The Digital Economy Bill

The Digital Economy Bill surfaced in 2009 during the Queen's Speech and has been the subject of much controversy since. It has mainly sparked rows with privacy groups over its proposals to increase spying on web users' activities in order to clamp down on any illegal actions.

One of the main offenses is copyright infringement, a form of internet abuse that targets people who illegally download music or films for free - with the punishment varying significantly between the range of offence. First time offenders may get fined or warned but, if the offence is repeated persistently, illegal web surfers could receive a complete cut off of their internet privileges.

The bill also proposes that the current Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988 be amended to cover dealings with illicit recordings. At the moment, the wording of the Act is so that it mentions only 'dealings with illicit articles', which covers various forms of text but technically not recordings. The changes would mean that those who become involved with seeding and downloading such files on the web could be charged up to £50,000.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) would be obliged to monitor their customers' activity on the web and to report suspicious net usage to the appropriate authority. If the ISP fails to comply with this demand, they could face a fine of £250,000. The bill also requests that all web content be regulated and proposes a rating system like the PEGI video game rating system be adopted to give web sites a stricter age restriction.

Another area where the government would be able to step in and intervene is the domain name registration space. This space is currently overseen by Nominet, an independent body comprised largely of ISPs whose registration model was so popular that it became the mould for other similar ventures worldwide.

The Digital Economy Bill has been met with a highly mixed reception. Critics have claimed that it is offensive in its expectation that the changes will boost Britain's digital economy and many consumer rights and privacy groups have slated its proposals to boost ISP monitoring of their customers.

Support hasn't been tremendous, with the UK's copyright society for artists DACS showing appreciation for the protection it would award its members and others showing support for the benefits that would be awarded to the community broadcasting sector.

ISPs appear to be the main contender to the bill as arguments such as the bill not directly addressing the problem and the course of action being inappropriate against offenders. Plus, with the countless users, hosting companies to work with and various other areas that ISPs would need to watch over, it is hardly a simple task to expect them to undertake to monitor all customer activity.