§ There was an article on Boing Boing over the weekend that includes a leaked copy of an e-mail sent by Richard Mollett, head of BPI (that’s the UK’s version of RIAA). He provides his key constituents with a round-up on news on the Digital Economy Bill, the legislative omnibus for all that’s bad in ACTA and the UK’s equivalent of the DMCA. Apparently, Mollet believes there is no groundswell of opposition for the Digital Economy Bill and that MPs will just wave it through for lack of popular concern.
Wouldn’t it be great to prove him wrong? If you are in the UK, you can very easily write to your MP and ask him or her to demand a full debate in Parliament on the Digital Economy Bill. I just sent this to my MP; feel free to copy, adapt and improve my text:
Dear Alan Whitehead,
I’m very concerned that the Digital Economy Bill is being rushed
through Parliament without adequate scrutiny. Will you be calling for a
full debate on the Bill please?My concern is that it tampers with the balance of copyright law in the
Internet age without a full appreciation of unintended consequences.
The equivalent bill in the USA, the DMCA, has been a source of abusive
attacks on free speech and business competition (outside the intended
scope of the Act) from the beginning, and I fully expect that the
Digital Economy Bill in its present form will likewise prove to chill
innovation and society.Yours sincerely,
Simon Phipps
By the way, apart from his job at BPI, Mollett is also the prospective Labour candidate for SW Surrey in the upcoming election. If you are one of his potential constituents you may wish to ask him about his commitment to your 21st century freedoms.
Feel free to pass a link to this post to your friends suggesting they take action too…
Filed under: Digital Economy Bill | Tagged: Activism, Debill, Digital Economy Bill, Politics, UK |
Wild Webmink 
Thank you for this Simon. I sent of an email to my MP and I hope she will act.
Cheers
Suhail
Tweeted out, email sent to my MP
Dear Ann Cryer
I’m hugely concerned that the Digital Economy Bill is being rushed
through Parliament without adequate scrutiny. I believe that a matter
that will impact massively on civil liberties in the digital age
requires very careful consideration and consultation and would ask that
you call for a full debate on the Bill.
My concern centres round the fact that it tampers with the balance of
copyright law in the Internet age without a full appreciation of
unintended consequences, and that it will become a tool that enables
those with the money to threaten legal action and silence innovation in
the same way that our current libel laws are recognised internationally
as being used to silence legitimate criticism. The equivalent bill in
the USA, the DMCA, has been a source of abusive attacks on free speech
and business competition (outside the intended scope of the Act) from
the beginning, and my concern is that the Digital Economy Bill in its
present form will have a similar effect.
We already have amendments to the bill proposed by LibDem peers in
collaboration with Conservative peers that would effectively enable
corporations to close down and remove our freedom to use services that
enable us to legitimately share large computer files such as home video
with overseas family members out of fears that some may use these
services for piracy. Limitations of email file sizes would mean that
family members would be unable to share their home video via the
internet, as an example of the restriction of legitimate use as a
potential consequence of this bill as it stands.
Yours sincerely,
Adam Sargant
[…] ✍ Actually I Do Care There was an article on Boing Boing over the weekend that includes a leaked copy of an e-mail sent by Richard Mollett, head of BPI (that’s the UK’s version of RIAA). He provides his key constituents with a round-up on news on the Digital Economy Bill, the legislative omnibus for all that’s bad in ACTA and the UK’s equivalent of the DMCA. Apparently, Mollet believes there is no groundswell of opposition for the Digital Economy Bill and that MPs will just wave it through for lack of popular concern. […]