A petition against the bill has 11,000 signatures |
The Digital Economy bill has sparked a wave of protest among consumers and rights groups.
Soon after the bill began its journey through Parliament on 19 November, many expressed worries about parts of it.
The bill suggests the use of technical measures to tackle illegal file-sharing that could involve suspending the accounts of persistent pirates.
Critics fear this and other powers the bill reserves could damage the UK's growing digital economy.
The Digital Economy Bill is the end result of the consultation and research that went into the creation of the Digital Britain report that was published in June 2009.
As well as trying to tackle illegal file-sharing, the wide-ranging legislation also proposes a shake-up of the radio spectrum and a classification system for video games.
Left out is the proposal for a broadband tax to fund next-generation broadband that will be handled in the Finance Bill due in early 2010.
The proposals on file-sharing have garnered most criticism.
One of the first responses was the creation of a petition on the Number10.gov.uk website. Set up by Andrew Heaney, TalkTalk's head of strategy and development, it calls for the abolition of the proposal to disconnect illegal filesharers.
By 24 November, the petition had gathered more than 16,000 signatures.
The number of signatures got a boost from Stephen Fry who used micro-blogging site Twitter to direct people to it.
Wrote Mr Fry: "Dear Mandy, splendid fellow in many ways, but he is SO WRONG about copyright. Please sign and RT {retweet]".
Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, which campaigns on digital issues, said: "It's quite a shocking bill. We're extremely worried about it." |