Digital Economy Bill May Fail to Curb Online Piracy, Believes ZDNet UK
Experts believe that the regulatory proposals of the government’s Digital Economy Bill have many loopholes and will not be much effective in the long run, even though the approval of the bill has been a much-hyped issue in the broadband industry in recent months.
The bill has been subject to much debate and controversy because of its proposal of broadband disconnection. Habitual offenders who unlawfully download copyright material from the internet will face disconnection as a penalty.
Minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms explained that a letter of warning would be sent by the ISP to a habitual offender, warning him of dire consequences if he persists with his activities. If the letter fails to have the desired effect, then technical measures will be adopted, which includes freezing the user account of the offender temporarily.
Subscribers and experts both believe that these measures are too harsh, and people protesting against the proposal have collected signatures and approached the Prime Minister’s Office with a petition in a concerted move to oppose the bill.
Moreover, according to ZDNet UK, an agency specializing in technology business news, mobile broadband users who violate copyright laws cannot be traced easily, as one public IP address is used by multiple users.
On the contrary, home broadband connections have just one IP address and thus the offenders be traced easily. However, as mobile data usage continues to grow exponentially and mobile broadband devices and smartphones become more popular, it will become increasingly difficult to identify offenders in the near future, and hence the bill and its anti-piracy laws will not have any effect in the long run.
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