Digital Economy Bill

I wanted to add my voice to the mounting concern of a rushed and ill thought out piece of legislation, but like Golfy, I am speechless. So, instead, I will paraphrase the views expressed on last Friday's Now Show, which are both relevant and funny.

So, it looks like the government is going to win the day, and the new Digital Economy Bill is going to survive scrutiny and become law. Most people struggle with the fact that it was seemingly (maybe that should be allegedly?) conceived by Peter Mandelson after a dinner with David Geffen, a story that could only be made worse if they had been sitting on seats made from human skulls, and had shared a glass of dark red stuff with the Illuminata.

So what does this mean for normal people. It is easy to get hysterical, which is often half the fun, but the burden of proof does seem to lie with the individual to prove they were not downloading illegal music, just class A porn. This is like saying that every bottom could hide drugs, so the answer is for every person in the country to have a cavity inspection. When it comes to rubber gloves, that is one bit of digital economy I can definitely support.

It also puts the onus on "any ISP", which could extend to anyone who has not secured their wireless, and so are allowing, unwittingly, others to access their broadband connection. Every street has at least one so that should be interesting, seeing sweet Mrs Jones being hauled off to prison in a paddy wagon.

The music industry told us that home taping would kill music. I am not sure if I know what a tape even looks like now, and I AM old enough to have remembered. I do, however, remember in just a bit too much detail Lady Gaga and that too thin woman from X-Factor, so I guess that theory has been busted.