I won’t vote for any MP who supports Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill

I’ve just started a new facebook group: I won’t vote for any MP who supports Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill.

The Digital Economy Bill plans to disconnect people from the internet if they’ve merely been accused of filesharing, or if anyone sharing their connection has been so accused. This is a breach of our human rights, and must be opposed.

No-one should be disconnected from the internet or otherwise punished for illegal filesharing unless they’ve been found guilty in a criminal court. Nor should anyone be punished merely for sharing a connection with an illegal filesharer; collective punishment is an infringement of human rights, and a war crime.

The group’s name is pretty much self-explanatory. While Lord Mandelson wasn’t elected, all 646 MPs in the House of Commons were, and most of them would like to keep on being MPs.

Normally, politicians care more about vested corporate interests than they do about mere citizens, but we’re lucky in the timing of this, because there has to be a general election within the next 8 months. There are roughly 7 million filesharers in the UK; if we all make our voice heard, they have to care what we think, at least until the election is over.

If you want to fight this unjust law, join the group, invite all your friends to join, and publicise it on your blog or website.

A broadband tax for the UK?

Further to a recent post (on my blog) suggesting that the UK isn’t going to institute a “3 strikes” law, there is speculation that the government might instead introduce a broadband tax, where ISPs’ customers will pay and the money going to the music industry to compensate for the loses they’ve suffered through P2P filesharing. According to The Times:

Lord Carter [...] may suggest additional charges on customers’ broadband bills to compensate the music industry.

There are a number of issues with any such proposal:

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