House of Lords approves Digital Economy Bill

The UK’s House of Lords approved the much-debated Digital Economy Bill this week. The most controversial clause in the Bill, that would grant the government the ability to introduce strong anti-piracy measures without consulting Parliament, did not survive the voting.

However, there are plenty more topics of concern for digital rights campaigners. The Liberal Democrats proposed an amendment that allows rightholders start legal action against sites that host a “substantial” amount of infringing material and move to have them blocked.

The head of Digital Rights Group, Jim Killock, fears that sites will be forced offline for fear of expensive legal action, reports the Telegraph. "This would open the door to a massive imbalance of power in favour of large copyright holding companies, Individuals and small businesses would be open to massive 'copyright attacks' that could shut them down, just by the threat of action."

Organisations that offer free WiFi as part of customer service, like cafés, libraries and airports, also worry about the Bill. In the Bill, they are held responsible for what happens on their networks. If their customers engage in sharing copyrighted material, such a hotspot might be closed down.

The Bill still needs to pass the House of Commons.

18 March 2010