power to monitor and suspend internet subscribers who habitually download from pirate websites. Internet subscribers not only lose privacy, but are also responsible for all downloads via their internet connection – by members of family, friends or neighbours – with the risk of being innocently accused as a copyright infringer. This potentially grounds the push for public open WiFi to a halt, since not one party can be held responsible. Public benefits through bodies such as libraries, universities, internet cafes and hotels will also be threatened as these bodies are now faced with the risk of being an infringement offender.

At the same time, ISPs will face heavy fines from the new regulators, Ofcom, if the Act’s rules are not enforced. Copyright holders also have the legal right to obtain infringers’ personal details from ISPs, which will further jeopardise consumers’ privacy.

Under the new Act, content in which the owner or rights holder cannot be identified, coined “Orphan works”, will be protected by a new regulated scheme for licensed use. This receives a thumbs up from all artists, including photo sharing, Flickr, users, as it protects their works from unauthorised commercial use. However, public libraries will be the innocent sufferers because a non-exhaustive list of permissions will need to be obtained as they document an internet-driven society. In addition to this, both libraries and museums will encounter countless problems with holdings of unpublished letters and diaries, old books, or archival sound and video recordings.

Ending on a more positive note, although the critical spotlight is currently on the controversial sections of the bill, it does carry commendable areas. A notable one would be the government’s new right to set a specific date for analogue to digital radio switchover, currently set loosely at 2015. A date and set time frame announced officially by the government, would finally awaken consumers to the fact that radio digital switchover will take place and better prepare radio stations and consumers for a smoother transition.