Digital Economy Bill Ideas

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  Digital Economy Bill breakdown

  We're all bleating about why the Bill sucks, but we seem to be the only people who think it does. I suspect this is because we're the only people who understand why it does, where we are 'geeks' for want of a better word. Can we create a Wiki which breaks down the Bill, clause by clause and schedule by schedule, explaining in plain English why it is a bad thing, what the short term and long term implications are and a ...more »

  We're all bleating about why the Bill sucks, but we seem to be the only people who think it does. I suspect this is because we're the only people who understand why it does, where we are 'geeks' for want of a better word. Can we create a Wiki which breaks down the Bill, clause by clause and schedule by schedule, explaining in plain English why it is a bad thing, what the short term and long term implications are and a suggested rewording which would achieve a similar thing but with less collateral damage to innocent people?

  Amendments will be made to this Bill, for it to be workable. Would be good to get in before a repeat failure of comprehension.

  UPDATE 10 April 2010: The wiki is up and running at http://j.mp/DEact .

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  Submitted by LouLouK 2 years ago

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  Adopt an MP

  One of the things that was very apparent from the Bill debate was the low level of knowledge among many MPs about how the internet and the more innovative end of the UK's digital economy actually work. I think we have a responsibility to educate our MPs rather than simply whingeing about how little they know. After all they encounter all kinds of subjects in their daily work and can't be expected to be experts on everything. ...more »

  One of the things that was very apparent from the Bill debate was the low level of knowledge among many MPs about how the internet and the more innovative end of the UK's digital economy actually work.

  I think we have a responsibility to educate our MPs rather than simply whingeing about how little they know. After all they encounter all kinds of subjects in their daily work and can't be expected to be experts on everything.

  We could adopt our local MP (great opportunity as many will be new this election and therefore enthusiastic), talk to them about how we use the internet and how it works, invite them to our workplaces, our events, our social media café/Tuttle meetings etc. and just generally make sure they're aware of how internet use is changing and evolving and why this is a good thing for the economy and society.

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  2 comments

  Submitted by fiona 2 years ago

• I agree

  9 votes

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  Claim Copyright Infrigements on Government Websites

  Government websites often use public domain CSS, images and other content in the same way as other websites. As far as i know, the bill does not stipulate against public organisations. Why not start a campaign to shutdown government websites by claiming copyright infringement? As I understand it, it's the accused's responsibility to prove they are not sharing copyrighted material, and no proof needs to be provided. ...more »

  Government websites often use public domain CSS, images and other content in the same way as other websites. As far as i know, the bill does not stipulate against public organisations. Why not start a campaign to shutdown government websites by claiming copyright infringement? As I understand it, it's the accused's responsibility to prove they are not sharing copyrighted material, and no proof needs to be provided. So, in this 'don't ask/don't tell' theory, I think normal website content would be included in this description. Why don't we start targeting important government websites, and conspiring with likeminded ISPs to shut them down under the auspices of copyright infringement. After all, if it applies to us, why can't it apply to them too?

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  3 comments

  Submitted by disciple3d 2 years ago

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  8 votes

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  get the SEO juice flowing

  The DEBill was never intended or able to stop 'the geeks' from copying files - they all know we will find a way round. But the average user will not. They will be threatened and intimidated by the first threatening letter. Parents will be worried, teenagers will be punished, Google will be used. If we start to build a repository of accurate and sensible advice on what to do if you get a threatening letter from an ...more »

  The DEBill was never intended or able to stop 'the geeks' from copying files - they all know we will find a way round. But the average user will not. They will be threatened and intimidated by the first threatening letter.

  Parents will be worried, teenagers will be punished, Google will be used.

  If we start to build a repository of accurate and sensible advice on what to do if you get a threatening letter from an ISP including everything from 'stop downloading movies and sign up for a legal service' to 'use a vpn/proxy service to hide your legitimate filesharing', then at least will receive sensible and balanced information.

