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"Expert Body" To Decide Which Sites To Block For Copyright Infringement

Posted by samzenpus on from the council-approved dept.

Barence writes "Rights holders in the UK are proposing to appoint a 'council' and an 'expert body' to decide which websites should be blocked by ISPs for infringing copyright. The controversial Digital Economy Act made provisions for sites accused of hosting copyrighted material to be blocked by British ISPs. 'The cost of the proposed scheme is not indicated, but is likely to be substantial, including the running cost of two non-judicial independent bodies and the cost to ISPs of permanently blocking websites,' Consumer Focus said."

9 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. They've lost it. by amiga3D · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're nuts. It's like pissing in the ocean, just what do they think they'll accomplish? Is there anyone in any government anywhere with a brain? I look around and see people out of work, rampant crime, war, and these asshole have time for this stupid shit?

    1. Re:They've lost it. by herojig · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well that's exactly right: they DO have the time for stupid endeavors, and this is by design. The warlords and crime bosses and bigC's of the world would not stand for government mucking about in their profit-gathering biz, so councils are appointed to keep public servants busy with make-work.

      --
      I think therefore I can't be ~TTNH
  2. Don't doubt the experts by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't doubt experts - they know more than you and are capable of making dispassionate, informed decisions and are morally capable of making unpopular judgments. Remember, citizen, opposition to the opinions of the educated is anti-intellectualism.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:Don't doubt the experts by blackraven14250 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Opposition to the opinions of the educated based solely on the ground that they are educated is anti-intellectualism.

  3. What's the problem? by pete6677 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A government agency in charge of deciding which sites to block. I can't imagine anything going wrong here, no way.

  4. Re:No way this can be corrupted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Read it again. It will be RUN by the copyright cartels. That's what "Rights holders" means...

  5. Prove or GTF Out by macraig · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Perhaps it's time we demanded of these so-called rights holders - "rights" which We The People GRANTED to them - to conclusively prove to us that granting them these copyrights has actually done anything at all to encourage further creativity? If they can't prove that, then we should revoke their rights and let them scratch in the dirt for a living like the rest of us. We've been presuming for far too long that copyrights (and patents) actually function as intended.

  6. Re:How will the filtering even work? by bmo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It will guarantee a two-tiered Internet.

    A. Internet for people who know what they're doing

    B. Everyone else.

    I am not sure if I am against this or not. Part of me rages about the censorship. The other part says "meh, it was better when it took actual skill to hook up a modem and set up a BBS"

    --
    BMO

  7. Re:Piss Off by geckipede · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't be silly. This article is about an unimplemented proposal, that in the UK has got only as far as a few rights holding bodies writing a report describing the fantasy world they'd like to live in. Nothing has actually happened yet.

    In the meantime, attempts at shutting down websites have actually been implemented in the US - http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/06/13/218206/First-Challenge-To-US-Domain-Seizures-Filed

    In destroying freedoms, the US leads and the UK just follows on behind.