Letter from Peter Wishart MP re Digital Economy Bill
Dear Sanjay Samani
Thank you for writing to me about the Digital Economy Bill.
This is a crucial piece of legislation that could help determine the success of our creative industries for the next generation. The bill contains many provisions concerning improved broadband provision, the operation of the regulator OFCOM and the digital switchover of radio.
I presume that you are writing concerning the provisions to tackle what is referred to as “peer to peer” filesharing.
Many myths exist surrounding what the bill is intending to do in tackling this issue. The critical point is that we cannot continue to allow the works of artists, creators and rights-holders to be given away for nothing, as currently exist online just now. To continue to do this would threaten the development of our creative economy and ensure that artists and creators go unrewarded for the work they produce.
The bill simply intends to tackle this, already illegal, activity by issuing notices to persistent offenders and ask them politely to stop. If, after several notifications, there is no improvement in behaviour, technical measures such as throttling band width, or temporary suspension of the internet may be considered as a last resort.
There would be no threat to businesses or schools, but they, like everybody else will be encouraged to stop the illegal downloading of material from anyone who may use their accounts. I am absolutely certain that responsible businesses and administrators of shared accounts will want to do everything possible to ensure that illegal activity is not conducted from their internet accounts.
It should also come as no surprise that large powerful internet service providers oppose these measures, as some of their business comes from the illegal sharing of music, films and TV programmes. They have been encouraged to engage in helping tackle on-line piracy, but other than positive contributions from companies like Sky and Virgin, none of the ISPs you mention have shown any interest in tackling this abuse and have actively campaigned against any measure that may see artists and creators properly rewarded.
I’m sure you agree that artists and rights holders works should be protected and many sites exist where the public can secure these works legitimately on line.
This bill has all-party support and while there will not be nearly sufficient time in the House of Commons to debate this bill it has been thoroughly debated in the House of Lords. If it is not passed, we may not secure another opportunity to put in place these vital measures for a number of years, in a new Parliament, with a possible new Government.
I hope this provides some useful information for you.
Yours sincerely
Pete Wishart MP
—–Original Message—–
From: Sanjay Samani [mailto:contact@sanjaysamani.com]
Sent: 16 March 2010 13:00
To: WISHART, Peter
Subject: Don’t rush through extreme internet laws
From:
Sanjay Samani
Dear Mr Wishart
I’m writing to you today because I’m very worried that the Government is planning to rush the Digital Economy Bill into law without a full Parliamentary debate.
The law is controversial and contains many measures that concern me. The controversial Bill deserves proper scrutiny so please don’t let the government rush it through. Many people think it will damage schools and businesses as well as innocent people who rely on the internet because it will allow the Government to disconnect people it suspects of copyright infringement.
Industry experts, internet service providers (like Talk Talk and BT) and huge internet companies like Google and Yahoo are all opposing the bill – yet the Government seems intent on forcing it through without a real debate.
As a constituent I am writing to you today to ask you to do all you can to ensure the Government doesn’t just rush the bill through and deny us our democratic right to scrutiny and debate.
As Lib Dem candidate for Angus, I was present at the Lib Dems policy motion on this issue at our conference on Sunday. It is now Lib Dem policy to oppose this bill and I hope that you and your SNP colleagues will support us in ensuring this bill is not passed through wash up.
Sanjay Samani
Viewpark
Meethill Road
Alyth
PH11 8De
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1 Comment for Letter from Peter Wishart MP re Digital Economy Bill
SNP’s flawed support for Digital Economy Bill - Sanjay Samani | March 17, 2010 at 6:33 pm
[...] Living 2 miles outside of Angus, I wrote to my MP, Peter Wishart, SNP. Given that the SNP have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Liberal Democrats on issues of authoritarianism and the environment, and have widely pilfered our policies, such as Local Income Tax, in other areas, I was completely shocked by the response, which is overwhelmingly in favour of the Digital Economy Bill. (See full text of response by clicking here) [...]