  And we can also try and get them to complain to their MP too.

  UPDATE 10 April 2010: A wiki for this is up and running at http://j.mp/DEact .

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  2 comments

  Submitted by Saul Cozens 2 years ago

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  7 votes

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  Actively boycott all companies that support the Bill

  A few forensics should be enough to work out which companies have been actively supporting and lobbying for this Bill, across the music industry and others. We should publish a list of them and the artists/products they promote and boycott them.

  2 comments

  Submitted by annemcx 2 years ago

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  5 votes

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  legal fund

  should we start a fund to defend the first (defendable) case that is brought?

  Sooner or later, some little old lady's wifi will be hacked and she will be accused of being a pirate ('a what dear?'). Making a big public defence of such a case perhaps get the Daily Mail brigade on side.

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  Submitted by Saul Cozens 2 years ago

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  4 votes

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  Campaign for parliamentary reform

  Whilst I appreciate that specific actions are needed to tackle this specific bill, this kind of thing will keep on happening unless we make more fundemental changes in our parliamentary system. The real problem with this bill is actually the parliamentary processes that allowed it to get forced through - the "Wash up" process and the three line whip. Everyone who feels wronged by how this bill was handled should engage ...more »

  Whilst I appreciate that specific actions are needed to tackle this specific bill, this kind of thing will keep on happening unless we make more fundemental changes in our parliamentary system. The real problem with this bill is actually the parliamentary processes that allowed it to get forced through - the "Wash up" process and the three line whip.

  Everyone who feels wronged by how this bill was handled should engage with the debate about parliamentary reform, make themselves aware of the different options that are being tabled and ensure that they vote for an MP that is going to actively do something about it.

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  Submitted by gavinclarkeuk 2 years ago

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  Put a figure on it

  One of the justifications we heard time and time again was the hundreds of millions of pounds of losses being suffered by the "creative industries". Various sources have uncovered the untruths behind these figures, yet politicians pay attention to big numbers when they are trotted out. Given the damage we all know this bill will do to consumers, to ISPs and to any organisation that provides public wifi access, surely ...more »

  One of the justifications we heard time and time again was the hundreds of millions of pounds of losses being suffered by the "creative industries".

  Various sources have uncovered the untruths behind these figures, yet politicians pay attention to big numbers when they are trotted out.

  Given the damage we all know this bill will do to consumers, to ISPs and to any organisation that provides public wifi access, surely we can put a figure on this?

  Unlike the BPI and their secretive methods of calculation, we could use an open, collaborative approach to identifying the risks and attaching costs to these.

  This would give us a powerful weapon to fight the lies and mistruths that have been put out there about the bill.

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  2 comments

  Submitted by will.abson 2 years ago

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  3 votes

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  Find the advisory committee

  I can't spell committee. Anyway, I have been trying to find out all day who advises MP's on matters technological, because they are evidently not doing their job properly and speaking in plain English or Right Honourable Gentlemen would not be referring to email as hassle and IP numbers instead of addresses. I want to find out who they are so we can go some way towards explaining their errors and replacing those errors ...more »

  I can't spell committee. Anyway, I have been trying to find out all day who advises MP's on matters technological, because they are evidently not doing their job properly and speaking in plain English or Right Honourable Gentlemen would not be referring to email as hassle and IP numbers instead of addresses. I want to find out who they are so we can go some way towards explaining their errors and replacing those errors with fact. I am coming to suspect they don't exist, so if they don't, I propose geeks form their own advisory committee laying out in simple terms, how the internet works. Cohesive, clear, in plain English and accurate. No spin, no vested interests and no hidden agendas.

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  5 comments

  Submitted by LouLouK 2 years ago

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  1 vote

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  Collaborate with other groups on related issues

  There's value in building on the concern about the DE Bill as a single issue, but there's a balance to be reached between that alone and its relation to broader issues around openness, copyright and net neutrality. The impact of activism can be multiplied by working with other groups which have similar interests and targets. See http://delicious.com/jimrhiz/activism+open for links: let me know of any more by adding ...more »

  There's value in building on the concern about the DE Bill as a single issue, but there's a balance to be reached between that alone and its relation to broader issues around openness, copyright and net neutrality.

