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If Britain is to reinvent its economy, digital technology will have to play a major part. By any measure, then, Lord Mandelson's Digital Economy Bill - a huge raft of measures relating to Britain's digital future, which will receive a second reading in the Commons on 6 April - is an important bit of legislation.
You would have thought that MPs might want to spend more than five minutes discussing it before it becomes law. But the measures are being rushed through in the "wash-up" period before Parliament is adjourned, when lobbyists are appeased, public opinion disregarded and details skimmed in a hurried attempt to legislate.
Among those rapidly changing details, which include the pointless digital radio switchover, are some rather alarming measures relating to copyright infringement.
This part of the bill, which seems to have been dictated by the BPI - the body that protects the British music industry with all the charm of a Siberian strip-club bouncer - requires internet service providers (ISPs) to keep tabs on internet users, sending the names and addresses of any illegal downloaders to copyright holders. The ISPs will have the power to disconnect whole households from the internet in the cases of multiple infringements.
Let's put that simply. If your kid copies the new Justin Bieber album from a friend and downloads an episode or two of Glee, then YOINK! No more web for you. No matter that you wouldn't know who Justin Bieber was if he approached you and said, "Hi, I'm Canadian teen singing sensation Justin Bieber!" No matter that you run a web-based business, or your partner writes a campaigning blog. No matter that other EU countries have enshrined web access as a human right - or that serious infringers are well capable of evading detection anyway.
It is true that the music industry has been harmed by copyright violators. It is not right, however, to suppose that someone who downloads an album for free would have otherwise paid a tenner for it - and absurd to contend that the internet has been harmful for music in general.
To give the industry the power to shut off the major avenue for social, economic and political activity for whole households as a reward for its own irrelevance is just loopy.
Thousands of people protested about the bill outside Parliament last week and tens of thousands have contacted their MPs. Short of being a map for a digital future, it merely protects established media, discouraging innovation and criminalising would-be customers.
The time allotted to discuss its 79 pages of finickety detail next week is approximately two hours.
The tax breaks offered to video games companies last week were an indication that the Government can take new media seriously. Another would be to subject this bill to proper scrutiny - then kill it.
My big break in Sun Hill
I am sorry to learn that The Bill is to be dropped. As it did with so many actors whose CVs you scan in theatre programmes, the ITV cop drama provided me with my big break.
When I was 15, I played an underage drinker on the show, which required me to sit in a dusty pub, sipping tepid, non-alcoholic beer for a day.
My miming must have caught the eye of the scriptwriters, as I was called back a few months later to rob a jeweller's store (see the character arc they planned for me?). I've fond memories of bombing down a street in Wimbledon, repeatedly knocking over an old-age pensioner.
Since I played no further part in the episode, I can only conclude my character evaded justice and went on to become a criminal mastermind, whose unseen hand controlled activity in Sun Hill - a bit like "The Greek" in The Wire.
But I am content that my best work for the show was done off-camera. Which is why it was so sad to read of the show's cancellation in the newspaper, of all places.
Libertines to the nation's rescue
Pete Doherty and Carl Barat were the Lennon and McCartney of my generation. Which is not to say The Libertines were an iota as good as The Beatles - merely that the pair's joint brilliance was no indication of the dreadfulness that followed when they pursued their careers apart.
Now the pair have re-formed their old band for a few festival dates this summer. Their actual music falls far short of their legend. But when I saw them, one mad night at the Kentish Town Forum, I was blown away by their energy.
You can see now how their ramshackle approach (performing gigs in fans' front rooms was a speciality) helped inspire a new generation to improvise their own culture. And how we could do with a dash of their romanticism for our beleaguered Albion right now!
The alarming new yoof craze? It's folk skiffle
On Saturday night, I found myself at what can only be described as an illegal barn dance. Would you believe that in a warehouse somewhere in Hackney a group of revellers might gather not to spaz out to repetitive dance music but to do-si-do to I've Got a Brand New Combine Harvester?
