Digital Economy Bill passes through Lords
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones has withdrawn a controversial amendment to the Digital Economy Bill.
The bill, which has had a difficult path so far, was then passed by the House of Lords and will be put to a vote in the House of Commons.
The amendment, which would have given courts the power to shut down websites deemed to have a large volume of copyright-infringing content, replaced the equally contentious clause 17 which had given the government the ability to push through new copyright laws without approval.
The amendment, numbered 120A, caused further controversy when it was shown to be nearly a verbatim copy of comments in a paper issued by music industry lobby group the British Phonographic Industry.
The passage of the bill is concerning privacy campaigners who object to clause 17 and measures that would allow for the disconnection of people suspected of file-sharing.
The Open Rights Group called for people concerned about the bill to write to their MPs.
"We need to show MPs that is not possible to agree to a measure like this on the nod. To refuse to exercise their democratic duty to debate legislation on a matter this important would be as corrupt as the Expenses scandal. We pay MPs wages. We expect them to do their job," said Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group.
ISP TalkTalk last week published the results of a study that suggested determined file-sharers would get around the anti-piracy measures in the bill.
However, the BPI is delighted with the progress of the Digital Economy Bill, as a leaked email from Richard Mollet, the director of Public Affairs for the BPI, shows.
"Inveterate opponents like Derek Wyatt and Tom Watson continue to blog and tweet with critical comments, but there is not the sense of a groundswell of massive opposition to the bill," the email reads.
Mollet also adds some bizarre comments in the email about MI5 and whether the security services are funding opposition to the bill.
"Whether MI5 helped pay for the [TalkTalk] survey is not clear, but the results helpfully play into their court," Mollet writes.
