Proposed UK Internet Law Bordering on Asinine

[Rob Williams]

From our front-page news:

For the most part, I'm not too pleased about the Internet situation we have in Canada, or at least in most of it. There's a total lack of ISPs, so price-gouging goes on, making ISP services in most of the US look fantastic. After hearing about some new Internet law that's on track to become instated within the next year or two in the UK... I'm starting to not mind my ISP so much. We all know of the hassle that the RIAA and MPAA have caused Internet-surfers over here, but compared to this new law in the UK, they look like pussycats.

The first major issue is the "three-strikes" rule, and it is just as it sounds. If you're caught downloading "illegal" content three times, not only are you barred from using the Internet at your home, but you're entire family will be as well. No surprise, there are also fines, but could you have ever guessed that they go up to £50,000? Are they serious? That amount of money could buy a seriously sweet Porsche... how on earth could this even be imagined, much less pushed through?

ISPs don't escape this new law either. Their requirements would be to monitor traffic going in and out of a home to attempt at detecting illegal activity. If the ISP refuses to partake in this procedure, it can be fined £250,000. It gets even worse, but I think the full article at bottom should be read to get all of the details. There is absolutely nothing good about this new law, and people have real reason to be wary.

Petitions don't often accomplish the goal they're set out to do, but for the sake of this being such an important issue, any Brit should head here and sign your name and reason for opposing. No one can simply say, "I don't pirate, so I have nothing to worry about.", because that's not the issue. You can have your Internet service cut off, and can be fined, without hard evidence. And even then, it's not too difficult to use someone elses (as in, yours) Internet to download whatever you want. If this law is put in place, net security will become more important than ever.

The real meat is in the story we broke yesterday: Peter Mandelson, the unelected Business Secretary, would have to power to make up as many new penalties and enforcement systems as he likes. And he says he's planning to appoint private militias financed by rightsholder groups who will have the power to kick you off the internet, spy on your use of the network, demand the removal of files or the blocking of websites, and Mandelson will have the power to invent any penalty, including jail time, for any transgression he deems you are guilty of.

Source: Boing Boing​

 

[Psi*]

I recently read a news article about someone in the US who was arrested for having child porn on their computer. The problem is that they were not knowingly downloading porn. Their computer had been hijacked by spam & made their computer part of something like a virtual network ... I think I saw the term zombie network. Thus their computer became the container for someone else illicit interests.

Compounding the issue local law enforcement is completely clueless about the technology. They not just do not have the ability to instigate it, they just do not understand it or find it credible.

I agree with you that net security needs to be greatly improved, but that won't be cheap. You think you pay a lot for net access now?! I compare enforcement of this kind of law to highway speeding. Just how enforceable is that? Actually it could be by adding various sorts of technology to autos that has been available for years. But it has not happened. Apparently it is better to pay an adult to hide in the weeds & $2K to $5K radar guns & laser guns to get a few random speeders ... big deterrent!

Another part of me says screw it & just saturate the net with benign cr@p. Sort of like everyone exceeding the speed limit (OH! thats right. THEY DO!) For instance, send out Carrie Prejean's sex tape to a million computers as a part of a zombie network ... I believe that it was last decided that she made the video when she was 21 & not 17. Thus, viewing the tape is just a healthy sex drive versus being considered a perv. But maybe not, or ... ... ..

Make these idiot laws unenforceable.

Ok, that was my rant for the day!

 

[Rob Williams]

Compounding the issue local law enforcement is completely clueless about the technology. They not just do not have the ability to instigate it, they just do not understand it or find it credible.

That's what's deeply disturbing. There are so many out there in law enforcement who don't have the first clue about technology, as hard as it really is to believe, so when someone is trapped like this, it requires an enormous and unrealistic amount of effort to prove your innocence, if it can be done at all. I heard about that child porn thing also, and I believe it affected a lot of people, not just a few. You happen to know if anything became of that?

I agree with you that net security needs to be greatly improved, but that won't be cheap. You think you pay a lot for net access now?

I didn't exactly mean at the ISP level, but simple things that people could do to protect themselves, such as A) Don't be an idiot. B) Pay attention to what you're doing on the PC. C) Use good security software. D) Protect your wireless signal. In checking for wireless access points from where I'm sitting, up come a list of 14, including mine. Of those, 13 are secure, and 1 is not. Of those same 14, 3 had the default router name. This is a LOT better than what I would have seen a few years ago, or even last year, but things still need to improve.

I'm not sure what it's going to take for people to clue into how important security is, but for most, it only happens when they find themselves in a bad situation, unfortunately.