Government revises clause 18 to Digital Economy Bill

Sean Dyer, a candidate for the Pirate Party, agreed that the wording of the amendment would give the government too much power to cut off access to sites.

"Some of the words used in the amendment, such as 'likely' and 'has been', mean that any site that the government only believes could at some point be, or has in the past been, guilty of copyright infringement could face being shut down without proof," he said.

"The amendment is just another example of the government trying to rush this Bill. What is needed is for the government to start again and consider everyone's position, not just the rights holders, but technology companies like Google."

Lilian Edwards, professor of internet law at the University of Sheffield, echoed these comments, arguing in a blog post that the use of the word 'likely' in the new amendment increases the scope for the government to shut down web sites.

"In essence this is a power in principle to block any site on the internet, any search engine and any P2P client site, however legal," she wrote.

Liberal Democrat chief whip Paul Burstow said yesterday that the party would not be supporting the Bill.

"I have told the government we won't support the Digital Economy Bill as drafted. There is not enough time for MPs to examine it in detail," he wrote in a Twitter post.

The changes will be applied to the Bill after its second reading in the House of Commons on 6 April, the same date that Gordon Brown is likely to ask for parliament to be dissolved in preparation for the upcoming general election.