Savage Popcorn

Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing (via lots of folks on Twitter) is claiming that Peter Mandelson is planning to introduce changes to the Digital Economy Bill now under debate in Parliament. These changes will give the Secretary of State (Mandelson – or whoever replaces him after the next election) the power to make “secondary legislation” (legislation that is passed without debate) to amend the provisions of Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988).

What that means is that an unelected official would have the power to do anything without Parliamentary oversight or debate, provided it was done in the name of protecting copyright. Mandelson elaborates on this, giving three reasons for his proposal:

1. The Secretary of State would get the power to create new remedies for online infringements (for example, he could create jail terms for file-sharing, or create a “three-strikes” plan that costs entire families their internet access if any member stands accused of infringement)

2. The Secretary of State would get the power to create procedures to “confer rights” for the purposes of protecting rightsholders from online infringement. (for example, record labels and movie studios can be given investigative and enforcement powers that allow them to compel ISPs, libraries, companies and schools to turn over personal information about Internet users, and to order those companies to disconnect users, remove websites, block URLs, etc)

3. The Secretary of State would get the power to “impose such duties, powers or functions on any person as may be specified in connection with facilitating online infringement” (for example, ISPs could be forced to spy on their users, or to have copyright lawyers examine every piece of user-generated content before it goes live; also, copyright “militias” can be formed with the power to police copyright on the web)

According to Boing Boing’s information, Mandelson is also seeking to restrict services like YouSendIt, which allow you to exchange large files, Clearly he hasn’t been talking to all of the entertainment industry about this – I have had dealings with marketing companies that use this service to distribute press kits and trailers. What Mandelson wants to do is force them to turn off any privacy features so the government can hire a legion of snoops to monitor exactly who is sending what.

This proposal creates the office of Pirate-Finder General, with unlimited power to appoint militias who are above the law, who can pry into every corner of your life, who can disconnect you from your family, job, education and government, who can fine you or put you in jail.

The Guardian has more and claims that some Labour MPs are concerned that if Mandelson gets away with this, it could give a future Tory government the ability that Rupert Murdoch wants to quash Google, who he has accused of “stealing from newspapers”.

By giving the business secretary the power to amend the Copyright Act at will, Labour fears Mandelson could be creating a Trojan horse that under a Tory administration would allow Murdoch to be rewarded for his support for David Cameron over Gordon Brown, for example by making it illegal to use such extracts from a news site for profit.

Labour’s new found antipathy to Murdoch aside, this concern does highlight the extent to which this proposal is open to abuse. It is also both unworkable and unlawful, as pointed out by Internet service providers.

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