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Digital economy bill passed to Commons
Tuesday 16th March 2010, by Daniel King
The future of the digital economy bill rests in the hands of the House of Commons after receiving the approval of the House of Lords.
Although the Lords had previously objected to some of the terms of the incoming bill - such as the plan to remove parliament from the process of introducing new copyright laws in response to new online services - they have now passed a revised form of the bill to the Commons for consideration.
This removes the contentious Clause 17, replacing it instead with Clause 18, which allows the High Court to become involved in updating copyright laws to cope with the development of internet technologies.
However, the news of the bill's progression has been met with concerns from some critics that it may be being rushed through parliament ahead of the general election, which is expected in early May.
The bill had already come under criticism from industry operators including internet provider TalkTalk for its attempts to prevent illegal music downloads by putting people's internet contracts under threat.
According to the network operator, many internet users have become so familiar with peer-to-peer systems as a means of accessing music for free that any legal attempt to block them is unlikely to meet with success.
Personally I tend to use streaming services such as Spotify or Last.fm if I want to listen to a song without paying to download it.
The ad-funded networks are a useful alternative to download services like iTunes, if I only want to hear a song once - and I can always pay for it later if I decide I like it.
Do you stream or buy outright?
Categories: Broadband
