Digital Economy Bill may escape Commons scrutiny

The Digital Economy Bill may not be given a third reading in the House of Commons

Controversial proposals concerning the punishment of illegal file sharers may escape a proper debate in the House of Commons.

Derek Wyatt, Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, said today that the Digital Economy Bill has been held up for so long in the House of Lords that it may not have time for a third reading in the Commons.

The Bill proposes two new regulations for internet service providers (ISPs) aimed at reducing illegal downloading.

So-called 'three strikes' legislation would see culprits kicked off the internet after multiple attempts to download copyrighted material, while amendment 120A, proposed by the Lords last week, would give copyright holders the power to pressure ISPs into restricting web sites seen to be promoting illegal file sharing.

Bills can be carried through from one parliamentary session to the next under current UK law, but cannot be carried forward to new parliaments. This has led in the past to legislation being hurried through before general elections, a period often referred to as 'the wash ups'.

"It looks like this will be the first Bill not to have a third reading and that goes straight to the wash ups," said Wyatt.

The MP discussed the Bill at a panel debate hosted by the British Computer Society (BCS), which has argued that the legislation needs more time to be considered properly.

"Because it concerns the clamping down on freedom of speech, and contains game-changing copyright proposals, we need time to think it through," said BCS president Elizabeth Sparrow.

"The Bill could have huge consequences for online activity that are currently poorly understood."

Sparrow acknowledged the importance of supporting copyright and the creative industries, but warned that this should not be done to the detriment of society. Better legislation later is preferable to hurried legislation, she said.

The BCS pointed to the comments made by members of the Lords about the intense lobbying by interest groups supporting the copyright proposals, and expressed concerns that the groups had not considered the wider social issues.

Liberal Democrat MP Mark Thompson argued that the Digital Economy Bill does not reflect the times in which we live.

"In 20 years' time we will look back at the Bill and say: 'What was the government trying to do?'" he said. "It is like the time when the Scribes were trying to protect themselves from the printing press. Consumers are now distributors as well."

However, speakers at the BCS event also questioned the impact of internet campaigns, and asked whether they can really make a difference.

"I received an invitation from the Open Rights Group the other day asking me to protest against the Bill, but then I never saw anything happen. That's the thing about online groups: do they even do anything?" said Wyatt.

The Bill has prompted a storm of protest from digital rights groups, large internet companies such as Google and Yahoo, ISPs and the general public.

Even though it was Liberal Democrat officials who put forward amendment 120A, the party's supporters rebelled against the change and 25 of them wrote an open letter of complaint.

The Bill has been watched with interest internationally, as the French voted against similar three strikes proposals put forward by president Nicolas Sarkozy. The French Constitutional Court voted against Sarkozy, ruling that internet access was a fundamental human right.

Meanwhile, the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being secretly negotiated by the EU has received negative publicity because of leaked documents showing that it is likely to propose disconnecting illegal downloaders from the internet.