Or that a folk skiffle group performing pop covers might be the night's principal entertainment? Since this was the second folk skiffle group performing pop covers that I had stumbled upon that night, I can only conclude that youth culture is moving in a pretty mind-bending direction.
When Alistair Darling announced his clampdown on cider duty last week, perhaps this is precisely the sort of thing he had in mind.
Reader views (6)
what an ignorant, simplistic rant. The BPI don't protect the music industry. they represent major labels and 400 indie labels - but not musicians, performers, songwriters, managers, the live music world etc.
A citizen is not going to get disconnected from the internet for downloading 2 tracks and there were not thousands protesting outside Parliament last week.
This is serious subject that does need serious debate. We didn't get it from Richard Godwin
- Webbo, london uk, 01/04/2010 11:12
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NuLab`s digital enthusiasm stems from the fact that their core clientele share the same values -
Digital TV to expand their minds (Gok Wan/look less repulsive naked Looose Wimmin/etc.etc. daytime sofa trash TV), the internet for learning (porn) and keeping up with their children’s edooK8Shn (online bingo), important news info when and where they need it (lottery) and of course, instant communication to discuss important issues of the day with their peers (texts; Allo Shann, wottya doin - wot, nah, I`m takin tu yoo, inn I?)
So they will offer the populace this, in order to strengthen their core vote (it`s the only pleasure they gets!)
Be handing out free laptops and blackberries at the polling station next!
- Darius, London, 01/04/2010 11:09
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The Labour Party's understanding of the digital economy can be measured by the countless billions they've wasted on failed IT projects.
In this gross attack on civil liberties, those flouting new laws could see their internet accounts suspended and face fines of up to £50,000. Parents could even be disconnected from the internet, even if it is their children who are caught downloading tracks upstairs in their bedrooms, not them.
Lord Mandelson ordered officials to draw up the draconian regulations days after dining with the multi-billionaire founder of Asylum records David Geffen, on his yacht.
This proposed law cannot be enforced without violating the rights of every citizen of the EU. Thank you so much, Lord Mandelson.
- Kate, London, 01/04/2010 09:34
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Failure to protect musicians copyright income is killing the music business from the ground up. Even Abbey Road is struggling !!
As the MCPS/PRS royalty distribution figures clearly show, apart from a small number of high profile names, the royalty income for the other 93% of our composers and songwriters is less than they would get on benefits, and shrinking fast because of the likes of Richard Godwin.
Music has been one of our most successful industries, source of foreign income and punches well above its weight. Richard Godwin's desire for wholesale digital shoplifting as a viable replacement for one of our few remaining economic successes shows how far out of touch he is....
- Michael Rich, London, 01/04/2010 01:21
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You're totally right. This is a daft, unworkable bill which would cut off a household's access when as you say this is a human right, and at a time when the government is looking at digital inclusion. In the PWC/Martha Lane Fox report in October, it was highlighed that 10.2 million adults (21% of UK) has never accessed internet and a further 2.0 m had not used it in 3 months. If all digitally excluded adults got online and made just one contact a month instead of another channel, this would save an estimated £900m a year. The total potential of getting everyone in the UK online is £22billion. So, with that in mind, why punish people who not only need the internet for their livlihoods, and possibly aren't even the offenders, but also who can save the government money??
- Jay T. H, London, 31/03/2010 12:40
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The Labour Party don't understand the digital economy. That is why they have heralded digital enterprises as the future and completely shafted the professionals within the technology sector at the same time. Their immigration policy allows companies to transfer cheap workers in and out of the country at will. This obviously is to reduce the costs of highly inefficient government IT projects, but it also makes the technology sector much less attractive to students as the salaries are driven down and the entry level jobs dissappear. Typical double standards of Brown/Mandleson.
- Alex C, London, 31/03/2010 12:20
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