  The impact of activism can be multiplied by working with other groups which have similar interests and targets. See http://delicious.com/jimrhiz/activism+open for links: let me know of any more by adding a comment here.

  I'm also interested in comments on where people see the optimal balance of breadth, or granularity of action. Note for example that Gavin Clarke's "Campaign for parliamentary reform" doesn't have many votes yet. The greater the breadth, the more supporters might be available, but potentially at a risk to consensus.

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  Submitted by jimrhiz 2 years ago

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  1 vote

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  Social Media Surgeries for MPs

  Nick Booth and the gang at Social Media Surgeries do wonderful things getting people who run charities together with people who know how to make things on the internet. It's free and knowledge is shared, interesting things happen as a result.

  http://www.paradisecircus.com/social-media-surgeries/

  How about doing something similar with MPs?

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  Submitted by Stef Lewandowski 2 years ago

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  Sustained Campaign

  First, let's remember that the proponents of the DEB can see everything we discuss - as can other opponents - and that is a force in itself. Ultimately, the proponents have limited resources, in terms of lobbying budget and personnel, and MPs/Peers have (very) limited bandwidth. They'll all want the DEB done and dusted quickly in the new Parliament. The DEB (and Parliamentary reform, including the 'wash-up' process ...more »

  First, let's remember that the proponents of the DEB can see everything we discuss - as can other opponents - and that is a force in itself.

  Ultimately, the proponents have limited resources, in terms of lobbying budget and personnel, and MPs/Peers have (very) limited bandwidth. They'll all want the DEB done and dusted quickly in the new Parliament. The DEB (and Parliamentary reform, including the 'wash-up' process that spawned the DEB) should be made a feature of the election campaign and as much of the next Parliament as necessary. Fortunately, it became the poster child for how undemocratic Parliament is perceived to have become, so it's profile can benefit from always being included in discussions about Parliamentary reform. We need to find a champion in each political party, ideally one in each house. We need to identify the pawns of the copyright moguls and the nature of the self interest involved. Politicians' understanding of the technology and the issues is also appallingly low, but they still have web presence, even if maintained by staff or central office. So we should 'adopt an MP/Peer' - especially the likely new ones - and pepper those web sites, blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts etc with thoughtful explanations and examples of why the DEB is a Bad Thing. Sooner or later, the dam will burst.

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  Submitted by sdjohns 2 years ago

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  -1 votes

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  Hide

  Encrypt and obfuscate all data. The Internet changes and develops at speeds politicians only hope to comprehend therefore the Internet can change to defeat external imposition.

  Starting to encrypt all file-sharing traffic makes it difficult for the establishment to monitor what people do. Filling the network full of false and spurious data would reduce detection rates and increase false positives.

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  Submitted by chris.ellis.intrbiz 2 years ago

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  -3 votes

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  gather proper stats

  The technical measures can only be introduced if sharing does not drop by 70% fro the threatening letters.

  I don't know about you, but I don't trust the government/BPI to measure the decrease in sharing accurately. I can imagine it now 'we aren't earning 70% more money, so sharing can't have dropped by that much - start cutting them off'.

  Should we start measuring sharing ourselves?

  1 comment

  Submitted by Saul Cozens 2 years ago

• I agree

  -6 votes

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  Encrypt now!

  Sign up for relatively cheap anonymous and secure vpn network encryption before the rush, http://www.securityrisk.org/

  A small sum of USD5.00 can get you 120 hours of secure internet access where your IP address is secured wherever you go. There is also a free option in case you wish to try before you buy.

  Once you are signed up check you IP address here: http://whatismyipaddress.com/

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  Submitted by obelis_kreative 2 years ago

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