Digital Economy Bill May Struggle For Approval Before Election
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The government has published a draft version of the Digital Economy Bill, the legislature based on the summer’s Digital Britain white paper. It sets out the government’s key aims on piracy, universal broadband and the future of regional news.
SEE ALSO: Digital Britain Key Points: High-Speed Fund, No Three Strikes, No Newspaper Consolidation
But will Gordon Brown and business secretary Lord Mandelson have enough time to pass it through parliament? An election is expected in May and a Tory government looms with its own, alternate digital policies largely favouring private sector solutions over Big Government public-funded policies.
As the Lib Dems point out (via Times Online), only two bills were passed before the end of March last year—and some 13 bills were mentioned in the Queen’s speech this week. If Labour want to leave a digital legacy, they had better hurry up…
The main points of the bill are unchanged from the Digital Britain report, which proposed:
—Universal broadband of 2Mbps.
—Broadband tax to fund broadband networks of beyond 2Mbs. Because this is technically a tax chancellor Alastair Darling will have to announce it in next year’s budget in April.
—Anti-piracy measures to warn, impose technical measures on and eventually disconnect illegal file-sharers.
—A system of independently- funded regional news consortia.
Posted In: Legal, Digital Britain
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