Thankfully there are MPs who listen and respond!!
Thanks for writing to Don Foster MP about the Digital Economy Bill. Don has asked me to respond on his behalf, explain the Liberal Democrat position on the Bill, and give the reasons why our MPs voted against it.
Don made clear in the chamber that the government had handled this Bill very badly, and that they could have found ample time to debate it properly if they had tried, stating: “It is totally inappropriate for a Bill as important as this to be given so little time for debate in this House.” (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2010-04-06b.853.0)
Liberal Democrats have long accepted that measures are needed to address peer to peer file sharing. But any moves to do so must be transparent with full parliamentary and public scrutiny. Our aim was to ensure that safeguards were in place, so that no controversial moves could be taken without opportunity for parliament to block them. We tabled an amendment that would have made it much more difficult for the government to introduce technical measures (such as disconnection). The proposal was accepted, so any decision to cut people off from the internet will now require two months of consideration by Parliament, and MPs will be able to reject the move if they do not think it is justified.
Having earlier deleted the undemocratic Clause 17, which would have given the government powers to rewrite copyright law at will, the Liberal Democrats also attempted to remove powers to block websites. This measure, in Clause 18, had only recently been added to the Bill. Despite efforts to improve the wording of Clause 18, it was clear that it was too flawed to stay. Don gave his reasons in a speech which can be found here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2010-04-07a.1135.4.
The government rejected our efforts to remove this clause. For this reason, Don Foster and many other Liberal Democrat MPs voted against the Digital Economy Bill on Wednesday night. You can find a list of who voted here: http://www.libdemvoice.org/?p=18757&utm_source=tweet&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter. Liberal Democrat peers also voted against site blocking in the Lords this afternoon.
Please rest assured that the issues in the Bill will be considered in Parliament again – we fought very hard for safeguards to make sure this would have to happen, and the government gave in to most of our demands. The Lib Dems will do everything we can to ensure any future regulations created as a result of the Bill are properly considered, fair and workable.
Many thanks again for writing to Don about the Bill, and I hope this answers your query.
Kind regards,
Oliver
