To quote a journalist who has been opposing this Bill since its announcement, "It is not the job of government to guarantee that the business model enabled by last year’s technology will go on for ever. If it were, we would have outlawed radio to save vaudeville"

This legislation has been designed as a means to protect outdated mediums that have been restraining the creative industry for many years. Apart from being a protectionist measure, to continue quoting from Cory Doctorow's article 'Denying Physics won't save the video star' "Even more radical is the Mandelson proposal to disconnect entire families from the internet if a single member — or a neighbour who uses their internet connection — is accused, without proof, of violating copyright. Leave aside the fundamental injustice of collective punishment, a practice so abhorrent that it is outlawed in the Geneva Convention; think instead of the utter disproportionality of this.

The internet is an integral part of our children’s education; it’s critical to our employment; it’s how we stay in touch with distant relatives. It’s how we engage with government. It’s the single wire that delivers freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. It isn’t just a conduit for getting a few naughty free movies, it is the circulatory system of the information age. "

This is a very serious piece of legislation which has deserved an awful lot more discussion that it has recieved so far. Even more dissapointing was the poor turnout of our MP's at the digital economy Bill's second sitting. At the peak of debate, onyl 5% of our elected representatives were present.

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