Government clause in Digital Economy Bill to amend copyright laws without going through Parliament is defeated in House of Lords

The Government’s controversial clause in the Digital Economy Bill, in which it could have changed copyright laws without having to go through Parliament, has been struck out by the House of Lords. A Conservative and LibDem backed amendment would instead require Internet service providers to block certain web sites on receipt of injunctions. Their amendment aims to catch web sites that are outside of the jurisdiction but which are getting away with doing what they like. Rights holders could have a swift recourse to the courts to stop their rights being infringed. However, that amendment has also proved controversial with the Open Rights Group saying that the approach is likely to produce straightforward threats, bans and withdrawals of sites with user generated content. The BPI – a group representing record labels, likes the amendment and said there was no evidence for suggesting that sites would be blocked based purely on accusation.