ntouk.com - Jerry Fishenden's technology policy blog

The Digital Economy Bill is meant to position the UK more strongly in the digital era. Unfortunately, it might better be called the Analogue Economy (Preservation) Bill.

As the Open Rights Group have already made clear, the Government has admitted that cafes, hotels, conference centres, pubs, local councils and other open wi-fi providers will face disconnection. Of course, they can appeal, but the whole impetus of the Bill seems to be aimed at preventing the UK from taking advantage of the digital age.

Where is the sensible voice of Martha Lane Fox (leading the government's digital exclusion programme) when we need her? How can this mass denial of the digital age possibly advance the cause of digital inclusion?

All of us who work flexibly from public places, who network and create value and innovation (or at least, aspire to), will be shut down. And, if we continue to leave our own wi-fi open at home, we face prosecution as a result. This is the exact opposite of what we need. We need more ubiquitous, better quality, universal access to the Internet -- not to try to reverse the clock, stick our fingers in our ears and to whistle loudly hoping the whole thing will just go away and we can get back to our vinyl, vellum and quill nibs.

Even more absurdly, the guidance requires those who do provide wi-fi (presumably after authenticating everyone with a new Govt ID card?) to block anything that might be used to share illegal content. For some reason, Adobe's Flash in particular is to be banned. I wonder what Adobe make of that? Anyone attempting to use the Internet might as well give up. Which presumably must be the intention behind the Bill?

So how about this for a requirement: to block "any software or application downloads onto fixed computer desktops"? What? So you can't download any software or applications? (By the way, I'd like to see those applications that are not written in software). Not only does this ignore the way most of the Internet works these days, but do they seriously mean we can't update anti-virus software, download security patches and other protective software either?

Dig behind the scenes and the absurdity becomes apparent. What has happened here is that it looks like someone with no knowledge of technology has taken a set of processes used inside a typical public library and turned them into universal legislation! Pinch me someone. I knew the lack of understanding of technology was a problem in policymaking circles, but this is really taking things to the extreme.

The Bill claims to be about protecting copyright and intellectual property in the digital age. But in reality it seems to be more about preserving the dying business model of middle-men publishers, be they the music, film or publishing industries. There is little recognition of the need to protect the interests of those who actually create and make a living from original content, of moving to new ways of encouraging and nurturing innovation. We need to expedite the natural disintermediation of these stale old business models, not to bankroll them through ill-designed legislation.

One thing is for sure. The Digital Economy Bill is going to become a textbook case of flawed legislation and the extent to which policymaking is damagingly behind the reality of the world in which we live. My concern, however, in the meantime, is that it will do enormous damage to the economic and social fabric of the UK at the very time when we need to be taking advantage of the Internet, not trying to shut it down.

To paraphrase ...between the aspiration and the reality falls the shadow. And in the case of the Digital Economy Bill, it's about to cast a very long and very dark shadow indeed.

Transparency declaration: I sit on the Advisory Council of the Open Rights Group. I'm also a professional technologist, writer and composer, so care passionately about protecting creativity and innovation. Unfortunately the Digital Economy Bill is not tackling that problem and giving me more problems than it solves ...

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