digital economy

It's been a bit hard to understand what's been going on in the UK concerning copyright reform when we keep hearing two very contradictory messages.

On one side, there's the ridiculous Digital Economy Act, which was proposed by the unelected, debated by the ignorant and voted on by the absent in order to put in place much stricter copyright laws, including putting much of the burden on online service providers.

Yesterday the UK government announced that following a report from regulator OFCOM, plans to block alleged copyright-infringing websites would be dropped.

However, there was a second report where OFCOM detailed ways of keeping the costs of Digital Economy Act infringement appeals down.

The document carried the usual redactions but TorrentFreak has put on its X-ray vision for your viewing pleasure.

As was expected, the current UK government has made it clear that it would like to follow the (relatively mild) suggestions of the Hargreaves report.

Plans to block websites alleged to facilitate copyright infringement are to be dropped by the UK government.

The announcement was made by Business secretary Vince Cable following a review by communications regulator OFCOM which found that blocking provisions in the Digital Economy Act would not be effective.

Nevertheless, website blocking will be attempted, just by other means.

Previously confidential documents detailing Universal Music’s meetings with the former UK government over the Digital Economy Act are revealing a whole lot more than the pair intended.

Blacked-out sections now uncovered show that Universal believed that ISPs could spy on their users and hand over information to rightsholders in order for them to sue.

Was the Digital Economy Act always going to be implemented? The latest revelations in the Act's complex two year history shows that it was always going to happen, and that public consultation on the matter was just a sham.

Via Michael Geist, we learn of a new UN report on Human Rights, that (among many other things) talks up the importance of free speech online (pdf), worries about the expansion of third party liability laws as a tool to suppress speech online, and is generally concerned about government attempts to censor the internet.