UK ISPs React Angrily to Bill that Blocks Copyright Infringing Sites

The UK Internet Services Providers Association ( ISPA ) has said that its members are "bitterly disappointed" after amendment 120A to the Digital Economy Bill was voted through in the House of Lords yesterday. The change could force UK broadband providers into blocking any website deemed to contain "a substantial proportion" of content that infringes copyright (see yesterdays news). That might just as easily apply to YouTube as it would a P2P links site. The Trade Association for providers of Internet services, which represents around 200 ISPs and related businesses, warned that the new amendment had been hastily constructed and rushed through at report stage without due consideration to either its implications or consultation with affected parties. The ISPA claims that 120A is "negligent ... misjudged and disproportionate" because it has many associated legal, technical and practical issues, most of which have simply not been debated in nearly enough depth. It quotes the words of the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Jeremy Hunt, "trying to rush through controversial powers at the tail end of a Parliament is simply no way to make law and not something we will be supporting".

Source: http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2010/03/04/uk-isps-react-angrily-to-bill-that-blocks-copyright-infringing-sites.html