London, April 09: Illegal downloaders could soon be banned from using the internet for life after a controversial bill was passed in the UK’s Lower House of Parliament.
Sky News reported the Digital Economy Bill aims to stop people from illegally downloading copyrighted material from the internet, but critics argue it could have far greater powers and be used to censor and block free speech by ruling politicians.
The bill was rushed through the legislature before the dissolution of Parliament next Monday, ahead of next month’s national election.
It was passed by 189 votes to 47 after concessions were agreed that saw the government drop a clause that allowed it sweeping powers to block sites.
But the amendment to another clause means that it could still be possible to block a site, if court approval was given.
Lawmakers who opposed the bill said it was right to do something about illegal downloads but that the new powers were too far-reaching.
One suggested that a search engine even as huge as Google could potentially be blocked.
Technology blogs claimed that the law would be way off the mark.
Techcrunch’s Mike Butcher said: “In trying to support the old music industry models and tackle illegal file-sharing, the #DEBill, as it’s known on Twitter, is poised to produce a new culture.
“That of legal letters from music industry bodies to (Internet Service Providers), bewildered householders and, no doubt, a manner of internet companies.”
He argued that valuable sites such as Wikileaks, which carries copyrighted work, could be shut down, blocking the release of information that it was in the public’s interest to know.
And paidContent:UK said: “The bill may have had a few parts stripped out and it may even be a damp squib. But the remaining 76-page Bill is still a wide-ranging piece of media and technology reform.”
The Labour Party’s former digital engagement minister Tom Watson earlier warned of a “catastrophic disaster”, with potentially innocent people being cut off because they lived in the same building as illegal downloaders.
“It might be that a Wi-Fi network is being used in a household. You might have a parent who pays for the broadband connection and their children are illegally downloading,” he said.
“The assumption in the current wording is that that parent has authorised the child to infringe copyright.”
—Agencies