UK's Anti-File-Sharing Bill Could "Breach Human Rights"

Grumbleduke writes "The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights has recently reported on the controversial Digital Economy Bill, which seeks to restrict the connections of anyone accused of infringing copyright using the Internet. According to the BBC, the committee noted the lack of details in the Bill as it stands, asking for 'further information' from the government on several issues. They also raised concerns that some punishments under the bill could be 'applied in a disproportionate manner' and said that the powers the bill granted to the Secretary of State (i.e. Lord Mandelson) were 'overly broad.' These echo the concerns raised in recent months by the Open Rights Group, a consortium of web companies including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and eBay, as well as the UK's Pirate Party. The Bill is currently being scrutinized by the House of Lords, and if it passes there, will likely be forced through the Commons quickly, despite the opposition from the public, industry and members of parliament. The committee's full report can be found on the parliament website."

Comments

Re:Priorities

[wjh31]

those who share alot of files may be more likely to leave their computers on over-night or have a 'torrent box' that is left on all the time. Therefore by reducing the incidence of file sharing, infinitesimaly small reductions in energy consumption can be made. File sharing is also only one step away from human sharing, or human trafficking as you name it. These people must be stopped before the inevitable evolution to worse crimes.

Re:Priorities

[mr_lizard13]

Definitely mod him +1 funy