A Perspective on the Copyright Issues of Digital Britain and the Digital Economy Bill

Bill Dutton *OIINEWS, Broadcasting, Fifth Estate, General Interest, Governance, Internet and Everyday Life, Internet Governance, Ofcom, Political Implications, Shaping the Internet, Social Informatics, Social Issues

The OII has posted a new Policy Briefing written by our Visiting Associate Tony Wales, former General Counsel of AOL International, responsible for the company’s worldwide legal affairs outside the US. He offers his insights on issues arising from the UK Government’s Digital Britain report (June 2009) and Digital Economy Bill, focusing in particular on provisions for enforcement action against unlawful filesharing (where Internet users share music, video and other entertainment content without the permission of the copyright holders) by imposing new policing obligations on ISPs and other online intermediaries. The piece is: Tony Wales (2009) Industry self-regulation and proposals for action against unlawful filesharing in the UK: Reflections on Digital Britain and the Digital Economy Bill. The addendum to this article provides a briefing on the sections of the Digital Economy Bill that propose measures to deal with unlawful filesharing, together with recommendations for amendments.

Access the paper via: http://people.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/?p=1194/

Comments are most welcome