The Pirate Party of the UK has released its list of candidates for the forthcoming national elections. The ten candidates, spread across England and Scotland, were announced by the party executives earlier this week, along with a plea for funding to help contest the election.
Last week the Digital Economy Bill was released and included tough measures to deal with illicit file-sharing. It was preceded by a consultation period where individuals, consumer groups and ISPs voiced serious concerns over the proposals. The government seems to have completely ignored them – not so the rights holders.
This week the latest news in the Digital Britain debate caused a wave of protests as it was revealed the government is considering disconnecting Internet users on allegations of copyright infringement. TorrentFreak caught up with a British independent film company to gauge their response to the news.
A politician being touted as Britain’s next Prime Minister has been persuaded to take action to criminalize 7 million citizens following intensive industry lobbying over file-sharing. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is in favor of introducing tough laws including Internet restrictions and fines of up to £50,000 ($83,000).
The Digital Britain report will be published shortly. However, no government department will be completely knowledgeable in such a nuanced subject as peer-to-peer file-sharing. So what basic errors might the generalists make based on the submissions made to the BERR last year?
Ever since the UK’s major ISPs and the music industry were forced together by the government to sort out online piracy, it has been feared that a ’3 Strikes’ regime was on the horizon. Now, according to a government minister, that possibility has been ruled out.
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