Digital activism against the Digital Economy Bill. Sign the petition!

Sign the petition to stop this! Digital activism against the Digital Economy Bill!

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/dontdisconnectus/

Forward this link by e-mail, facebook, myspace, sms, comments on blogs and forums. If the Bill is passed there is no return back to the freedom we have enjoyed on the internet so far.

photo credit: Sharon G., http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/proddetail.php?prod=d03

Digital Economy Bill: Challenge the experts

We strongly encourge you to come into direct contact with the "experts" -as the Telegraph writes- and bring them into attention your concerns regarding liberty and freedom of the flow of information on the internet.

source: Telegraph, 11:01AM GMT 24 Nov 2009
By Claudine Beaumont, Technology Editor

Digital Economy Bill: Ask the experts

The Digital Economy Bill, which sets out the Government's plans for safeguarding intellectual property rights and promoting innovation in the internet age, has just been introduced in the House of Lords.

While many of the measures have won wide-ranging, cross-party support, others have attracted significant criticism from industry figures and consumers alike. Plans to cut off the internet connections of illegal file sharers have been met with dismay by some organisations, with internet service providers such as Talk Talk and BT supporting court fines for repeat offenders rather than the termination of connections.

On Thursday, Telegraph.co.uk and Virgin Media are hosting a panel discussion to explore some of the key themes and issues raised by the Digital Economy Bill. Among the experts participating in the live debate will be Ed Vaizey, the shadow minister for culture, and Feargal Sharkey, chief executive of UK Music, which represents the commercial music industry. We'll also be joined by Jill Johnstone, director of Consumer Focus, and Jon James, an executive director at Virgin Media.

This is your chance to put your thoughts and questions about the Bill to the panel. Is cutting off file sharers really the best way to crack down on piracy? Will the proposed broadband tax be enough to finance the roll-out of next-generation broadband to all parts of the UK? Is the PEGI standard the right classification system for video games?

Send us your questions ahead of the live discussion. You can email us at digidebate@telegraph.co.uk, post your question in the comments box below, or send us a tweet on Twitter – please use the hashtag #digidebate.

You can follow the debate live online at www.telegraph.co.uk/technology from 1.15pm on Thursday.

Say NO to the Digital Economy Bill: Why do we oppose it

The purpose of this website is mainly to be an information brokering gate regarding the proposed Digital Economy Bill. Here you will find general information regarding the Bill, recent developments, and also the tools and leads in order to be democratically involved in activism, challenge and rally against it.

We believe that the proposed Bill is a threat to the pure grassroots democracy that the internet has established, and it will be a threat to human potential and creativity. Sure we can understand the concerns of the entertainment industry, but an enormous part of what is the internet today is largely because of the unregulated and unchecked information overflow.

We believe that there should be a public discussion between all stakeholders -government, enterprises and civil society- and a reconceptualization of the issues as to what is illegal online, since we are not trying to deal with an escalating digital deviance, but we are actually facing the prospect of the criminilization of a common and taken-for-granted social activity. Not to mention of course the snooping, the monitoring of the free flow of information and the impact on the freedom of speech.

photo credit: PA, from Telegraph 24 Nov 2009