§ There was an article on Boing Boing over the weekend that includes a leaked copy of an e-mail sent by Richard Mollett, head of BPI (that’s the UK’s version of RIAA). He provides his key constituents with a round-up on news on the Digital Economy Bill, the legislative omnibus for all that’s bad in ACTA and the UK’s equivalent of the DMCA. Apparently, Mollet believes there is no groundswell of opposition for the Digital Economy Bill and that MPs will just wave it through for lack of popular concern.
Wouldn’t it be great to prove him wrong? If you are in the UK, you can very easily write to your MP and ask him or her to demand a full debate in Parliament on the Digital Economy Bill. I just sent this to my MP; feel free to copy, adapt and improve my text:
Dear Alan Whitehead,
I’m very concerned that the Digital Economy Bill is being rushed
through Parliament without adequate scrutiny. Will you be calling for a
full debate on the Bill please?My concern is that it tampers with the balance of copyright law in the
Internet age without a full appreciation of unintended consequences.
The equivalent bill in the USA, the DMCA, has been a source of abusive
attacks on free speech and business competition (outside the intended
scope of the Act) from the beginning, and I fully expect that the
Digital Economy Bill in its present form will likewise prove to chill
innovation and society.Yours sincerely,
Simon Phipps
By the way, apart from his job at BPI, Mollett is also the prospective Labour candidate for SW Surrey in the upcoming election. If you are one of his potential constituents you may wish to ask him about his commitment to your 21st century freedoms.
Feel free to pass a link to this post to your friends suggesting they take action too…
