Flickr CC Credit: Scragz

Flickr CC Credit: Scragz

Back in July when the UK Government announced the findings of its Digital Britain investigation, we caught a glimpse of a political party struggling to keep up with the advances of modern technology.

Admittedly, it must be incredibly tortuous trying to drag new legislation through a system known for its bureaucracy and lack of momentum, especially when that legislation covers a rapidly changing medium such as the internet. But then it’s partially because of that thoroughness that UK law is one of the best in world, or so I’m told.

The report contained all the usual double-talk we have come to expect from our supreme leaders without managing to commit to any actual quantifiable targets.

To paraphrase the section on Digital radio:

Radio is really important to a lot of people. That’s why we are going to cut most people off from it at some point in the future. When? Oh that depends really, time is such a strange and cruel mistress.

So perversely, it’s almost a natural development that the bill based on this report, announced  by the Queen last week, contains legislation that effectively gives the Secretary of State the power to make up rules on the spot when dealing with internet copyright infringement.

But wait, hold the VOIP phone for just a minute, this is so fraught with problems it’s hard to keep ones head. We have already seen the extreme reaction provoked in the like’s of Boing Boing chief editor who was quick to point out the worst case scenario: ISP’s forced to spy on users actions, entire families cut off the net on the mere suspicion of illegal downloading. The Guardian, too has an opinion piece that cries “No Asbos for Downloaders”.

While I agree that we should be worried, VERY worried even, let’s not get too carried away raging about the political corruption and assume (maybe naively) that the Government has our best interests at heart. Art’s Technica takes a more measured approach for example. It’s article on the subject points out the bill has got a long way to go before becoming practicable law, so there’s no need to panic just yet.

I feel very strongly about the assumption the Digital Britain Bill makes about internet file sharing but I’m deliberately leaving that to one side as it distracts from the key debate that lies at the heart of all this, and that is:

Should any governing body that is struggling to keep pace with an industry – which is itself in the middle of it’s biggest paradigm shift since the invention of the printing press – really be trying to solve a problem with a law that may not even be relevant by the time it passes? There is law already in place that covers the legality of copyright infringement, why make room for misuse / abuse?