The Open Rights Group (ORG) informs us that 10,000 UK citizens have written to MPs in less than three days to demand a debate on the controversial Digital Economy Bill (DEB). The DEB seeks to combat internet copyright infringement (downloading of illegal music etc.) but its proposed solutions, such as website blocking and broadband ISP disconnection for "suspected" abusers, have caused serious concern.


The news comes on the same day that YouTube, which many fear could be under threat from the bill, revealed that Viacom had deliberately "roughed up" uploaded videos to make them look stolen or leaked; thus helping its copyright case against the free and popular video sharing website.

Those MPs who cast aside fears that websites like YouTube could be blocked should pay attention. Viacom has accused YouTube of "massive intentional copyright infringement" and is waiting for a court to rule on its £660m suit against the site.


The stark reality is that if you look deep enough then any video could potentially contain sounds or imagery that one might consider to be copyright of somebody else. The irony for many people is that they are also places where you can discover new talent and creations, without which Rights Holders might actually find themselves being considerably worse off.